Cabinet doors...go wide or go narrow??

[Waney Will]

I'm about to build a kitchen cabinet upper unit. 45" wide, 42" high with a face frame and inset doors, arts & crafts style. But I don't know whether to use 2 doors or 3.

If two, I think they might be too big and unwieldy at nearly 20x40". But three doors would be barely more than 12" wide, and I'm not sure whether I'd even be able to insert adjustable shelves through the door openings.

I don't really want to make the frame asymmetric, ie a pair of double doors and a single with only one inside stile, but maybe it would look OK? Does anyone have thoughts on what would work/look best?

TIA from a not-too-experienced wooddorker ... Will A.

[Lee Michaels]

I don't know how "authentic" it would look.

But I would just make the edges and middle a little wider. This would cut down on the door size.

[Upscale]

What is the upper unit going to be above ~ sink, stove, other? What sizes are the rest (if any) of the other cabinets around the room? Will you be replacing them eventually? There's a number of factors to take into account when dealing with kitchen cabinets. Except in extremely unusual circumstances, 20x40 sounds much too big. Even the 42" high for the upper cabinets sound's much too high, but it all depends on your details.

[George]

I suppose a bit more hidden space inside from broader face frame members on either side, and exposed middle would help. Have you take a look at mullioned doors, where two become four visually? Would also make the doors more rigid.

You're really not thinking of a 40+ inch span on your shelves are you? You're going to lose more shelf space supporting them than you would with a center divider, and they would be a lot more proof against sag at 20+.

[Hambone Slim]

Will:

As a general rule of thumb, I try to keep cabinet door widths between 12" and 24" when possible.

20" x 40" doors will look fine. Because the doors are tall, you will want to be careful that your stiles are perfectly straight, without any bow at all. Don't think the panels will pull them flat. With doors that tall, the stiles really have to be dead on. Also, using a center stile and two panels can add stability to a tall door. The panels don't have to be the same size, that is, the center stiles don't have to be in the center. Having a shorter panel at the top or bottom of the door can look nice. It can also look sharp, if there are similar but shorter doors adjacent, for example, on a cab over a sink or a range, to match the center stile of the tall doors to the lower stile of the adjacent shorter doors.

Have fun with your project!

-- Timothy Juvenal

[jev]

When in doubt, I usually do a mockup of sorts. I take some cheap poplar i usually have around, cut rails and stiles to length(no joinery), lay them out on the floor of the shop and then decide. You cna run thru several variants in a matter of a few minutes. Much easier to decide in full scale rather than guessing or looking on paper.

[Wilson]

[Mike Dembroge]

How about making a cardboard mockup of each option and taping it in place to see how it looks? I do this quite a bit when I'm not sure how something will look. I draw everything in CAD first, but sometimes, I still need to see it in place first, and a mockup really helps. I draw all the rails, stiles, doors and handles and it really does help.

Just an idea.

Mike Dembroge

[Waney Will]

A mockup, why didn't I think of that! I discovered 20" doors would not look right in my small kitchen. But there's space for three 13" doors, and the shelves will fit in after all.

I made the mockup from 1/32" air-cored MDF (cardboard) though. And it convinced my wife the final product will look a lot better!

thanks for the suggesti> A 20" door with a center stile and two panels is fine. I tweak the