Types of Cabinet Materials

Types of Cabinet Materials

Materials Matter

​When you are considering the purchase of cabinets for a new kitchen, bathroom, or any room in your home, it’s important to consider the materials that go into making your cabinetry. Europa selects materials that ensure product longevity, durability, health and safety as well as overall beauty. It’s precisely because of this attention to the materials that go into our cabinetry that we are able to stand behind the industry’s only 100-Year Limited Warranty.

What types of wood are used in cabinets?

Wood is the most traditional choice for cabinet doors. Because they are a natural material, wood doors add an overall softness to kitchens, yet are strong and durable. Enhance their natural beauty with stains and finishes that allow the unique characteristics of your wood species
to come through, like knots, color variations, and grain patterns. Or have your doors painted for a bolder, more consistent color presentation, still awarding you with wood’s comfortable attitude.

Alder

  • Alder offers a random pattern in its appearance that ranges from clear and unmarked to distinctive markings such as closed or open knots, mineral streaks and pin holes
  • The color ranges from light red to reddish brown.

Cherry

  • Cherry wood has a smooth, closed grain pattern
  • The color ranges from a light golden-pink tone and darkens to a rich, reddish-brown color as it naturally ages.

Maple

  • Maple cabinet wood is characterized by its smooth, even, and fine grain pattern. Mineral streaks are common in Maple and appear darker when stained.
  • Natural coloring is predominately white to cream white with occasional reddish-brown tones.

Oak

  • Oak has a very strong, open-grain pattern
  • Natural coloration ranges from pink to cinnamon reddish tones.
  • It may include random worm holes, mineral deposits, and closed knots

Red Birch

  • Birch is a medium density hardwood with a smooth surface texture.
  • It has a tight wood grain that is strong and heavy, with a high resistance to abrasion.
  • The predominant sapwood color of birch cabinets is white to creamy yellow.
  • The heartwood varies in color from medium to dark brown to reddish brown. This range in color, along with the wood’s curly or wavy pattern, creates for a distinctive statement in cabinets.

Rustic Alder

  • Rustic alder kitchen cabinets have a more dramatic grain and may contain a variety of pin holes, open and closed knots of various sizes and colors, small cracks, worm holes, worm tracks, bird pecks, mineral streaks and grain variations.
  • Some knots may have holes up to approximately ¾-inch in diameter through the panel. The holes created by open knots can pass completely through the cabinet door. The larger holes remain unfilled in order to contribute to the desired rustic look.

Rustic Cherry

  • Featuring charming natural attributes of a rustic wood, rustic cherry cabinets include beautiful mineral streaks and pin knots that will not affect the structural integrity of the cabinetry, but instead create a very appealing look.

Walnut

  • Walnut cabinets feature a smooth, fine and general straight wood grain with colors that range from deep chocolate to light reddish-gray brown.
  • Light yellow or light brown sapwood areas may also be present.
  • Walnut offers warm, rich colors that accept finishes well, but buyers should note that it tends to mellow and lighten in color with age.

What other materials are cabinets made of besides wood?

On the leading edge of fashion and function, Europa Cabinetry alternative cabinet materials that can help you optimize the functionality and contemporary style of your kitchen or bathroom cabinets.

EuroTek

  • The Europa Eurotek Program is a cost-effective solution for achieving the look of wood doors in a quality, low maintenance alternative. You get the benefits of highstyle wood aesthetics, in a high-value product.
  • The woodgrain simulation is created by permanently laminating printed Eurotek veneer to a durable door constructed of medium-density fiberboard (MDF). This process eliminates expansion and contraction and color variances associated with real wood.

Metal

  • The light and reflections inherent in glass and metal brighten spaces, granting a clean, polished environment, and can also make your kitchen look more spacious.
  • Going heavier on the amount of metal will result in more of an industrial or commercial flair.

Textured Melamine

  • Modern technology has made melamine an incredibly attractive option in both price and look. Europa Textured Melamine doors are made by thermally-fusing a printed, resin-covered, textured paper to a door form made of medium-density fiberboard (MDF). The result is a durable, low-maintenance finish with an exciting texture that simulates a variety of real woods.

Thermofoil

  • Made by the heat-and-vacuum application of a rigid vinyl to a door form made of medium-density fiberboard (MDF), Thermofoil doors provide a flawless finish with a clean, smooth surface and superior stability.
  • Thermofoil is low-maintenance due to its moisture-, chip-, and stain-resistant finishes. Its easy care is appealing to many busy families. For most kitchen splatters and spills, Thermofoil cabinets can be easily wiped clean with a soft damp cloth.

UltraLux

  • Engineered to be the most scratch-resistant, high-gloss acrylic surfaces available
  • Crafted by laminating a sheet of acrylic or polyethylene terephthalate (PET) to a door form made of medium density fiberboard (MDF)
  • Available in glossy, highly-reflective and matte finishes
  • Linear finishes feature a high-gloss laminate film with a subtle graphic

Europa Door Samples

Enjoy life-size samples of your favorite door/finish combinations in your home before you order cabinets.

Europa Cabinetry color/finish/material/style combinations are virtually limitless! Your kitchen designer
will help you define your favorite looks on your way to your new kitchen. Sample doors are the best way to visualize what your ideas will look like in your home. Printed posters and brochures, and even designers’ color chips, will never be as accurate – or as exciting – as a sample door custom made
to your specifications.

Before you order cabinets, order sample doors of the combinations you’re most excited about. They’ll be ready in about a week. Live with the samples in your home until you know which look suits your family the best.