Well, I agree that inset would look beautiful in your old farmhouse.

But, it sounds like you don't have much space, because you mentioned you don't have many cabinets. And, if you go full overlay AND frameless, you will increase the useable space in your cabinets by as much as 20 percent. Frameless cabinets are simply more functional.

Now, some people will tell you that frameless cabs are not as strong as face-frame cabs, and there is some truth to that, but the question is: are they strong enough? Consumers in Europe and Canada, where frameless cabs dominate the market, seem to think they are. Ikea frameless cabs come with a 25-year warranty.

So, if it were me, I'd try to go frameless in a door style that complements my old farmhouse.

We got frameless in our old house (modern, minimilst lab-like kitchen)... we loved them. Frameless falls somewhere between full-overlay and inset price-wise.. which would make the jump up to inset even less significant.

i guess i should take an inventory of our stuff and see if I will be pressed for space (we really are now, so I think no matter what we do, it will seem enormous with our improved layout).

thanks for your input.

We got inset, and I'm so glad we did. But my heart had been set on it from the start - if you're flexible, it might be worth saving money on this. I can't speak to the issue of losing space with inset cabinets - we have so much more storage space in the new kitchen that I can't compare it.

thanks for the thoughts-- I think we really do want inset, but the bottom line on my spreadsheet is steadily increasing... I have some room in the counter budget, but that might mean giving up soapstone or costa esmeralda (our two top choices).

in any case, i'm glad those of you who went with inset feel strongly about it.

Just my personal opinion but I think inset cabinets say "period kitchen". Not that you can't use them in other styles but they do make a strong statement for period.

I have a very old house -- it was built in 1894 -- and we got full overlay cabinets. We have a lot of cabinets, and choosing full overlay vs. inset was an easy choice for me to cut costs. Now, our house is not a farmhouse, it is a suburban house, in a neighborhood where people were building houses to show off their wealth, although mine is definitely one of the more modest ones.

To tell you the truth, I picked my cabinets before I started reading this site, and when I was in the cabinet showroom looking at full overlay vs. inset, I had no sense that one or the other would look more authentic in my house. In all the gazillion magazine photos I'd looked at by then, I'd never much noticed the difference between the two.

I'm sure if I had been reading this site before I picked my cabinets, I would have felt that I needed to get inset cabinets, and after starting to read this site, but before my cabinets were installed, I was really worried that my cabinets would look cheap or too modern for my home.

I'm very happy with how they look, and lots of people have told me that my kitchen fits so perfectly in my house. We focused more on other details, like matching the moldings and woodwork to the rest of the house.

danielle,
the soapstone countertops will also give a period look, so from a budget standpoint if having the inset cabinets takes the soapstone off the counters, what WILL go on the counters?

it looks like there are three options at this point:
Soapstone AND Inset -- but budget buster
Soapstone and Full Overlay
Alternative countertop and Inset

If the alternative is something like Corian or Laminate (doesn't sound like something you'd want, but just saying if that was a forced choice) with the Inset, I'd go the Soapstone/Full Overlay route.

Or if you can find a way by cutting somewhere else (appliances or labor or tile or lighting) to afford the inset / soapstone that would be ideal.

All of this to say that I think it will be easier to get your period look with the correct countertop choice than with the cabinet, because you can find cabinetry that is full overlay that will exude a bit of farmhouse appeal, but finding a countertop to do that might be more difficult.

hth

We went with inset cabinets and gained an extra 1.5 inches in island width as our aisles are so narrow. I also like the period look with exposed hinges. Having said that though, I would not hesitate to use full overlay if you do not need the extra walking space and it would stretch your budget too far. You will gain an extra 15% storage capability and like Jeannie has shown you can have a period look with overlay. If your space is tight like ours is, you will gain space with inset cabinets, 3/4" off of doors and drawers and the abilty to use 3/4" overhang with your countertop vs. 1.5" overhang with overlay or frameless. Sometimes that extra aisle space and period look can help justify the extra cost. I would agree with mamadadapaige, don't sacrifice the countertop you want for the inset cabs, if it is a tossup.

that's a great point about the countertop, mamadadapaige. whenever we think of alternatives, they are either too flashy or not functional for me (I need stone b/c I like a cool surface for pastry and things like that). there are a few resinned quartz counters that, when honed, aren't bad... especially if we go with darker cabinets and get a light countertop (and then maybe do marble on our island).

jeannie, your kitchen is lovely-- I suppose part of my problem is that our current overlay cabinets look exceedingly cheap (like the paint is coming off the MDF base.. it is really bad).

Pluckymama, good point about the extra space-- we will be a bit tight-- our kitchen is around 20 x 13, but part of that is the only eating area in the entire house-- we also have 5 doors and a window in the kitchen, so we have a lot to work around.

jeannie-- I meant to also ask about your backsplash-- are the colored tiles glass or another material?

I agree with the Mamadadapaige about not sacrificing the period look in counters. I would rather make the sacrifice on the inset than the counters. Manmade counters can be beautiful, but they will never be mistaken for a farmhouse look, no matter how they try to mimic the color of soapstone or marble. I am not so sure that if you went to a farmhouse in, say, the 1880's, you'd see perfect inset cabinetry anyway.

I also want to reiterate Mamadadapaige's comment (again) about making sure your carpenter has real expertise in building inset cabinets, especially depending on your climate. I have a friend here in Chicago who has inset cabinets. In Chicago we have 100 degree swings between summer and winter, and the humidity varies between the Sahara and the rainforest. My friend's inset cabinets in the winter show gaps. It's not a big deal, but it's an annoyance, and she has a humidifier too. In the summer, a couple of the doors stick a bit, or look awry. Again, not the end of the world, but something to think about with inset cabinetry.

Danielle, my backsplash tiles are ceramic. The field tile is a crackle texture, and the insert tiles are handmade ceramic in a bunch of different colors:

Here is a close-up of an insert tile. It is not a very good picture, because the color is all washed out, but you can see how sort of uneven the texture is, so all the inserts are slightly different. I really love them:

I went with inset for my period Arts & Crafts kitchen and I have never been sorry. I love the look!

Here is a link that might be useful: My kitchen

The only decision about our remodel that I'm still second guessing are the inset cabinets. I always wanted frameless for the extra storage (small kitchen) but in the end chose form over function for that "period" look. The cabinets are in production but everytime I look though a kitchen mag and see some of the beautiful kitchens with full overlay, I wonder if I'll regret my decision.

At one point we decided to do inset uppers and frameless base cabs (we saw a gorgeous Plato display done this way) but the cabinet company we ended up choosing only does inset. Maybe mixing the two would work for you. If you go to the Plato website, there may be pics of some kitchens done this way.

cheri, our KD said we could mix frameless and inset... we don't have a lot of uppers, though... actually, we have no uppers, unless you count a few floor-to-ceiling cabinets on the fridge/wall-oven wall. so, I'm fairly sure if we don't get inset, it wouldn't be super-obvious since the base cabinets are not at eye level.

vjrnt, your kitchen is lovely. what is on your floor? we need a backup plan if we can't save our wood underneath the two layers of vinyl that are currently there.

jeannie kitchen: I love your tiles-- those are goregous.. they are colorful & cheerful w/o being ostentatious or something that one could grow tired of after a few years... love them!

Danielle, off topic, but since you asked vjrnt about flooring thought I'd share our experience. We removed vinyl and plywood from the oak floor of our 100 yr old house the first time we remodeled the kitchen and our GC said we couldn't save the floor. We loved how the floor matched the dining room and that there was no threshold so we refinished them anyway. Yes, the floor was full of holes from nailing down the plywood and there were some dark water spots and there was some bad gapping, but we were very happy with it after is was refinished. You couldn't really notice the nail holes at all.

Go with inset, with adjustable (which aren't exposed) hinges if you're in a climate that causes significant wood movement. And then add toe kick drawers :) You'll make up the little you lose there and love your cabinets. At least I know we sure do. I love the inset look, in both a farmhouse and a townhouse :) They're fab, and honestly, it's not like you lose that much....because it sounds like you're much like us....we had NOTHING for storage when we gutted this kitchen. So redone, it's so much more room than we had, we don't notice the loss of 15% (if that's what it is). Especially with the function of our toe kick drawers! The other thing you could do to add storage area is to do a banquette seating area, using cabinets as the seat base. We added six extra cabinet drawers (deep) by doing so in our kitchen.

cheri- we are hoping to save the floor no matter what. our living room floor is a disaster-- beat up, very old insect damage, some stains.. but we LOVE it. We have four kids and it is fantastic not having to worry about every ding and scratch. It looks lived-in. We'd really like the same look for our kitchen and are prepared to have holes and need some patches. Our GC was warning us what a disaster it would be, but the "disasterous" bit he uncovered looks pretty good to us.

igloochic-- as for adjustable hinges.. is that something we need to ask for or do they come standard in most inset cabinets?

My floor is marmoleum, and I love it. SO easy to keep clean. And it's appropriate for the period of the kitchen. Our house was built in 1922 and the original flooring was linoleum. And when we took up the vinyl in the breakfast nook we discovered a damaged but salvagable oak floor. We were thrilled!

About the space in the cabinets: our cabinets were made by MRS Kitchens in Quebec. They say that instead of bringing the door back in to the box, they bring the box forward to be level with the door, and they say you get extra storage space with insets. Look at the page linked below and scroll down.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cabinet Styles

vjrnts
If we can't salvage our floor, we've considered marmoleum. How is it holding up so far?

No one ever mentions it but, in dealing with century old houses, partial inset cabinetry is entirely appropriate. Think Hoosier cabinets. Gains you exposed hinges, 180 degree opening doors and overcomes most of the challenges of seasonal wood expansion/ contraction and does not require advanced woodworking skills.

Pix of Amerock partial wrap 3/8'' inset, 1/2'' overlay hinges:

{{!gwi}}

Danielle, three cheers for old salvaged floors! Mine are 1923 douglas fir, and they're gorgeous, holes, scrapes, repairs and all.

I'll put a positive word in for inset cabinets -- first time I've had them, and I truly don't notice any loss of space at all. The ability to open the doors all the way (180) is essential, and I adore my visible classic mortised hinges. These can also be adjusted, if necessary, but 15+ years old and I haven't needed to (I'm using recycled cabinets, older but new to me).

I'll also recommend getting slightly deeper uppers if you possibly can; mine are 15" and this has been a huge boon for storing plates, platters etc compared to my old 12" uppers.

I second ci_lantro's recommendation to consider partial inset (if you can find it) or substitute partial overlay (often the least expensive style in a product line) as authentic-looking and usually very reasonably priced.

Our current house was built in 1936 and the previous one in 1906. Both original kitchens came with partial inset pine cabs (meant to be painted).

I love the look of inset, too, but if I can't justify the cost we might substitute partial overlay. The only disadvantage I've found for the commercially available partial overlay cabs is that most lines don't make them in all woods, so sometimes oak is the only wood. We will have painted cabs.

I was also thinking partial overlay as soon as I heard "farmhouse." To me, inset and partial overlay both say vintage, the first is town and the second is country. I am, I believe, in the minority of those who like the look of partial overlay.

Regarding the depth of the inset - our line automatically adjusts the depth for the inset, so a 12" cabinet is actually 13" when it is inset, a 15" cabinet becomes 16", etc.

You have to ask for the type of hinges that have full adjustment (they're normal for most cabinets now a days, but many people who want inset want exposed hinges and these are not exposed). Really, they're only necessary if you live in a house that sees a lot of movement. We do, being in an earth quake zone, on pilings, and in a frost heave area. The adjustable hinges ensure our doors will never stick, but that might be overkill for you. (In the pic you can see both styles...the squirrel cabinet has exposed hinges because it's only an inch deep and does not have room for adjustable hinges...it's a chalk board).

I should have mentioned, I also did deeper cabinets, but I was going to even before I did inset. My uppers are all 15" after living with 12" uppers that didn't fit my dinner plates. The few inches is totally NOT noticable, until you open them and see how much more space you have. And as long as you're going with a custom builder...look to bigger lowers as well. We have 27" deep lowers on our stove side and just love them. (No uppers on that run).

To me, the look of inset doors isn't necessarily vintage. My kitchen isn't vintage by any stretch of the imagination....I'd instead call it eclectic and classic. We have modern surfaces as well as old world But the inset doors and drawers, to me they say "rich" and I don't mean rich in money :OP But rich in details. Mine have a beaded edge and the detail is just fabulous IMO They're clean lined and classic, and worth every penny.

I wanted an older and rustic look in our kitchen and really wanted inset but the price differential would have eliminated my soapstone counters. I went with full overlay (shaker style with a bead) and they fit the bill perfectly. I have the soapstone counters I really wanted and have never been sorry with my decision.

Good luck.

Teresa

danielle00, sorry I haven't been back to answer your question! The marmoleum is holding up perfectly. It's a year and a half now (and I don't baby it at all) and it still looks new. Literally, new. I love it.

You do need to make sure that you get a qualified installer. My neighbor had hers installed by a floor guy who was not certified for marmoleum and had a terrible time with it peeling up. Her husband finally just ripped it out and they put down vinyl. But I was told at the floor place that I'd have to get one particular guy in our county, so I passed the info along to my GC, who scheduled him (it was only about two weeks lead time), and so far, so good. Not one tiny problem.

I have been using a company called "Best Cabinets" out of Chicago for my Inset Cabinets and they do a really nice job. Also, they build full overlay and standard overlay cabinets. I guess I am of the believe that you should go with the Inset Cabinets in a period kitchen such as you have...

The company is very green and uses plywood with no added formaldehyde and same with their glues and finishes. I know they have a Non Toxic Milk Paint Finish they offer...

Here is a link that might be useful: Inset Cabinets