Software
Houzz Logo Print
amuelle

Mixing door face styles

last year

Opinions on doing 2 different door face styles. Would love to see photos. Pros/cons!!? Not my door style , just color choices. One face with be all throughout the island (wood tone) and one would be on the perimeter cabinets (crème). Thanks!

Comments (35)

  • PRO
    last year

    I am not a big fan of the whole two tone kitchen thing and for sure not that and 2 different styles of cabinets. and how can we answer anything without seeing the styles you are going with the colors are not the issue IMO.

  • last year

    Sorry I don’t have a photo of styles or I would have posted. Was more of a general question.

  • last year

    I am also not a fan of two-toned kitchen cabinets, but if you do it, the cabinets should be the same style. Also, don't mix the colors randomly. White uppers, wood lowers is commonly done. White perimeter, wood island is also commonly done. Pictured below is wood perimeter, white island which is less common, but I think they made it work here with the white backsplash.


    French Country Kitchen Remodel · More Info


  • last year

    Nope, 2 different door styles will look like a miss and too cheap to change all on a remuddle.

  • PRO
    last year

    NOOO!

  • PRO
    last year

    Ok so I am the odd man out.

    Who said you can't mix door styles? Why is this a "rule" ? IF the plan is good, IF the room is the right size and IF you want it - why not?

    You color choices look very nice together. You will need to do the same counter throughout. I have seen the mixed door styles with shaker and slab style doors together. It is a little trickier with a raised panel - but a good design can overcome that.

    Here are some pictures I found.







    Personally, I only like paint on recessed door styles and love stains on solid wood raised panels or slab doors so I wouldn't hesitate to mix styles in my own kitchen.

    Hope this helps

  • last year
    last modified: last year

    You can find examples of everything, doesn't mean it is a good choice for the masses.

    That said, the eye is in the beholder. It is your kitchen son do what pleases you.

  • last year

    And I think that all of the mixed cabinet examples are a big miss/ mess. Good to have the visualizations though.

  • PRO
    last year

    I guess we can all agree to disagree.

    There are pictures that I posted above that I do not care for and others I actually like.

    If everything in a house had to be so matching, then why don't we see more raised panel kitchens? Where I am 95% of the homes have 6 panel colonial doors in the house? Yet they put shaker cabinets in and have open floor plans to furniture pieces in other styles as well.

    So why can't the cabinet doors be mixed if someone wants it?

    I think I am cranky and just need more coffee!

  • PRO
    last year

    I think if you want it do it and why ask and if you ask we have an opinion that is what asking is all about

  • last year



    I am a believer to do what you love. This kitchen is 12-years old with solid cherry lowers and painted birch uppers. As you can tell in this picture, the double oven is also painted birch. The island and paneled refrigerator match the oven cabinets. Zoom in and the doors are two different styles. We all have opinions, but the most important is yours.

  • last year

    That kitchen looks lovely Motherof3sons!

  • last year

    My kitchen is 20 years old, and my peninsula is dark green stained pecan. The rest is fake cherry ( Ultrcraft laminate, i think). I still like how it looks, and when I redo my kitchen, in real wood, I may keep the peninsula. Or, I may not!

  • last year

    Thank you @thinkdesignlive!

  • last year

    I think it depends on the styles you're combining.

    I'm not a fan of different styles -- I don't even like the door styles that have flat panels for the drawer faces and other style for the doors.

    But, if you like the look, go for it. This is a case of "do what you like" since it has no bearing on functionality -- it's all looks/aesthetics, which is really personal preference.

  • last year
    last modified: last year

    I think that mixed, eclectic, organically grown spaces are hard to do but look awesome when done well. You don't see it much in (today's) kitchens, because those tend to be (today) all ripped out and completely redone at once, and many people are all about everything matchy-matchy in whatever is the approved style of the moment - and it is a surface style. Tuscan, Shaker, French country, MCM - whatever, they're just different faces on the same melamine boxes.

    The functional requirements of a kitchen are tough enough to get right, there are so many details to consider, cabs are standardized, it is a substantial spend, there's "resale" to think about, it is just easier to do what everyone else does.

    But you see it, sometimes, in other rooms and it really stands out. Imagine you walk into one living room and it is all the same collection, same wood, same style, homogeneous and unadventuresome, wall to wall Pottery Barn. Then you walk into another living room and there is a vintage Corbusier LC3 next to an Art Nouveau table on a century-old Oriental rug that someone's grandmother tied to a mule and hauled back from an epic trip. And the first person is freaking out about mismatches on the LVP and creases on the pleather, the second person is reading French poetry and unfussed about the '89 Cab that just dripped on the rug.

  • last year
    last modified: last year

    We mixed styles in our bar, but not the way you're talking about. You're talking about Style A for the island and Style B for the perimeter. I think it's going to look like a reno that was done in two stages and you couldn't get matching cabinets for part two. Especially since both door choices have a lot going on.

    We mixed flat-front drawers with slim Shaker doors, which is fairly common, so that we could get glass fronts in the doors.

  • last year

    I like light cabinetry as well as a darker island

  • last year

    SPARE Yourself the Heartache……

    🗣️🗣️🗣️DON’T Do it!!!!

  • last year

    i like light cabinetry, as well as a darker island

  • last year

    Agree with Debbi 100%. Absolutely okay to mix base cab colors...especially given that the colors are on two distinctly separate units of cabinets (island versus others). If it is your inclination to do so, suit yourself, not others, and do it.

    Fwiw, I had to add two base cabs to the original kitchen. The original cabs (dk green) could not be found so I installed black ones. No aesthetic issue; in fact, no one notices. The fact that they are black is key; don't think it would work placing another color next to the green. But I think *wood* works as well as black when considering adding another *color*.

  • last year
    last modified: last year

    A couple pics from my kitchen that was redone about 5yrs ago and that I love and get so many compliments on. I did work with a designer who helped corral all my ideas (reclaimed wood, tin ceiling, leaded glass, 17’ island) so it did all come together. Good luck!



  • last year

    You can get an inexpensive wood trim that matches the trim on the darker cabinets, it can be painted to match the light ones.

  • last year

    Colors yes, styles not necessarily. I like the posted pics of mixes. Wood and white/black goes well together as wood and black go with almost anything. Do what you like go to Home Depot or Lowes if in your area and have a consult. They have a computer program that will show you the results. I haven't done so personally but know it exists.


  • last year

    Having 2 different finishes, preferably one painted and one wood, on the perimeter cabinetry and island, especially in a large kitchen, keeps things interesting. But mixing in different door styles is too much of a mish-mash, in my opinion, and looks like you added on to the kitchen at a later date and were unable to find the match to your existing cabinetry.

  • last year
    last modified: last year

    Thank you for the suggestions, we did one door style and the 2 colors above!

  • last year

    Just be sure the cabinet boxes and doors are solid wood, not mdf, paint them the same, or paint the different ones a different color which would be OK to have two different ones. I have 3 or 4 different doors in my kitchen and it looks OK - no mdf fiberboard tho.

  • PRO
    last year

    @terrib962 Actually and MDF door ( or MDF center panel ) is preferred over solid wood when painting cabinets. It is a more stable medium and there will be less of a chance of fissures in the paint that form when wood shrinks and swells through heating/cooling seasons.

    @amuelle Congrats on making your decision - did you order the cabinets yet or do you want to post your layout for review? Sometimes that can be risky with this crowd :)

  • last year
    last modified: last year

    Our cabinets are all Maple. The exterior cabinets will be Irish Creme and the Island is Hickory French Roast. We are doing reverse raised panels. The 3D program our designer uses is not very MAC friendly. This is the best I can get! @Debbi Washburn Thank you for your help! :)

    Cabinents are already ordered so no turning back now. The only issue that is keeping me up at night is.....(and maybe you can help)....

    Above the range/quartz we are doing a 4" ledge, not pictured. The inside panels of the tall cabinets are going to be finished end pieces. I am wondering if I should have made them flat so we don't have issues with the ledge lining up. Does that make sense? Also colors are not accurate!






  • last year

    @Debbi Washburn MDF should never be used anywhere in any house - it off-gasses toxic fumes for many years. It dissolves if gets wet. It look cheap - you never see it any expensive houses or houses where people are informed/educated. Not sure why anyone would ever want cheapo - mdf is for people who are uninformed and ignorant of building materials. It is something that should be illegal in a house due to the off-gassing toxins including formaldehyde. New carpet is bad also for off-gassing and should never be used in a house (and for sure not in a dog house).

  • PRO
    last year
    last modified: last year

    Completely untrue of anything but the low end import 14 lb stuff. Stay away from that, and you are good. Industry standard cabinet construction uses higher end MDF because it's far more stable, and is required in most situations where paint or veneer is used.

  • PRO
    last year

    I would see if they can notch the shelf around the decorative end panel. Not so sure leaving a gap would look good. You may want to wait until the cabinets are installed to decide. But I think it will be fine. I tried to find a picture but most have no decorative side panels. Here is one:


    It looks like the shelf goes up to the panel but does not notch into the recess. That is probably what I would do. You can always try to visualize it by holding a piece of countertop next to your door sample and see what the gap would look like.

    Just a quick question on your layout - are the cabinet doors on the back side of the island reduced height with a wider top rail on the cabinet? You have decorative legs with a skirt detail, so if the doors aren't a shorter height, they won't open all the way.

    Glad things are moving along for you!

  • last year

    Which cabinetry was the wood one in your photo? Most of my cabinetry is wood now, but now I'm wondering if I need to upgrade them. I like the color and style in your photo.

  • last year

    It is Yorktowne. The island is hickory and the stain is French roast.