If you’re looking for a sleek kitchen door variation that combines all the benefits of modern styling with the timeless versatility of traditional designs, the narrow frame shaker door might be just what you’ve been looking for. A relatively new profile in the kitchen design landscape, these innovative designs blend seamlessly within a variety of styles and can be tailored to suit a specified aesthetic.
At Dan Kitchens, we’re committed to producing high-quality designs aligned with leading industry trends, and we’ve identified the potential of these new-age narrow shaker style kitchens to become a modern kitchen staple. As a result, we’ve researched and developed our own narrow frames, offering them exclusively to our customers.
What Is A Narrow Frame Kitchen?
The narrow shaker kitchen is a minimalist style kitchen with a narrow door profile. is a newly introduced profile within the industry . It has also been referred to as a slim shaker or skinny shaker, but regardless of its label, these modern shaker kitchens benefit from a universal understanding of their qualities. Every narrow shaker style kitchen retains the same classic styling as its traditional counterparts, with a recessed flat panel in the middle and a square-edged narrow border of approximately 18mm on the outside of the door. As a result, these products are reminiscent of the traditional shaker kitchen.
However, this new design benefits from a more streamlined look than its predecessor. This is a result of the product having a narrower frame than traditional shaker style kitchens and eliminating rounded edges and v-grooved lines, making for a sleek visual appeal suited to the modern Australian kitchen. Ultimately, these thin shaker doors combine all the classic appeal of traditional kitchen design with the elegance of modern styling, giving homeowners the best of both worlds.
Why Is This Style of Kitchen Growing To Be Popular?
While narrow shaker style kitchens do hark back to a homely and favoured kitchen style of the past, you may still be wondering why it has become such a staple in modern kitchens. After all, it’s not the only product on the market offering a nostalgic appeal. However, narrow shaker kitchens do have a number of fantastic qualities that are making it a favourite inclusion in kitchens around the country.
Versatility And Consistency
In the contemporary design landscape, the kitchen design process is now viewed as just one part of a holistic approach to home design. While the kitchen has maintained its perception as the centrepiece of Australian homes, a gradual shift has occurred where homeowners are looking for greater consistency throughout their homes. The days of clashing styles and colours are behind us, and a harmonious look and feel within homes are increasingly being favoured.
As a result, it is those products that have versatile uses that are most preferred in kitchen refits. Owing to their sleek design and unobtrusive look, these modern shaker kitchens also make for a fantastic inclusion within bathrooms, wardrobes, laundries and home offices, allowing a uniform appeal to be achieved throughout the entirety of a home. The rail of the outside of modern shaker kitchens can also accommodate most lip-pull handles, and this helps adds to the functionality and sense of modernity these modern designs can create.
So many Australians are looking for truly versatile cabinetry solutions that can be installed throughout the entirety of their home for a consistent feel, and that’s why the narrow shaker kitchen has become so popular. A classic appeal with crisp, minimalist detailing makes these products the perfect blank canvas with great scope for personalisation, allowing for the creation of a unique aesthetic throughout a home.
A Seamless Blending Of Old and New
One of the unique benefits of a narrow shaker kitchen is its ability to seamlessly blend in with a huge variety of homes. We Australians tend to be extremely house-proud people, and as a result, we’re always looking to incorporate the best of contemporary design while ensuring the overall appearance and aesthetic of our homes are not compromised. Fortunately, modern shaker kitchens are very effective in bridging the gap between these two seemingly conflicting desires.
Homes with older styling, such as those built within the Federation, Art Deco, or Post War eras of design, have their own distinctive charm and appeal, and unfortunately, the most modern kitchen designs can appear very disconnected within these homes. However, a narrow shaker kitchen is just detailed enough to fit seamlessly into these homes, and a traditional handle can be placed on the recess to further evoke a classic feel.
With a sprinkle of modern design but a classic overall look and feel, the narrow shaker kitchen is very effective in combining the best of traditional styling and contemporary design. The flawless blending of old and new achieved by these products is a hallmark of their popularity, as it allows for a number of different stylistic preferences to be realised within the kitchen.
Are Narrow Shaker Doors Easy To Make?
While narrow shaker style kitchens have a number of advantages over standard shaker designs, they are more difficult to produce, and as a result, they are not offered by all kitchen companies. If you do opt for these polyurethane painted doors, you’ll receive a total solution that has undergone a relatively complex manufacturing process.
At Dan Kitchens, we make these doors by removing material from a Lamiwood E0 flat panel to create a recess, rather than adding the narrow rails around the outside as you may expect. While this process does require the removal of a lot of excess material, this excess material is recycled. A manufacturing problem that can occur with such a narrow frame is a lack of material for the hinges to bind to, and as a result, narrow shaker doors tend to be thicker. While this production process can be lengthy, it is crucial to ensure the door is strong and doesn’t warp.
Alternatively, you may prefer a narrow shaker kitchen that has been made from traditional timber materials that provide a beautiful natural appearance. At Dan Kitchens, we build the rails from solid timber, and the internal recessed panel benefits from a timber veneer construction where a layer of timber veneer is glued to a substrate. This is the sturdiest building method for timber doors with rails, and we use this method to ensure each of our customers receives only the highest quality products.
However, the timber veneer panel and the solid timber rails are provided to our team by different suppliers, and this makes it difficult to find matching timber variations with the same grain patterning and colour. As a result, it’s best to follow the guidance of your designer, as they will be able to recommend the most suitable timber species for your narrow shaker kitchen.
Considering Installing Your Own Narrow Shaker Kitchen?
If you’re considering installing a modern shaker kitchen, the experienced team at Dan Kitchens is always available to assist you in the process. Our designers are happy to answer any of your questions and show you the quality of our narrow shaker kitchens in our showroom, giving you the opportunity to see other bespoke designs we have produced. To find out more about how we can design a luxurious narrow shaker kitchen that is specific to your needs, don’t hesitate to contact our friendly team at (02) 9624 2344.