Last week, we talked about Frameless vs. Face Framed cabinets and a few different door types were mentioned within in that post. This week, let’s expand on the differences between those door types (Full Overlay, Partial Overlay, and Inset) because these two topics go hand-in-hand:
- Frameless cabinet design requires the use of Full Overlay doors.
- Face Frame cabinet design can use either Full Overlay, Partial Overlay, or Inset door styles.
FULL OVERLAY
Full Overlay doors cover the entire front of the cabinet box in Frameless cabinet design; they also cover the entire cabinet frame when used in Face Frame design. This creates a streamlined look, where there is consistently only a tiny gap between each door and drawer when closed. This European inspired look is popular in contemporary American design.
Full Overlay gives a clean and sleek look. It also optimizes storage space (when used with Frameless cabinet boxes).
Full Overlay is seen here in the tiny galley style kitchen of the historic David Saylor House.
Of course, many different finishes and styles can be created with Full Overlay doors. Here are just a few examples.
Full Overlay style as seen in a more contemporary styled kitchen.
Notice that all of the door hinges are concealed with Full Overlay style doors. The hinges attach directly to the cabinet box with Frameless Cabinet design, and they attach inside the frame in Face Frame Design.
Full Overlay style doors were installed when renovating this circa 1815 Charleston, South Carolina shotgun home.
An ultra modern kitchen featuring Full Overlay style cabinet drawers.
Lauren Liess designed this kitchen with Full Overlay style doors and drawers.
PARTIAL OVERLAY
Partial Overlay doors, which are an option with Face Frame cabinet design, cover only a small part of the cabinet face when shut, leaving most of the frame exposed. Generally, a 1″-2″ strip of frame is seen consistently across the face of the cabinets when the doors are closed. Because of this large gap left between drawers and doors, there is less precision required to install and manufacture Partial Overlay style doors. And because of this, it’s also generally the cheapest.
This is the most common type of door we’ve seen in the area here. Walk into any southern Illinois home, and typically this is the style you’ll see!
Partial Overlay style doors as seen in designer Holly Mathis’s Houston home.
Partial Overlay door style is seen in this tiny and adorable Birmingham cottage kitchen.
Partial Overlay style: there is a rather large gap of exposed frame between the doors and drawers, and the closed doors and drawers rest on top of the face frame.
Similar to Inset, which we’ll look at below in the next section, there is a considerable amount of unusable cabinet space with this style.
Partial Overlay style face framed cabinets in the kitchen basement of Thomas Ravenel’s plantation, Brookland.
Notice, door hinges can be either concealed or exposed.
Partial Overlay style cabinets got an update with a fresh coat of paint and new hardware in this renovation example.
INSET
Inset style doors and drawers fit precisely inside the face frame of the cabinet, making for a flush appearance. The full frame of the cabinets is shown. It’s a very traditional look used in Face Frame cabinet making. Because of the very tight tolerance associated with creating the inset, it is generally the most costly to make.
Precisely made Inset drawers (with beaded edge profile).
Inset style as seen in the beautiful kitchen of Elizabeth Locke.
Here we see a grouping of various finishes and styles of Inset doors and drawers. Cabinet makers often offer a couple different options in edge profile – usually beaded or plain (both of which can be seen in these examples). Additionally, based on your budget and preference, door hinges can be exposed or hidden.
In a French inspired kitchen, pretty blue Inset cabinetry was installed in this Houston home.
Look closely to see that the cabinet doors are Inset style. So pretty!
Inset style with concealed door hinges. I love the look of those turn latches, by the way.
One thing to note is that usable cabinet space is not optimized with Inset design. The exposed face frame eats up valuable room between drawers. (The same is true for Partial Overlay style and actually Full Overlay too if used with Face Framed cabinets.)
Opened Inset drawers.
Below, notice that the pink shaded area isn’t (easily) usable cabinet space. This is one drawback of Inset design.
Do you see the non-usable space above this open drawer and the one above it? In this example, the spices can’t be piled up too much above the top of the drawer box or it will get hung when trying to open/close it.
Below, when Carolyne Roehm renovated the historic Chisholm House in Charleston, in the kitchen she installed gorgeous floor-to-ceiling cabinetry with Inset style doors and drawers. With this many cabinets, who cares if a little space is wasted due to the completely exposed face frames of the Insets?!
This traditional kitchen features Inset style doors / drawers.
Inset style is seen here in socialite Patricia Altschul’s historic home.
This sunny country kitchen features inset cabinetry designed by Plain English (with exposed door hinges).
So which door and cabinet style would you install in your Forever Home? Full Overlay doors with Frameless cabinets for optimized usable cabinet space and sleek design, the more commonplace and usually most cost effective Partial Overlay style, or the traditional Inset? All three are beautiful options – each with their own distinct look.
