To Bead or Not to Bead? Kitchen Cabinet Dilemma

10 years ago

We are in the kitchen design phase of our new home and need to finalize the cabinet design. I have the kitchen design ready to go, and originally told the designer we wanted to go with a more traditional bead, but starting to second guess as the trend is definitely no-bead. The kitchen will include: white inset cabinets with cove panel, a grey/blue island, quartzite counters..

Photo here is one of our inspirational photos from Houzz. This kitchen has the bead.

Dilemma - do we go with the bead or is this look too traditional or dated for potential resale? Pros/Cons of going with/without the bead??

Elegant Weston MA Kitchen · More Info

Featured Answer

User

10 years ago

Take a look at your Home's bones first. Is it a traditional Colonial? Foursquare? New England Salt box? Shingle style? Craftsman! Mid Century Modern? 80's Contemporary?

The quickest way to date any remodel is to do the ''landed from Mars'' look of something that is a current fad, but has no business in the house style that you have. It doesn't matter how ''current'' something is, if it is the wrong style for the house itself. It will cause dissonance to the whole and immediate become dated once the next five minutes of fashion has passed by that current trend.

Anyone for brick back splashes, wood hoods, and oversized lanterns?

Design Gems · More Info

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Comments (13)

PRO
Carolyn Albert-Kincl, ASID
10 years ago
No bead. Save money and have a cleaner look.
e
10 years ago
No bead...dirt and grime collector
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PRO
User
10 years ago
No bead. Easier to paint/glaze should you ever decide to.
PRO
Design Details
10 years ago
I think this particular kitchen would look better beaded. Forget about trends. I do a lot of inset kitchens and although the plain inset is popular now the owners are generally more interested in the look of their kitchen than whether it might or might not appeal to some future buyer at some future time. Beaded inset is a more Classic look and if you want that for your home don't be afraid of it.

I can't honestly agree with MD Painting. Glazing looks best when there is some detail to hold the glaze. Glaze is best applied in the shop and since it is a very personal preference, if you're worried about resale you'll probably not want to glaze.
Kris Mays
10 years ago
No bead.
Amyzing
10 years ago
No bead. I was surprised to realize beaded cabinets are more expensive than not. I think that was my cue to discard beading for my own kitchen - it looks dated enough that I thought it was cheap.
snobslikeme
Original Author
10 years ago
Thank you for all of your feedback! All good points! I will post a pic of our final project.
PRO
Carolyn Albert-Kincl, ASID
10 years ago
Best of luck! We'll look forward to seeing the beautiful results.!
Jennifer Thomson
10 years ago
I personally love the bead, and who cares what a bunch of other people think is in style or not? What are you drawn to? Most every photo I truly loved had the beading. Without it looked to modern and I wanted a kitchen that looked like it had been made with love and fine craftsmanship. In addition, the bead helps disguise the line up of doors to frame, wood moves, and doors don't always line up exactly right. Without the bead it is more noticeable.
PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
10 years ago
IMO beading is just one more place for dirt to collect and FYI glazed cabinets always look dirty so maybe the beading won’t matter.
PRO
R G MILLER (YBC)
10 years ago
I like the bead, but it is your kitchen.
suezbell
10 years ago
The bead looks more formal and it is a chore to clean. If you want to relax in our kitchen, keep the cabinet doors with the visible frame rather than the flat industrial looking kind but without the bead.

For painted cabinets, a flat white is, to me, more appealing than a glazed or glossy look for cabinets. Cabinets with shiny paint seem more institutional -- as metal would.