Kitchen Cabinet Ideas for Every Design Style

Traditional Elegance

Cabinets accented with classic molding and furniture-style details lend timeless traditional style to this elegant kitchen. A dark glaze layered over the creamy white perimeter cabinets conveys a sense of formality by enhancing the cabinetry's delicate fluting, shapely legs, and intricate crown molding. A matte black finish on the generous island compliments the scene with striking contrast. Keep traditional style from feeling stodgy by adding casual embellishments, such as the beaded-board panels and wire-mesh door fronts that nod to French country in this kitchen.

Urban Update Kitchen Cabinet Idea

The kitchen in this 1920s Tudor house welcomes urban style with a hint of the classics. Strikingly squared-off, flat-front cabinets drive the contemporary scheme. Their oak construction and unique wood grain texture compliment the woodwork of surrounding rooms. A dark coffee-stained finish melds rich, traditional warmth with a popular updated palette. Stainless steel recessed drawer pulls and toe-kicks echo the sleek appliances. Glass-front upper cabinets mix in a personal display touch.

Updated Vintage

Cabinets with simple beaded molding around a flat inset panel are nearly style-neutral. The finish and the hardware can move them toward almost any look you choose. Here, bin-style drawer pulls and visible door latches, mixed with charming glass knobs, nudge the kitchen toward a nostalgic, vintage look. That style is underscored by deep cove molding at the ceiling and decorative supports below the upper cabinets. Furniture-style bun feet on the island and antique ironstone displayed behind glass-panel cabinet doors further accentuate the vintage touch.

A Touch of Italy

One trend in kitchen cabinet ideas and kitchen design is to mix wood finishes or colors, using contrast to draw special attention to different zones in the kitchen. Here, the primary cabinetry that outlines the workspace and houses appliances and storage establishes the kitchen's Tuscan roots in a buttery hue aged with a distressed glaze finish. Then, the central workstation island sets its place in richly saturated walnut brown. Deep red, washed with a buttery accent, accentuates the Tuscan influence by adding decorative touches to the kitchen, such as the grand mantelpiece-type architecture framing the cooking station.

Sleek Transitional Style

You can have the best of traditional and contemporary styles with cabinetry based on Shaker-style construction. Recessed panels inside flat-face frames boast traditional and modern characteristics. These cheery white cabinets set against subway tile backsplashes and fluted glass doors capture a vintage feeling.

At the same time, brushed-nickel rod pulls and handles that work with stainless-steel appliances bring contemporary flourishes. The substantial island underscores the look with a deep walnut-finish base that tips its hat to both warm traditional and sleek urban styles, while scrolled bar-counter supports balance the clean-lined quartz countertop.

Modern Scandinavian Style

This kitchen's bright light and crisp linear design is a model of modern Scandinavian inspiration. The slab-front kitchen cabinet idea is often influenced by industrial style, but a thoughtful selection of materials and finishes gives these a softer appeal. Warm teak veneer inspired by Danish furniture adds a focal point and plenty of storage in a wall of floor-to-ceiling cabinets. Laminate-front base cabinets in vibrant lime green and cool grey energize the workspace. The single style of cabinetry, plus the same hardware throughout, unifies the variety of finishes.

Farmhouse Charm

Antique-furniture-style cabinets and a farm table island give this kitchen country charm. The brand-new, custom-built cabinets are heavily distressed to look like layers of paint had been applied to them over many years. Intentionally unmatched colors of mossy greens and woodsy browns give the appearance that this kitchen might have been added to or changed over time. Beveled moldings and ledge accents give standard upper cabinets a vintage-cupboard look, reinforcing the farmhouse feel.

Retro Contemporary

Beveled cabinetry frames inspired by a 1950s breakfront respect the blended-era style of this home, a melding of Craftsman and contemporary design. The white oak cabinets finished with a warm ebony stain bring cozy texture in a timeless statement. Sleek chrome hardware and sandblasted glass doors add an updated contemporary effect.

Customize with Color

Simple Shaker-style cabinetry lets color do the talking in this kitchen. Colored stains rubbed into the wood allow the grain to show through; the surfaces have more texture and depth than painted cabinetry. Adding overall glaze tones down the color and further complements the Shaker style's simplicity. The island's creamy finish matches the old-world styled cast-iron range (not shown), while the soft blue-green cabinets mix in colorful interest, resulting in a crisp, clean feeling with the warmth of wood without being too cabin-y.

Classic White

All-white kitchens are trendy, but beautiful millwork is key to keeping them from feeling like sterile boxes. Sticking with straightforward yet traditional elements such as raised-panel cabinet doors, recessed-panel drawers, and architecturally correct use of moldings ensures timeless good looks. Here the paneling and molding create highlights and shadows that add texture to the room.

Clean and Contemporary

The pure geometry of horizontal and vertical planes uncluttered by paneling, ornament, highlights, or shadows defines contemporary style. Slab doors with hidden Euro-style hinges give the base cabinets a clean-line appearance; linear metal pulls are necessary discreet additions. The rich color and prominent wood grain of the walnut cabinets suit the sleek profile while generating warmth every home needs. Upper cabinets with tinted glass open up instead of out in uniquely modern function.

Easy-Access Cabinets

A mix of open and closed storage is both practical and aesthetically pleasing. This kitchen mixes storage types and colors for a bold look with an industrial edge. The base cabinets establish the clean-line modern setting with sleek slab-front doors and hidden hinges while grounding the functional room with classic wood fronts. Vibrant red open shelves put dishes easily within reach overhead while displaying them with artistic appeal. Frosted-glass doors keep upper cabinets from overwhelming with bold color, and the top-hinge design provides easy access to the highest cabinets.

Classic French Flair

Gracefully lilting S-curve moldings and cabriole legs are hallmarks of classical French design, rooted in Louis XIV furniture. Here the relaxed S-curve shapes the mullioned doors of the upper cabinets. Carved cabriole legs support the farmhouse sink as if it were a piece of furniture and help blend it in with the base cabinets.

The island also boasts characteristic French accents: Reeded molding bands the top edge, and the sinuous corner corbels are carved with traditional shells and bell flowers. The island's soft blue paint was sanded, crackled, and glazed with raw umber for an antique patina.

Modern Cottage

This kitchen has all the hallmarks of vintage cottage style: bin-style pulls, exposed hinges, inset flat-panel cabinet doors and drawers, open plate racks, and glass doors in some upper cabinets. The comfortable cottage look hides modern amenities and functions—custom double dishwasher drawers, vertical storage for trays and baking sheets, and extra-deep drawers to stash cereals and snacks. An island made of rustic alder stained to a rich, dark finish and topped by honed black granite anchors the clean white cabinetry and subway-tile walls.

Victorian Shaker Style

Shaker-style cabinetry features flat drawer fronts and cabinet door frames surrounding a recessed panel. An incised line of beading may surround the drawers and doors, as in this kitchen, acting as a subtle outline for emphasis. Here, leaded-glass doors original to the 1882 house are installed in the upper cabinets to lighten the effect of so much cabinetry. Wide beaded-board backsplashes and simple white knobs respect the vintage character of the house, and classic Victorian green paint preserves the original aesthetic.

Colorful Industrial Style

For a stylish, industrial-chic kitchen cabinet idea on a budget, shop for particle board or medium-density fiberboard (MDF) cabinets covered with Thermofoil or melamine. Thermofoil gives the look of paint, including high-gloss lacquer effects like the cabinets shown here, without the drips or brush marks. It's made by fusing thin vinyl onto the substrate with heat.

Melamine is made from resin, pressed wood, and paper designed to be relatively maintenance-free. To present a sleek wall of color, this kitchen's cabinet drawers and doors were installed without hardware. The units rest on baseboards made from aluminum from a metal supply shop.

Country French Authenticity

Distinct finishes and details are necessary to give new cabinetry an old-world feel. Here, the cabinets needed to compliment the rugged wood and sturdy stone architecture that transformed this new-construction kitchen into a vintage country French retreat. The classic country French color—blue—was the starting point, distressed and washed down to a faded tint that suggests the passage of years. Heavy scrolled hardware and prominent antique-style hinges add authenticity. A modest and rugged farmhouse-style table sits instead of a modern cabinetry-constructed island.

Updated Arts and Crafts

Arts and Crafts style is a study in earth tones, geometry, and fine craftsmanship. The cabinetry's recessed panels framed with flat faces resemble classic Shaker style. But where simple Shaker style leaves off and Arts and Crafts begins is in the added details. Warm cherry wood is used for handcrafted cabinets. Glass-fronted upper cabinets detailed with wood muntins, arched details beneath the cabinets, and hammered copper pulls complete the look.

Timeless Traditional

Inset doors and drawers with raised panels and beaded frames emphasize the architectural character of traditional style with a treatment that resembles library paneling. Warm cherry in a medium to dark finish is the wood of choice for traditional kitchen cabinetry. Deep crown molding calls attention to the room's height and provides a graceful transition from the cabinetry to the ceiling. For the island, the pairing of dark woodwork and light countertops is reversed, but the same molded panels and furniture-style feet tie it visually to the perimeter cabinets.

Specialized Storage

Most cabinet companies offer a wide range of special-use storage units, so you can mix and match pieces to get the type of storage you need. Here a vertical row of cubbies stores wine bottles alongside two cabinets of shelves. Clear glass doors on all three wall cabinets expand the sense of space in a small kitchen and show off dinnerware and glassware.