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Shaker cabinets

Comparing Custom Cabinets – Shaker versus Raised Panel

By / custom cabinets, Kitchen Remodel / Comments Off on Comparing Custom Cabinets – Shaker versus Raised Panel

When it comes to renovating Orange County kitchens, most homeowners split their preference for custom cabinets. Shaker door fronts remain popular, but raised panel custom cabinets are popular as well.

Let’s compare the two custom cabinet styles.

Green & white custom cabinets with black quartz countertops

Shaker Custom Cabinets

Shaker cabinets date back to the early 1800’s. The cabinet aesthetic grew from the Shaker’s commitment to designs that exhibited their belief in simplicity. The clean lines represent the purity that the Shakers sought in all corners of their lives – including their cabinets and furniture.

A simple center recessed panel sets Shaker cabinets apart from all others. At a glance, you recognize the Shaker style.

Teal and white custom cabinets in kitchen with white countertops and backsplash

On the plus side

Shaker custom cabinets offer the opportunity to customize by adding ornamental hardware. You can swap the look of the door by simply swapping out the hardware.

In addition, Shaker-style cabinets have a timeless appeal that won’t go out of style and will be a draw when selling the house.

Modern coastal kitchen design with black and white custom cabinets

On the negative side

Let’s face it, Shaker-style cabinets are popular. Really popular. Really, really popular. That means if you want your kitchen to stand out or you are a fan of Avant Garde design, stay away from these cabinets.  While Shaker custom cabinets can be finished in amazing colors, that recessed panel will still be an obvious design element.

Raised Panel Cabinets

Where Shaker cabinets feature a center recessed panel, raised panel cabinets veer into the more ornate. Think shaped, raised center panels accentuated by grooves and additional molding. They instantly add a more formal feel to any kitchen.

Raised panel-style cabinetry is newer than Shaker-style cabinetry. It only gained popularity at the beginning of the 21st century, when the modern kitchen was born. Artisans carefully routed and carved doors to create the iconic raised panels we treasure today.

On the plus side

Raised panel custom cabinets certainly elevate the look and feel of any kitchen. They provide an avenue for creating a posh, upscale feel to the room. In addition, you get the ultimate in customization. Bespoke panels and molding make your cabinets like no other.

On the negative side

All that ornamentation adds to the cost of materials and labor that go into the custom cabinets. That makes the price for raised panel cabinets generally higher than their Shaker counterparts. In addition, the nooks and crannies created by the ornamentation capture grease, dust, and food particles. This means they are slightly more difficult to clean.

Custom Cabinet Pop Quiz

Inspired Remodels works with all types of custom cabinets. Take a look at these kitchens and see if you can identify the Shaker cabinets from the raised panel cabinets.

 

Kitchen backsplash

kitchen and bath contractors after picture with gold lamps, white cabinets, and black counters

Custom Kitchen Remodeling For Beauty and Function

By / custom cabinets, Kitchen Remodel / Comments Off on Custom Kitchen Remodeling For Beauty and Function

In Orange County homes, custom kitchen remodeling creates beautiful and functional spaces. From spaces for quick meals to gourmet kitchens, Inspired Remodels improves kitchen layouts to reflect how and why you cook. Then they make the space attractive.

mid-century modern kitchen with marble look quartz and walnut cabinets

Elegant Efficiency

Whether you craft culinary creations for a crowd or specialize in 15-minute meals on a nightly basis, efficiency in the kitchen is essential.

This Orange County custom kitchen remodel provides a large work area next to the sink and the cooktop is a mere pivot away. This design eliminates needless steps and utilizes the kitchen triangle design concept.

Key stations, placed in the shape of a triangle make a kitchen efficient. Inspired Remodels takes the triangle and turns it into elegance.

Marble-look quartz offers the prestige of stone counters with the bliss of easy-care quartz. Walnut cabinets tailor made for the space provide all the storage this cook needs.

Abundant natural light enhanced with recessed lighting and accessorized with pendant lamps allows the cook to customize the lighting to the use. Enjoy all three sources when cooking and rely on natural ambient light or pendant lights when eating or entertaining.

Open for Living

Small spaces need shouldn’t hamper your culinary ambitions. This custom kitchen remodeling project makes the most of every available inch by incorporating an open concept for cooking and living.

Space for casual eating under a window adds functionality while making the most of the square footage. On the opposite side, you’ll find room for more formal dining.

In the middle? Why a custom kitchen packed with features in every inch. In lieu of upper cabinets, find shelves for storage. Shelves create the appearance of more space than cabinets while still proving storage.

The dishwasher, installed next to the sink, makes clean-up a breeze. White subway tile and shaker-style cabinets along with abundant light make the space appear larger than it is.

LaCantina Door & Window system

Custom Kitchen Remodeling Brings Outdoors Inside

Make sure your kitchen remodel shows off our great Orange County outdoors. The remodel above adds La Cantina doors and windows to make the kitchen feel like it is right by the pool. That’s because it is!

kitchen remodel incorporates open concept for kitchen and dining areas

A luxury bar off the kitchen uses a stunning poolside location for the backdrop.

Inspired  Remodels even creates outdoor kitchen, eating, and entertaining spaces. With a space like this, who would ever go inside?

Create an Inspired Kitchen Remodel

When you are ready to convert dreams into reality, let Inspired Remodels do the heavy lifting.

Kitchen remodeling, bathroom renovation, indoors or outdoors, Inspired Remodels provides one stop for design and build services. Call 949 716-1938 and schedule a consultation.

 

 

5 Enduring Custom Kitchen Remodeling Trends for 2022

By / custom cabinets, Kitchen Remodel / Comments Off on 5 Enduring Custom Kitchen Remodeling Trends for 2022

Custom kitchen remodeling trends come crashing in like waves pounding the Pacific shoreline. Many ebb quickly and return to the sea of flash in the pan trends but others endure. Get the most of your remodeling budget and skip those ebbing trends. Incorporate these five enduring kitchen remodel trends for a dream kitchen in 2022 that will still be stylish in 2032.

Full Backsplashes

Remember when backsplashes were just a few rows high? Literally just enough to stop the splashing water or food? Not only are those days gone, but they also aren’t coming back any time soon.

Modern kitchens use the backsplash as a full design element. That’s why in 2022 and beyond, you’ll find no matter the material you pick, in custom kitchens the backsplash is full.

Backsplashes cover from countertop to the ceiling in this recent Mission Viejo custom kitchen remodeling project completed by Inspired Remodels.

The chevron tile design will also endure. Chevron patterns date back to ancient Greek pottery and textiles but the word didn’t appear in the English language until the 14th century. If a pattern has endured seven centuries, there’s a good chance it will endure in your kitchen another 30 years.

 

Minimalist Design

Less continues to be more in the kitchen. Fussy decor is as out-of-date as avocado green cabinets or appliances. Today’s focus is on functionality and easy-to-clean surfaces. Neutral tones set the stage

Modern kitchens work hard, and they get dirty. Minimalist design creates kitchens that work hard and look stunning in the process.

Recessed lighting continues to play a starring role in lighting. Lighting installed under the upper cabinets adds task lighting with invisible fixtures. It’s the quintessential touch of minimal design and it is here to stay.

Even kitchen islands are minimalist. They will continue to serve dual purposes by providing prep and work areas as well as functioning as a dining space.

Appliances are carefully tucked away until needed. No more toaster on the counter, but instead ample cabinet space to store toasters and air fryers. Only the coffee pot or Keurig stays in sight.

Shaker Cabinets

Since the shaking Quakers arrived in the American colonies in 1774, they’ve set the design standard for simple, practical, and beautiful furniture and cabinets.

The religious sect may have only lasted about 150 years, but the simple recessed panel door that they designed endures in kitchens to this day.

quarts countertops are hot kitchen renovation renovation trend in 2019

Shaker cabinets aren’t going anywhere. And with so many semi-custom cabinet makers like Decora and Waypoint offering Shaker panel doors, there’s a reason Shaker panel cabinets show up in Orange County kitchen remodels on a regular basis.

Whether you prefer the modern, minimalist design or like living elements like flowers and fruit on display, Shaker cabinets will always be the perfect match.

 

custom kitchen remodel features blue cabinets

Color Blocking

Just because kitchens are less fussy, doesn’t mean they are less interesting. Creating blocks of colors with islands and cabinetry is no longer just a passing fad. It’s an enduring trend that creates a timeless kitchen. In Orange County, custom kitchen remodeling projects have featured contrasting colors in the color blocking. In other areas of the country, color blocks are tone-on-tone.

contrasting cabinets in kitchen

No matter what approach you take, color blocking with tile or cabinet colors adds interest and is an enduring trend in kitchen remodeling. Use tile to create a color block on a wall or use the kitchen island to create a color block in the middle of the room.

finished custom kitchen remodeling project highlighting drawers next to the oven instead of cabinets with traditional doors

Drawers Over Doors

A successful kitchen remodeling project makes the most of every inch of the room a kitchen has to give. Then it goes out and looks for more.

A trend that is certainly going to stay in 2022 is a preference for drawers over doors for cabinet storage. It just makes better use of the available space.

Deeper drawers for storing pots and pans make access easy and retrieving and storing cookware a breeze. Drawers hold kitchen and table linens, utensils, cutlery, and flatware.

pull out drawer next to an oven installed in a custom kitchen remodeling project in Californiag

This drawer provides storage space for pantry supplies and spices. And of course, because it is a drawer with a Shaker front, it gets two points for enduring.

Orange County Custom Kitchen Remodeling Pros