5 Types of Shaker Style Cabinet Doors

You can’t go wrong with choosing a shaker style kitchen cabinet door. This straightforward design style is in trend every year, but you may have more options than you think. The varying styles of shaker cabinet doors have slightly different features and specifications that allow you more choice in creating the right mood in your kitchen.

Before selecting your shaker style, make sure you have a full picture of the subtleties of the different types of cabinet doors and drawer fronts so you can choose the one that fits your home the best.

What Are Shaker Style Cabinet Doors?

The shaker style is one of the most popular styles of kitchen cabinet doors, fitting almost any design style and providing a clean, fresh look. The history of these doors can be traced back to about 250 years ago, as they were designed by a group of Quakers who produced simple but well-designed furniture.

Shaker cabinet doors are constructed with five pieces—consisting of two rails, two stiles, and a single, flat, recessed center panel. The rails are the pieces that overlay across the width of the panel, while the stiles lay along the length.

This construction uses only straight lines, creating a smooth rectangular appearance. This appearance is one of the biggest benefits of shaker cabinet doors, as the style can fit with any trend and is very easy to refresh with a new color or finish.

The simple and straightforward construction also makes shaker style doors more affordable than many other options. Both cabinet doors and drawer fronts can be created using the shaker design style.

Comparing The Different Types of Shaker Cabinets

The shaker style kitchen cabinet door provides a timeless design, but it can come in slightly different variations. When looking for replacement shaker cabinet doors, you have five common styles to choose from.

1. Traditional Shaker Cabinet Doors

Traditional shaker cabinet doors highlight the beloved simplicity of the shaker style the most. Traditional shaker cabinets feature stiles and rails that are 2 1/4” wide. The recessed panel sits at a depth of 5/16” on the front side of the door and 3/16” on the back.

Traditional doors are made using the cope and stick joint, which uses a mortise and tenon joint that forms a 90-degree angle with a vertical seam at each corner. The mortise is the slot, and the tenon is the piece that fits directly into the mortise like a puzzle for a solid, durable connection.

The shaker drawer front follows the same design style, just with a horizontal grain, providing the perfect pairing.

2. Shallow Shaker Cabinet Door

The shallow shaker cabinet door is set apart from the traditional shaker by the amount that the center panel is recessed on both sides, and its specifications are essentially the opposite of the traditional shaker. On the front of the shallow shaker, the panel is recessed by 3/16”, while on the back, it is recessed by 5/16”.

The advantage of this difference in construction is that the recessed panel is less pronounced and more subtle. As a result, the design focuses the eye on the color and hardware of the doors instead of the lines of the panel. Be sure to combine this door with the shallow shaker drawer front.

3. Midway Shaker Cabinet Door

The midway shaker cabinet door features slightly different specifications from the other two options, as the panel is recessed in equal amounts on both the front and the back. On both sides, the panel is recessed by 1/4”. The midway style gets its name by featuring slightly more depth than a shallow shaker door, with a deeper recessed panel, but with less depth than most traditional doors.

These cabinet doors are complemented by the midway shaker drawer front, which features the same construction style as the doors, just with a panel grain that runs horizontal and thinner stiles running along the width of the drawer front.

4. Slim Shaker Cabinet Doors

Slim shaker cabinet doors feature the same construction method that makes the shaker style what it is, but they feature narrower stiles and rails, giving this style the name of a slim shaker. The narrow stiles give the doors a cleaner look while maintaining all the features and clean lines of a traditional shaker cabinet door. Typically, this style works best with more contemporary design styles, as it appears sleeker.

5. Modern Shaker Style Cabinets

Modern shaker style cabinets are less popular but still provide a unique design option. Modern shaker cabinet doors are set apart by beading, or a piece of wood that is set between the outer stiles and the center panel of the door. This beading provides an extra element of texture and helps capture the eye a little more than the traditional style. The raised panel cabinet door design is also a great option if your looking for an aesthetic modern appeal. Choosing between a shaker cabinet door vs raised panel cabinet doors will also depend on the style of your kitchen and the loo you wish to achieve. 

How To Make Your Shaker Style Cabinets Stand Out

Once you decide on your ideal shaker style, you are then tasked with using the right design elements to tie things together. On the bright side, the simple and straightforward design of shaker style cabinets allows for plenty of versatility. For example, you can choose to use an unfinished natural wood appearance for traditional design styles or paint the doors any color for modern or contemporary homes.

If you opt for the painted look, white shaker cabinets are one of the most popular options. However, you can get away with painting the cabinet doors and drawer fronts any color that fits your home’s color theme. The simple look of the doors gives you a considerable amount of freedom and can work well with bolder, brighter colors as well, like deep blues, yellows, reds, and more.

After choosing the right finish, it is important to use the right hardware. Again, shaker style cabinet doors are versatile, so you can work with most types of hardware, allowing you to choose what is best depending on your home design style. If your home uses a traditional design style, then you can use more ornate and decorative knobs or pulls.

However, shaker doors and drawer fronts work with simpler, more geometric knobs and pulls as well. If you choose slim shaker doors, then longer pulls are an especially good option, as they help add to the sleek and modern design.

Find Your Ideal Shaker Style Cabinet Doors

Ultimately, when you choose shaker cabinet doors, you select a reliable and timeless cabinet door design, regardless of which type you decide on. No matter what your preferred style of shaker cabinet doors, CabinetDoors.com is here to help. We offer each option in a multitude of colors, wood species, and finishes so that you can find an option that perfectly fits your vision for your kitchen cabinet refresh.

At CabinetDoors.com, all of our doors are crafted with our high-quality construction to meet your exact specifications, all without forcing you to break the bank. Contact us today to learn more about the benefits of each shaker style and determine which might work best for you. To see all of your potential options, explore our complete collection of shaker kitchen cabinet doors and drawer fronts.