Adding Furniture Elements to Kitchen Cabinetry

Walk into many kitchens today and you'll see cabinetry, shelving, and storage with furniture detailing. Base cabinets stand on carved legs instead of a flat bottom. Wall cabinets possess two or three layers of molding adorning the top.

When building a new kitchen, there are many ways to incorporate these designs into your cabinetry plan. Here's what to consider.

Your kitchen cabinets often are the focal point in the room, spanning a large area and adding lots of visual dimension to the room. Instead of lining up straight rows of boxy cabinets, look for ways to soften the design with furniture touches.

The style of cabinets can go a long way in adding furniture detailing. Many traditional styles with raised panel doors and crown molding on top incorporate this look. Then look to special glazes that will add a distressed or lived-in feeling to the cabinetry. Maple cabinets with a mocha glaze are just one example.

• Raised panel cabinet doors with arched detailing.
• Decorative molding in vertical sections between cabinets.
• Cabinetry "legs"--rounded or Mission style, for example--that give the bottom a furniture feel.
• Cabinet hardware with warm finishes

Most cabinet manufacturers have added furniture elements to their product lines, making it a fairly economical way to achieve a sophisticated look. While you do not have the expense of custom cabinetry, the cost will be higher than for standard cabinetry designs.

The costs can range from $250 for crown molding to several thousand dollars for upgraded cabinet finishes, decorative glazing, and other furniture elements. Furniture elements can add plenty of detail and character to a new kitchen. The beauty of this type of design is that you can add it in small or large doses, depending on the desired look.

Allison E. Beatty is an avid old house enthusiast who has been renovating houses and writing about them for more than 10 years. She contributes regularly to national newspaper, magazines and web sites. She lives in an 1888 Victorian era home.