The kitchen cabinet door styles that you choose will anchor the overall look and of your kitchen.
Here is a brief explanation of the two main cabinet doors styles that you have to choose from.
Frame and Panel Doors:
(Also known as Five Piece Doors) This style door features a veneer or solid wood center panel with a frame built around the panel. The panel is slotted into grooves in the frame and top quality manufacturer will use a Notch and Peg system with foam inserts to hold the panel in place.
The panels come in several styles as well:
Raised Panels Cabinet Doors
The panel of a raised panel cabinet door has routed edges that make it look like it is protruding outward and you can choose between a square or arched panel.
If you choose a veneer panel you should know that you will not have the option to refinish this style cabinet door; where as a solid wood cabinet door will allow you to sand and change the panels finish in the future.
Recessed Panel Cabinet Doors
This panel is flat and set back in from the surrounding frame. Just like the raised panel cabinet doors, a veneer panel will eliminate the option of refinishing the pane. The other option is a solid wood reversed panel.
Bead Board Cabinet Doors
This style door has vertical grooves routed into the panel and is sometimes referred to as a Cape Cod door style.
Slab Cabinet Doors:
The other style of cabinet door style that you will find is a slab door and it will be available in either a solid wood panel or a covered substrate. The substrate can be either a MDF or particle board covered in laminate, wood veneer, thermo-foil or melamine.
Thermo-foil can take on the appearance of a raised panel cabinet door when the foil is molded over a MDF panel that has been routed into the shape of a frame and panel door.