Kitchen Cabinet Construction
Ed and Craig,
I’m getting ready to remodel the kitchen in my home and I went into a kitchen showroom for the first time last week. I followed along the best I could, but the man in the showroom talked about all sorts of things that I don’t understand.
Some of the terms he used were Allwood and Furniture Board, and plywood. And recessed toe? I’m lost. HELP!
Jillian in CT
Kitchen cabinet construction can be a tricky labyrinth of strange words for someone not used to hearing the terminology. Different terms mean different things to different people, but there are a few common words you should be aware of as you embark on.
Furniture board is a term generally used interchangeably with Particleboard. Think about the stuff that cheap entertainment centers from department stores are made of. Yes, there are different grades of the stuff, but essentially it’s all very small wood particles glued and pressed together into sheets of material that can be used in kitchen cabinet construction.
Furniture board is cheaper than plywood or real wood. Some feel that it makes more stable shelves than the others too. I disagree, and I disagree again every six months of so when I have to flip one of my sagging shelves over so that it can warp (straighten out, really) the other way.
Allwood construction usually means all plywood. Plywood sides, backs, and shelves make for much lighter kitchen cabinet construction than particleboard. They also tend to look better and match the rest of the cabinet. With particleboard, usually the interior of a cabinet is covered with a birch or maple looking “sticker” that peels and bubbles after getting wet a time or two.
Real “All Wood” construction would be where the WHOLE cabinet is made from real pieces of wood. We’ve mentioned before OVER HERE that real wood sides aren’t necessarily the most stable method of kitchen cabinet construction, at least in some of the harder woods.
You mentioned recessed toes. This has nothing to do with your feet, Jillian, merely with the space at the bottom of a cabinet. The “toe space” is 4 1/2″ of space in the front of base cabinets. It’s literally where your toes would fit if you were standing right up to the front of the cabinet. Washing dishes would be a little awkward if you had to stand back even those couple of inches that the toe space allows for.
The term “recessed toe” usually applies to a cabinet having this same kind of toe space on a side, sides, or back, as well as the front. While also offering the same functional benefit as the front toe space, it makes the end of a cabinet run look really nice, especially if there’s also a paneled end.
Paneled end? Paneled ends, also called “authentic paneled ends,” are cabinet sides that look like the front; there’s essentially a door (non functioning) stuck to them. Again, combined with a recessed toe kick, it looks sharp. This picture shows such a paneled end, as well as a recessed toe.
It also shows a back panel, something many manufacturers offer.
Good luck with your new kitchen Jillian
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