Kitchen Cabinets with Furniture-Style Flair

Browse this collection of stylish kitchen cabinets and islands for inspiring moldings, frames, and finishes that look at home in every room.

Here, charcoal-colored cabinetry brings stylish drama to this kitchen. Hints of blue in the island chairs bring out the same hue in the cabinets’ paint. Silver hardware and appliances keep the room contemporary amid the classic lines on the island and cabinet doors. A neutral stone tile floor grounds the space.

Kitchen design: Design Galleria

Warm Pine Cabinets

Honey-toned pine cabinetry adopts classic dentil molding for texture. Cabinets flanking the vent hood feature curtained windows for a charming touch; dark green subway tile backsplashes give the kitchen the feel of an old English country home.

Kitchen design: Jack Fhilips

White Kitchen with Gothic Details

The traditional white-on-white kitchen gets a graphic update with geometric patterns. Glass-front cabinets are designed with gothic-style intersecting arches, which resonate with the graphic sink skirt and valence. Subtle lavender, chalky blue, and mint green details stand out against the crisp white backdrop. A small baker’s table was added to the center island for transition and a hint of charm. A beadboard ceiling and vent hood complete the casual look.

See more of this glamorous yet comfortable Toronto home.

Kitchen design: Colette van den Thillart

Detailed Refrigerator Door

These homeowners wanted to refinish their refrigerator doors to look like the vintage service doors one used to see in homes between the kitchen and the dining room. In place of glass, the couple used antiqued mirror for a similar effect. Rope molding lines the sides to further distinguish the refrigerator from the surrounding cabinetry.

See more from this renovated Richmond, Virginia home.

Kitchen design: Suellen Gregory

Serene Green Cabinets

Custom cabinets are painted a light green-gold with a distressed finish for a timeworn effect. The island is equipped with three barstools upholstered with leather seats. The stools’ turned legs and island’s support posts bring elements of the adjoining family and dining rooms into the kitchen, complete with the island’s warm wood finish. “Because the living room, dining room, and kitchen are basically one big room, we wanted the kitchen to blend in,” says homeowner Nancy Race. “We made the cabinets that lovely color and finished the room with molding and panels on the appliances to make those elements more furniture-like.”

See more of this lovely mountain home.

Kitchen design: June Price

Elegant Molding

Eco-friendly materials are painted a crisp white and finished with waterborne lacquer to cocoon this kitchen in airy serenity. Glass-fronted cabinets allow guests to see where everything is kept and pitch in with the cooking. Elegant lines stand on their own against the white paint, providing consistent texture throughout.

Click to explore more of this elegant and sustainable kitchen.

Kitchen design: Sandy Kline

Full Inset Doors and Drawers

Indicative of fine furniture, full-inset doors and drawers require more precision to create than the overlay variety (which is much more forgiving). Deep crown moldings add an extra level of elegance to this kitchen, while the custom-designed lobster panels add a touch of whimsy.

Interior Design: Joe Lucas and Parrish Chilcoat

Muntin-Glass Doors

Adding muntin-glass doors to cabinets gives them a furniture-style appearance that elevates the whole kitchen to a higher standard of elegance. In this example, X-shape pieces of wood are attached over the glass to simulate the look of antique pieces that used wood to hold separate panes of glass. The sink cabinet is framed by pilasters.

Interior Design: Suzanne Kasler

Rope Twist Onlay

Decorative onlays add interest to cabinets. This traditional kitchen includes yellow-painted cabinets embellished with rope twist onlays, also known as rope molding and barley twist table legs or island posts.

Interior Design: Michelle Allman

Unfitted Furniture

In this gracious kitchen, cabinets are finished in multiple ways to suggest pieces of furniture accumulated over time. The hutch and butcher-block-topped island feature a warm gray glaze, while buttermilk-colored cabinets were brushed with a gray glaze for vintage charm. See next slide for a detail of the hutch.

Interior and Kitchen Design: Susan Geier, Michael Ranson

Leaded-Glass Windows

Although new, the hutch gives the appearance of an antique piece fitted with leaded-glass windows. These glass-front cabinet doors were inspired by old salvaged windows used elsewhere in the house.

Interior and Kitchen Design: Susan Geier, Michael Ranson

Fluted Pilasters

Resembling dresser drawers more than kitchen storage, this bank of cabinets boasts fluted pilasters that deliver on traditional elegance. Furniture style construction in the form of flush-inset drawer and door fronts signifies fine woodworking. Pretty furniture-style drop pull handles in pewter add polish.

Design: Kim Nielsen

Period Details

For this kitchen, cleverly mixing elements from two semi-custom cabinetry collections--"Edwardian" and "Victorian"--created a gracious, centuries-old look. Furniture-style details include a gently arched apron beneath the countertop, turned legs set atop plinth blocks, and an ornate potrack topped with crown molding. See next slide for a look at the kitchen's range hood.

Design: Shelley Gordon

Period Details

Mantel-like brackets and a shelf frame the range alcove, which is backed by a basket-weave marble mosaic. Banks of drawers flanked by pilasters occupy either side of the range, enhancing the area's presence. See next slide for another cabinetry idea from this kitchen.

Design: Shelley Gordon

Period Details

Three cabinets were combined in the butler's pantry to give the appearance of an antique breakfront. Crown molding, beadboard backing in the central unit, flush inset doors and drawers, and deep base moldings combine their decorative power to complete the transformation.

Design: Shelley Gordon

Lacquered Finish

For this sophisticated kitchen, a red lacquered island with a gently curved silhouette offers a stylish contrast to modern wall cabinets that incorporate shelves and wine storage. Faux turned legs suggest the island is a freestanding piece of furniture.

Interior Design: Tom Segal and David Kaufman

Crown Molding

Crown molding adds verticality and beauty to the top edges of upper cabinets while hiding any gaps between them and the ceiling. Note that in this furniture-style china hutch, the doors feature seeded glass accents and diamond-shape moldings. See next two slides for additional details from this kitchen.

Interior Design: Denyse Rinfret
Builder/Kitchen Design: George Gavalas

Plate Rack

A decorative plate rack, pilasters flanking the farmhouse sink, and brushed nickel fixtures and hardware add furniture-style flair to this wall of the kitchen. See next slide for a detail of the island in this kitchen.

Interior Design: Denyse Rinfret
Builder/Kitchen Design: George Gavalas

Decorative Corbels

Beautiful poseurs, these elaborately carved corbels (or corner braces) appear to be supporting the wood countertop to this island. But their main function is to create a furniture-style aesthetic for a central workstation.

Interior Design: Denyse Rinfret
Builder/Kitchen Design: George Gavalas

Heirloom Details

Exuding the attitude of century-old mission furniture, this knotty alder island employs handsome corbels to support a raised countertop. Antiqued brass bin pulls add period detail. Behind the island, painted cabinetry boasts crown molding, full inset doors and drawer fronts, and muntins.

Interior Design: Kay Sorgenfrei

Furniture-Style Legs

Looking more like a dining room table than an island, this kitchen work center sports elaborately turned and carved legs with a European influence. Hand-painted details heighten the effect. Sink-wall cabinets feature faux legs in front of the toekick to mimic the look of unfitted furniture.

Interior Design: Stephanie Wohlner

Unfitted Furniture

Scalloped trim, cabinetry feet, and multiple stain colors make it seem as though this Southwestern kitchen was assembled one piece of furniture at a time. Marching armoires house a refrigerator and a washer-dryer unit on opposite sides of the room. The island is an old store counter topped with zinc.

Design: Linda Applewhite

Elaborate Range Hood

In this Old World-style kitchen, an ornate mantel disguises a powerful range hood while adding furniture-style details that create an elegant focal point. Crown molding at the top, corbels beneath the arch, beaded door fronts, and a glazed finish all turn this hard-working piece into a showstopper. See next slide for a detail of one of the pilasters framing the cooktop.

Interior Design: Maureen Griffin Balsbaugh
Builders: Stephen Payne and Oliver Bouchier

Reeded Pilaster

Brown glaze over antique-white painted popular cabinets gives this new kitchen a look that suits the 18th-centurye home in which it resides. So do the incredible furniture-styl details incorporated into the cabinetry design. Among them: a reeded pilaster (one of a pair) with bullseye-detailing that adds to the Old World appearance.

Interior Design: Maureen Griffin Balsbaugh
Builders: Stephen Payne and Oliver Bouchier