The door style sets the tone for your whole kitchen, and the two most popular choices today are Shaker and slab. Both can look stunning. The right one depends on your home, your taste and how much cleaning you want to do.
What is a Shaker cabinet?
A Shaker door is a five-piece door: a square frame around a flat, recessed center panel. It’s simple and timeless, and it works in almost any style of home. See our Shaker door, or our Slim doors, a narrow-frame version for a more modern feel.
What is a slab cabinet?
A slab door is one flat panel with no frame or detail. It’s often paired with frameless (European-style) boxes for a clean, seamless look. Ask us about slab options at your consultation.
How they compare
- Look: Shaker reads classic and transitional. Slab reads modern and minimal.
- Versatility: Shaker fits farmhouse, traditional and modern homes. Slab shines in contemporary and desert-modern homes.
- Cleaning: slab doors wipe clean in one pass. Shaker doors have inside corners around the panel where dust and grease can collect.
- Showing wear: on painted slab doors, every scratch and fingerprint is easy to see. Shaker frames break up the surface, so small marks are less noticeable.
- Wood grain: slab doors show off a straight, continuous grain, especially in natural oak or maple. See the wood finishes in our door styles.
The Arizona angle
Dust: desert dust finds its way everywhere. If you’d rather wipe than detail, slab doors or a slim Shaker with a shallow frame are easier to keep clean.
Light: bright Arizona sun creates strong shadows. A Shaker frame shows off that light and shadow, while a slab door in matte paint gives a calm, uninterrupted look.
Your home’s style: classic Shaker suits the Valley’s many ranch-style and Spanish-influenced homes. Slab doors in warm wood or matte paint fit desert-modern and contemporary homes, especially ones with big windows and open floor plans.
Can you mix them?
Yes, and it’s a popular approach. Try Shaker on the perimeter with a slab wood island, or slab lower cabinets with glass-front uppers. Mixing works best when you keep one element consistent, like the hardware finish or the color family.
See both in your own kitchen
Pictures only go so far. Our showroom van carries both styles, so you can hold them up in your own light and decide with confidence. Book a free consultation or browse every door style.