Article Archives - Page 5 of 5 - Showplace Cabinetry

What are Inset Cabinets?

Posted on May 24, 2022December 3, 2025 by Justin Ehrman

What are inset cabinets and what does inset mean? Inset cabinets are constructed with doors and headers that fit inside the cabinet frames. This type of look is very classy, with tight and consistent spacing. Read more about this type of cabinet construction below.

The gap between doors or headers and the frame is 3/32″ to keep the look tight and elegant.

Inset cabinets are constructed with two types of frame profiles: flush and beaded. Flush frames are standard with square edges (no profile), and create a “flush” look to the face of the cabinet. Beaded frames have a single beaded edge on the inside of the cabinet openings that create a more decorative look.

See more Inset galleries!

Beaded inset vs. Flush inset — Beaded inset (left) – Flush inset (right)

Showplace inset cabinets are offered with a variety of hinge options: concealed or finial. Concealed hinges include soft close functionality. Finial hinges, which are visible from the front of the cabinet, come in a variety of finishes, including Polished Nickel, Satin Nickel, Oil Rubbed Bronze, and Flat Black.

Because of the tight gap between the doors, headers and the frame components, there is a challenge that inset cabinets face. They are very vulnerable to dimensional changes. (Click to read our blog post on the effects of humidity on cabinets.) When such things happen, inset doors and headers can bind, sometimes to the point of ceasing to function at all. It is very important to keep the humidity in your home at an appropriate level for this reason.

compare inset and all our overlay cabinet lines.

ABOVE: Classy, elegant Showplace Inset cabinetry. Click the image to visit this home.

Specifications & Product Information Notice:
The specification, materials, and care information provided on this website are intended as a general reference only. Because Showplace cabinetry is custom-manufactured, final product characteristics will reflect the specific selections, modifications, accessories, and enhancements chosen by the homeowner in collaboration with their designer. As a result, the website content should not be interpreted as comprehensive or absolute for all projects.

Some Showplace-purchased products, including doors purchased from other manufacturers, vent hoods and blowers, internal hardware kits, etc., are manufactured by third-party suppliers. These components are subject to the supplier’s own specifications, limitations, and warranty terms. Care information can be requested through a Showplace dealer or cited on the original manufacturer’s website.

Showplace reserves the right to change or discontinue products, materials, or design specifications at any time without prior notice and without obligation to update or modify cabinetry produced previously.

Homeowners should not rely solely on website information when making purchase decisions. For precise, project-specific details including materials, construction methods, limitations, and care requirements, consult your authorized Showplace designer or dealer.

Can I Order Samples Directly from Showplace?

Posted on May 23, 2022March 31, 2023 by Justin Ehrman

That’s a great question. No, we don’t sell samples directly from our website to consumers. We operate a partner network of cabinetry dealerships that operate local small businesses in your community to fulfill customer orders. Think of it like working with a local car dealership when picking out a new vehicle. Auto manufacturers rely on dealerships around the country to stock inventory, offer service and support, and work with the manufacturers on your behalf. In that same way, we rely on locally-owned cabinetry dealerships around the country to work with customers, showcase and explain our products, and to provide that “hands-on” consumer experience.

Click to view this gallery!

Visit a dealer

Most dealers in our network have local showrooms where you can:

View displays of our cabinets so you can learn how they’re built and see for yourself the craftsmanship and quality.
Order sample color chips and doors to help you make decisions on cabinet door styles and colors to fit your home.
Learn about various other product lines from a trained and experienced designer.

If you decide to order color samples through your dealer, we will coordinate with them and will gladly ship them directly to your home, so you don’t have to make an extra trip to the showroom.

Find Your Local Dealer

What is a Character Stain?

Posted on May 9, 2022December 3, 2025 by Justin Ehrman

Some stains mute variations in wood – the darker the stain, the more variation is hidden. Character stains provide a rich, semi-translucent look accentuating the grain and variation found in natural wood. Try it with one of our Showplace specialty woods to make your eye-catching cabinetry all the more noticeable.

Click to view this gallery!

Give it Some Character

Add character stains to your cabinets and bring out the inherent variability, distinctive grain and unique personality of natural wood. This specially formulated finish is only available at Showplace, and for no extra cost.

Character vs. standard

View the comparison between a character stain and standard stain below. Can you see how the graining and markings of the wood varies between the two stain types? That enhancement of the wood brings added warmth to the finish and the look of the space.

Character Stain – Cashew

Red Oak

Rustic Alder

Quartersawn White Oak

Maple

Hickory

Cherry

Standard Stain – Autumn

Red Oak

Rustic Alder

Quartersawn White Oak

Maple

Hickory

Cherry

How Grain Direction Affects Color

Notice from these images above that graining in character stains can affect the appearance of the color. This drawer header was placed vertically to compare with doors on the wall cabinet, then was turned horizontally to show how drawer fronts may not match the doors, even though they are technically the same color. This scenario is acceptable and is not considered a warranty issue.

Available Character Stains

Cashew

Cherry

Hickory

Maple

Quartersawn White Oak

Red Oak

Rift White Oak

Rustic Alder

Rustic Hickory

Walnut

Dusk

Cherry

Hickory

Maple

Quartersawn White Oak

Red Oak

Rift White Oak

Rustic Alder

Rustic Hickory

Walnut

Flagstone

Cherry

Hickory

Maple

Quartersawn White Oak

Red Oak

Rift White Oak

Rustic Alder

Rustic Hickory

Walnut

Midnight

Cherry

Hickory

Maple

Quartersawn White Oak

Red Oak

Rift White Oak

Rustic Alder

Rustic Hickory

Walnut

Montana

Cherry

Hickory

Maple

Quartersawn White Oak

Red Oak

Rift White Oak

Rustic Alder

Rustic Hickory

Walnut

Pampas

Cherry

Hickory

Maple

Quartersawn White Oak

Red Oak

Rift White Oak

Rustic Alder

Rustic Hickory

Walnut

Sable

Cherry

Hickory

Maple

Quartersawn White Oak

Red Oak

Rift White Oak

Rustic Alder

Rustic Hickory

Walnut

Sparrow

Cherry

Hickory

Maple

Quartersawn White Oak

Red Oak

Rift White Oak

Rustic Alder

Rustic Hickory

Walnut

Tawny

Cherry

Hickory

Maple

Quartersawn White Oak

Red Oak

Rift White Oak

Rustic Alder

Rustic Hickory

Walnut

Thunder

Cherry

Hickory

Maple

Quartersawn White Oak

Red Oak

Rift White Oak

Rustic Alder

Rustic Hickory

Walnut

Vita Only available in our White Oak options

Quartersawn White Oak

Rift White Oak

Pendleton door, Rustic Alder Cashew stain

The Beauty of Character Stains

The above images are examples of some of our beautiful Character Stains. Aren’t they gorgeous?

Explore

Stains

Take a look at all of our standard and character stains to find the hue for you.

See Our Stains

explore

Projects

Need to see stains in an actual home? Look no further.

Stained Projects

How Much Weight Can My Shelves Hold?

Posted on April 27, 2022December 3, 2025 by Justin Ehrman

We often get asked how much weight our shelves can hold. The answer really depends on a few factors.

Learn more

When designing or using cabinet shelves, knowing their weight capacity is crucial for preventing damage or failure. Several factors affect how much weight a shelf can hold, including the material, thickness, span, and method of installation. Here’s a closer look:

Showplace cabinets include 3/4-inch engineered wood or plywood shelves. Remember to distribute weight evenly across the shelf and avoid overloading to prevent warping or damage.

The length of the shelf, or the distance between its supports, is another critical factor. The longer the span, the more prone the shelf will be to sagging under load. Shelves with shorter spans (24-30 inches) can hold more weight than those with longer spans (36 inches or more).

View this gallery!

A view of the lighter, sandstone colored cabinets in the kitchen. The hardware is a polished gold color. The countertop is black and above the counter there are open cabinets with no doors.

View this gallery!

Beverage center cabinet with pocket doors hiding appliances, cups and mugs.

View this gallery!

Quality Assured

At Showplace Cabinetry, we adhere to the stringent quality standards set by the Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association (KCMA) to ensure that our cabinets meet durability and performance benchmarks. As of October 2024, the KCMA standard requires cabinets to support up to 15 lbs per square foot with a deflection no greater than 1/16” per lineal foot (with a maximum deflection of 1/4″). This certification ensures that our cabinetry is built to last while providing exceptional support for your storage needs.

Learn More

Tips for a stronger shelf.

Add strength to your shelf by adding decorative support molding to the front of a shelf.
Instead of using a cabinet, add open shelf storage with our stylish floating shelves.

Decorative Shelf Moldings — Veneer Shelf with Single Bead Edge

natural floating shelves — Floating Shelf

Glass Cabinet Door — Standard Veneer Shelves

What is Cabinet Overlay?

Posted on April 27, 2022December 3, 2025 by Justin Ehrman

Overlay (sometimes called “reveal”) refers to the amount of cabinet face frame that is covered by the doors and drawer headers. In the end, the overlay decision is one of personal tastes and budgets.

Most Showplace door styles are offered in two overlays: partial or full overlay. A few door styles are offered in full overlay only. In addition, several styles are offered in elegant inset versions. Full, partial, and inset doors and drawer headers are available on a framed cabinet box.

ShowplaceEVO doors and drawer headers are available ONLY on a frameless (full-access) cabinet box.

This kitchen illustrates our popular full overlay look.

What’s the difference?

Partial Overlay

Partial overlay doors and headers are smaller, revealing more of the frame. Since they’re smaller and use less material, Traditional styles also cost less.

Full Overlay

Full overlay doors and headers are larger, covering more of the frame. The result is a sleeker, tighter look.

Frameless

Frameless, or “full-access” ShowplaceEVO cabinetry is also sometimes called “European-style” cabinetry. The doors overlay the front edges of the cabinet box, and there is a minimal reveal on each outside door edge for very little visibility of the cabinet box.

Inset

Doors and headers are set inside the cabinet frame opening with minimal clearance and full visibility of the cabinet frame.

Here are examples of how the doors and headers are sized on each of our cabinet lines. The images below show a base cabinet with doors and a drawer header.

Partial Overlay

Doors and headers lay over the cabinet to reveal a more of the front frame.

Full Overlay – Framed

Doors and headers lay over the cabinet to reveal a small portion of the front frame.

Full Overlay – Frameless

Doors and headers lay over the cabinet to reveal very little of the front edges of the cabinet box.

Inset

Doors and headers are set inside the cabinet frame opening with 3/32″ clearance. The full 1-1/2″ wide frame components are visible.

Learn more about inset here.

Effects of Humidity on Cabinets

Posted on April 27, 2022December 3, 2025 by Justin Ehrman

Hardwood cabinet components like face frames, doors, and headers are made of a natural material — wood — which has great character and personality. But natural wood also has some inherent limitations that should be understood. This is true of all wood in the home: furniture, millwork and cabinetry.

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Unlike synthetic material, natural wood is not dimensionally stable, meaning it will expand and contract under certain conditions. Complicating matters further, wood does not expand and contract in a uniform way. It does so more across the grain than along the grain. It can even warp in extreme cases.

Things to Remember

Door Construction

Most cabinet doors are made of five parts: Four pieces that make up the outer frame, and the inner center panel. The notch that the center panel fits into is a bit oversized, to allow some expansion and contraction of the large center panel. This helps prevent warping, but can still open visible joint lines.

Material Matters

Paint grade doors use HDM for the center panel which minimizes expansion and contraction, but joint lines may still appear because paint grade doors have natural wood frames that will expand and contract more than the HDM center panel.

The Best Option

The Showplace HDM door styles are our most dimensionally stable. They are the best choice for painted cabinetry in coastal regions, or other areas of high humidity.

By its nature, wood is “hygroscopic,” meaning it naturally absorbs and releases moisture in its environment. These changes in moisture content may result in dimensional changes that can happen gradually over time, or happen suddenly with seasonal changes or changes in humidity within the home. When these natural dimensional changes occur, joinery lines can appear that were not visible before. For instance: As wood swells and contracts due to seasonal humidity changes, a joint where a stile and rail meet can open up slightly, showing a line that was not previously visible. When exposed to drier air, door center panels will contract, exposing a visible line next to the stile until moisture is restored. These are inherent characteristics of wood, are not considered flaws, and are not covered under the Showplace warranty.

The most important thing you can do is stabilize the humidity in the home. Heating systems dry out the air in the winter, causing wood to contract. Taking steps to maintain proper relative humidity year-round will keep your cabinetry more stable. We recommend 30% to 55% relative humidity.
Air conditioning helps, as it removes some humidity from the air. But additional steps, like a dehumidifier, may still be needed in some locations and climates.
Seasonal homes, especially those near water, should be heated and air conditioned, even when not in use. Maintain a reasonable interior temperature of 40 to 90 degrees F.
If you want painted cabinetry and possible joint lines are a major issue to you, choose one of the Showplace MDF door styles.
Consider one of our slab door styles with solid MDF cores and a veneered surface. They show no joints and are very stable.
Our best recommendation is to accept wood for what it is, and look on dimensional changes as another aspect of the unique personality of a lovely, variable natural material.

Find Your Local Dealer

How Do I Care for My Stained or Painted Cabinets?

Posted on April 27, 2022November 25, 2025 by Justin Ehrman

Showplace cabinetry is designed and crafted to stand up to rigorous daily use. No special or unique care is required for your paint or stained cabinets. Simple common-sense precautions and practices will keep your Showplace stained or painted cabinets looking great for years to come.

Things to keep in mind

Darkening: All woods naturally darken with age. There is no way to prevent this process as it is a part of wood’s natural character. Woods subjected to prolonged direct sunlight will darken faster.

Dimensional changes: Since wood is a naturally porous material, it will absorb and release moisture, causing unavoidable swelling and shrinking. Typically associated with switching seasons, this can cause dimensional changes, and in larger pieces, can result in minor warping. We recommend humidity levels in the home between 30% – 55%. Humidity levels outside that range can lead to cracked joints, shrinking center panels and broken mullions in doors with that modification.

Drawers and interiors: Drawer glides and hinges should need no periodic maintenance or lubrication.

Surface damage: Touch up those inevitable nicks and scratches with a Showplace touch-up kit. Kits are available from your Showplace dealer and include instructions.

Curing time: Showplace Cabinetry uses the highest quality Sherwin-Williams paints, SHER-WOOD® stains, sealers and topcoats providing high performance and a long lasting, enduring finish. All SHER-WOOD® finishes require a period of curing to take place, approximately 30 days, so the film can achieve its full performance properties.

Please be aware that the Showplace warranty does not apply to finishes that are exposed for prolonged periods of time to tobacco smoke and/or other smoke sources.

Horizontal surfaces: If your cabinetry uses finished wood for horizontal surfaces, remember these precautions:

Do not slide items across the surface. Rather, pick them up and set them down.

Make sure plants are in pots that will not seep water onto the wood, and take care that leaves do not touch the wood.

Use coasters under glasses, and hot pads under pots and pans.

Never set synthetic materials like rubber or plastic directly on the wood. The synthetic chemicals can damage the finish. Likewise, inks from printed materials can transfer into the finish.

Basic Care Tips

Wipe up spills, splatters and water spots as they occur. Keep cabinets dry.
Clean as needed with a soft, lint-free cloth. Use mild detergent or soap and warm water. Dry surfaces immediately with a soft cloth.
Avoid using a dishcloth or sponge, which could contain remnants of grease or detergents. Do not use products with bleach, ammonia or abrasive additives.
Never use scouring pads, steel wool or powdered cleaners.
Do not allow oven cleaners to come in contact with wood finishes.
Avoid placing small kitchen appliances where heat is directed onto cabinet surfaces.
Avoid draping damp clothes or dish towels over cabinet doors. Excessive moisture can cause permanent damage.
Have fingerprints? Try Murphy’s Oil soap (use as directed).

Find Your Local Dealer

How to Care for Acrylic Surface Cabinets

Posted on April 27, 2022November 25, 2025 by Justin Ehrman

Showplace cabinets with acrylic surfaces require care that is specific to these cabinets only because they are not wood materials finished with paint or stain. Here are ways to clean and care for these special surfaces.

High-gloss Acrylic Tips

Do not store panels outside or in direct sunlight.
Clean with a wet micro-fiber cloth or chamois.
Use water or mild soap and water combo.
Never dry-wipe the acrylic finish.
Avoid acetone, harsh household cleaners and abrasives including paper towels, brushes and scouring pads.
Ultra-gloss super polish kits are required and are available from your Showplace dealer.

See specific care instructions from our vendor.

How Much Weight Can My Drawers Hold?

Posted on April 27, 2022December 3, 2025 by Justin Ehrman

That’s a tricky question, but here’s what you need to know.

We use soft-close glides by BLUM, which can hold approximately 75 pounds of continuous weight. The size of each drawer box will determine its weight, so subtract that weight from a total weight of 75 pounds to know how much can be placed in the drawer.

No boring drawers!

No need to just have a plain old drawer in EVERY cabinet when you can give them more purpose by modifying your drawers and adding accessories.

Add more functionality to your drawer with the use of drawer partitions.
Organize your utensils, spices, and more with organizational drawer accessories.
Resize your drawers to make room for what YOU want to store in your drawers.
Modify the shape of your drawer to maximize your storage around a pipe or structure with our Chase Drawer modification.