Kitchen Cabinets, Flat Pack Kitchens, Kitchen Designs

What to look for in kitchen cabinets...
Your cabinets play several roles in the structure and general design of your kitchen. They need to look pleasing to the eye and tie in with the overall design of your room whilst also being sturdy and durable. They need to be fitted correctly and most of all they need to be of asset to the room. So when you are purchasing or remodelling your kitchen it is vital that these considerations are given some thought.

When it comes to kitchen cabinets, you can't beat Australian made quality. There are now plenty on imports which look very similar but are made from unknown particle board (potentially from forrests), and questionable water resistance. Australian made cabinetry will normally feature solid backs, HMR board (high moisture resistant), timber from managed sources and a durable melamine surface.

It's important to ask the question of how the cabinets are finish. Do they have normal taped edges (the thin white tape) or do they have the upgraded feature of PVC edges to the cabinet faces. After having both types of cabinets, I would strongly recommend the PVC edging to all kitchen cabinets. PVC edging provides a knock proof edge to the kitchen cabinets, meaning pots, pans and crockery won't dint or damage your cabinets. Taped edges on the other hand, would damage quite easily and overtime can even start to peal off.

Another important feature of quality kitchens, is the solid back to cabinets. Too oftern I've seen cabinet makers and kitchen retailers selling kitchens with no backs to the cabinets or a thin ply back. This is purely to save money and won't help your kitchen last the test of time. A solid back will ensure that the cabinet is structurally sturdy and keep it in shape. I also look for European cabinetry hardware, such as Hafele or Blum, as they are a notch above the rest. By hardware, I'm referring to hinges, drawer runners and fittings. European hardware is made to last and function so much cleaner than imported copies.

Modern styling is one of the biggest trends for properties at the moment and in a lot of ways this concept is often demonstrated through the design of cabinets within the kitchen. There are lots of new ideas area at the moment and quite a few new takes on storage for this room, an example of this can be seen through cabinets that have a tray storage aspect placed within them. What this allows you to do is store several items in one space but at the same time ensuring that all of these items are kept separate from each other. This idea is highly functional, basically anything flat such as chopping boards, serving trays, baking trays and pizza pans as well as place mats can all be neatly slotted into their own compartment; in fact you could even use this to store cooking books. I think this is a great idea as let’s face it, space is one thing that you always wish you had more of in this room.

With all of the new concepts as well as the traditional elements, you have never before had so much choice where the cabinets in your kitchen are concerned. Another idea for example involves including doors or bases that are made up of glass and contain LED lights to light up the space, which could be done in a variety of colours or simply in a classic white. This is the height of modern design and looks great under the right circumstances. What I mean by this is simple, if you have a very traditional styled property, having such a modern room will form a huge contrast for all the wrong reasons; this idea just won’t work, however in a modern styled property this would be the icing on the cake as it would fit in perfectly.

Ideas and concepts aimed at this room will always keep cropping up, meaning you will never be short for choice and you will always be able to get what you are looking for as long as you know what it is you are looking out for. What you should be keeping an eye out for includes all of the above on top of the fact that you should always keep in mind what your kitchen will look like a few years down the line.

Remember the one that you invest your time and money into will have to last you a few years so you need to ensure that it will age well. This is one of the main reasons as to why contemporary style kitchens and cabinets are so popular. They are great when you first get them and they remain this way. Remember aspects such as these and you really can’t go wrong with your kitchen cabinet choice..