The Secret Longevity of Shaker Kitchen Cabinets

If warm, simple and built to stand the test of time is your renovation mantra then look no further than Shaker kitchen cabinets. The shakers were a religious movement that originated in the late 1700’s; while the shaker religion may have never caught on to mainstream culture their furniture sure did! Shaker style furniture is known for its thoughtful simplicity and utilitarian functionality. In fact their furniture is so popular and well designed it is showcased at the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Shaker kitchen cabinets include simple clean lines, a solid wood make and minimal ornamentation. Cupboard faces are traditionally flat or have a single inset pane of wood behind a solid frame – this will not have the same angular cutouts as a raised panel door. They are typically in a cherry, maple, hickory or oak and are made up of solid construction. The shaker’s believed that they only had 1000 years to get it right, so they wanted to ensure that what they built would last. Shaker style cabinets can also be painted; however if you know you are going to paint them don’t invest in distinctive or darker wood like cherry, which will show under the paint. When looking at colors a crisp clean white is always a good match for the simple cupboard appearance. If you chose to do Shaker style kitchen cabinets you can invest in this permanent element of your kitchen without worrying that it will go out of style. Creating the perfect backdrop to allow the more inexpensive and temporary elements to let your kitchen evolve and change as time goes on.

If you decide to design your kitchen in the Shaker style don’t forget their most important value – the beauty of utility. The Shakers paid close attention to details, making their designs famous, and you can too. When designing your shaker style kitchen think about possibly exposing some joinery revealing the utilitarian nature of the elements while creating a simple thoughtful detail that can be admired. What about try this with exposed dovetail joints, which were some of the shakers favorites connections. When picking out your handles a sleek bar or arc pull will compliment these cabinets well. Shaker kitchen cabinets are a great match for a modern aesthetic in a kitchen, since the shakers removed the decorative elements from the cupboards and they are often considered a predecessor to modern and Scandinavian modern furniture.