The Most Popular Shaker Cabinet Door Style is also the Most Versatile

By pmcalaryApril 24, 2022 1

Main Line Kitchen Design celebrates 13 years of Shaker being the most popular door style. Here is blog we wrote over 10 years ago. It was true then, as it is now!

Blog on the Shaker Door Style from June 23rd, 2011

The most popular door style in the Delaware Valley is Shaker and for several reasons

Also called “Arts and Crafts” a Shaker door style is so popular because depending on the countertops, hardware and fixtures it is used with, it is equally appealing and effective in a traditional or modern kitchen and many styles in between.

There are many versions of this door style

The doors can be inset, or more commonly full overlay but never standard overlay (the streamline look of the door style would be lost). The stiles and the rails (the outside frame of the door) can be 2 1/8 “wide which is traditional or wider. The recessed panels can be plywood, or the more expensive and preferred reverse raised panels. For painted cabinets MDF center panels are recommended. The door can be any species of wood and either stained or painted but never glazed (glazing such a simple door would only make it appear dirty).

Simply switching to a full overlay shaker door style with modern style handles, fixtures, tile and countertops makes it an ideal selection for a very modern kitchen

Shaker door styles fill such a broad range of design looks that they are the selection of choice when considering the resale value of a home.

The style appeals to more prospective home buyers than a truly ultra-modern door style or the other extreme an ornate French Country door style. Because it is such a popular style, every cabinet company will make a shaker door in every wood species and finish they have available.

It isn’t the least expensive style door nor is it as expensive as most mitered door styles. Added expense of glazing, distressing, or burnishing the cabinetry doesn’t really make sense for such a simple style door. This makes shaker an affordable look and so even more popular.

One question I get asked by a large percentage of my customers is “Will my kitchen still be fashionable in 10 years or longer?”

Although no one can predict the future to a certainty, my reply is always the same. If you select a style that has been popular in one form or another for hundreds of years and don’t do anything radical to it, your kitchen will always be tasteful. The high gloss thermofoil rage of 13 years ago was just such a trendy style and it is now considered quite out of date even by less informed consumers.

Below are two Main Line Kitchen Design Shaker kitchens