| Full overlay | Partial overlay | Inset | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Door position | Covers the box face | Covers part of the frame | Sits inside the frame, flush |
| Construction | Frameless or face frame | Face frame | Face frame |
| What you see | Doors, narrow gaps | Doors with frame between | Frame around every door |
| Opening size | Largest | Reduced by the frame | Reduced by the frame |
| Relative cost | Lower | Lower | Generally higher |
What is the difference between inset and full overlay cabinets?
It comes down to where the door sits against the box.
- Full overlay: the door sits on the front of the cabinet and covers almost all of it. Neighbouring doors are separated by a narrow, even gap. The look is clean and continuous.
- Inset: the door sits inside the opening of a face frame, flush with the front. The frame shows around every door and drawer, like a picture frame. The look is traditional and precise.
- Partial overlay: the door covers the opening and part of the frame, leaving a wider strip of frame visible between doors. It is common in older and builder-grade kitchens.
How do face-frame and frameless construction fit in?
A face frame is a solid wood frame fixed to the front of the box. A frameless cabinet has no frame; the door hangs straight on the box sides.
Frameless cabinets are full overlay by nature: with no frame to sit inside, the door covers the box edge. Inset needs a face frame to sit in. Full overlay can be built either way, and partial overlay is a face-frame style.
Crafted Cabinetry builds both frameless and face-frame cabinets, so the choice is about the kitchen you want rather than what the shop can make.
What is a reveal, and why does it matter?
The reveal is the visible gap: between two overlay doors, or around an inset door inside its frame. It is small, but it is the detail the eye reads first. What matters is not the exact width but that it is the same everywhere. One gap wider than its neighbours looks like a mistake across a whole kitchen.
On a frameless run, Sean works to a 3mm reveal between door edges and holds that number across the whole kitchen. On inset, the gap runs around all four sides of every door, which is why inset is so unforgiving.
Why does inset generally cost more?
Inset usually costs more than full overlay, and the reasons are all in the build:
- Tighter tolerances. An overlay door can be a touch off and hide it. An inset door shows every variation in its gap, on four sides.
- The face frame. It is extra material and extra work on every cabinet.
- Fitting. Each inset door has to be fitted to its own opening, and the box has to be square for the gaps to stay even.
- Hinges. Inset doors need hinges made for inset, either concealed inset hinges or exposed hinges, rather than standard overlay hinges.
Which hinges do inset and overlay doors use?
Most modern kitchens, inset or overlay, use concealed cup hinges, bored into the back of the door and invisible when it is shut. They adjust in three directions, which is how the reveals are set evenly after installation. The hinge and its mounting plate differ by door style: an overlay hinge swings the door clear of the box face, and an inset hinge keeps it inside the frame. Some traditional inset kitchens use exposed butt hinges instead, as a visible detail.
Does inset lose storage space?
A little. The face frame narrows each opening, and the door sits inside the box rather than in front of it, so drawers and pull-outs are slightly smaller than in a frameless full-overlay cabinet of the same width. For most kitchens it is a modest trade for the look. In a small kitchen where every inch of drawer counts, full overlay on frameless boxes makes the most of the space.
How do I choose?
- Choose full overlay for a clean, modern run, maximum storage, and a lower build cost.
- Choose inset for a traditional or furniture-like kitchen, and when you want the precision to show.
- Consider partial overlay mainly when matching an existing kitchen that already uses it.
If you are unsure, look at the kitchens you have saved. Where you can see a frame around every door, that is inset; where the doors almost touch, that is full overlay. The one you keep returning to usually settles it.
Whichever you pick, every Crafted kitchen is built to your sizes in 1/16-inch increments, with plywood boxes and soft-close hinges as standard, and quoted at a fixed price before production starts.
Frequently asked questions
Are inset cabinets more expensive than full overlay?
Generally, yes. Inset needs a face frame, doors fitted to each opening, tighter tolerances and inset hinges, and each of those adds work.
Can frameless cabinets have inset doors?
Inset doors normally sit inside a face frame. Frameless cabinets have no frame, so they are almost always full overlay.
What is partial overlay?
A face-frame style where each door covers the opening and part of the frame, leaving a strip of frame visible between doors. It is common in older kitchens.
Do inset cabinets have less storage?
Slightly. The face frame narrows each opening, so drawers and pull-outs are a little smaller than in frameless full-overlay cabinets of the same width.
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