Edges
Edge tape thickness and colour match are the difference between a door edge that stays tight and one that chips at the corner. Square edges read modern; softer profiles suit shaker and traditional kitchens.
Cabinetry & finishes
Kitchen cabinetry and finishes, explained
Cabinetry is most of what you see and everything you touch. This is how we make ours in Mitchell, and how to think about the finish choices you'll be asked to make at design stage.
Made here
Cabinetry made for your kitchen, not pulled off a shelf
Your cabinetry is manufactured in our own workshop in Mitchell, on our own machinery, from the drawings you signed off. Every cabinet is cut to the sizes your room needs rather than assembled from a set of standard modules and packed out with filler panels on site.
That matters more in Canberra homes than people expect. Older houses move; walls are rarely square; ceiling heights vary from one end of a run to the other. When the cabinets are made to measure, a 640mm gap becomes a 640mm cabinet instead of a 600mm cabinet with a 40mm strip beside it.
We use quality Australian-made board products where applicable, and door and panel ranges from Polytec and Laminex. Making the boxes ourselves also means we can adjust during manufacture if a site measure turns up a surprise, without waiting on someone else's production queue.
Finish types
What the different door and panel finishes actually mean
Most decisions come down to how the finish behaves in daily use, not how it looks on a sample board.
- 01
Melamine doors and panels
A decorative surface bonded to board, and the workhorse of most Canberra kitchens. It is stable, comes in a very wide colour and texture range, and takes daily family use well. The edge is finished with an applied edge tape, so the quality of the edging and the machine that applies it matters as much as the door itself.
- 02
Thermolaminated doors and panels
A surface film wrapped and heat-formed over a shaped board, which is how profiled and shaker-style doors get their soft, seamless faces without a visible edge join. It suits classic and coastal-looking kitchens, and painted-look finishes without paint.
- 03
Matt finishes
Currently the most requested look. Matt hides reflections and small surface marks, and reads calmer in a room. On darker colours it can show fingerprints more readily, which is why we point people towards the fingerprint-resistant matt ranges when the kitchen has children in it.
- 04
Gloss finishes
Bounces light, which genuinely helps a small or south-facing Canberra kitchen. It also reflects everything else in the room, so it wants a tidy bench. Fingerprints show on gloss darks the same way they do on matt darks.
- 05
Timbergrain and textured finishes
A grain or texture you can feel underhand. Texture is forgiving — it disguises fingerprints and everyday marks better than a flat surface — and it warms up an otherwise neutral scheme. Very popular as an accent on islands, overheads and pantry doors.
- 06
Two-tone combinations
Different finishes on base and overhead cabinetry, or a feature island. Done well it gives a kitchen depth; done carelessly it dates quickly. We test the combination in 3D in your own room's light before anything is ordered.
Detail
The parts of a cabinet nobody photographs
Panels and returns
End panels, kickboards, bulkheads and filler details are what make a kitchen look built-in rather than installed. We draw them, make them and fit them, so they match the doors exactly.
Cleaning and care
Almost every finish we use wants the same thing: a damp cloth, a mild detergent and no abrasives or harsh solvents. Steam sitting against a door edge — a kettle under an overhead, for example — is the main thing worth designing around.
Choosing colour
How to choose a finish you'll still like years from now
We bring samples into your home rather than asking you to decide under showroom lighting. Canberra's light is hard and directional, and a colour that looks warm at midday can go grey by late afternoon in a south-facing room.
A practical approach: pick the largest surface first — usually the base cabinetry — then the benchtop, then let the overheads, island and splashback follow. Keep the bold decision to one element. The kitchens people are happiest with a decade later tend to be restrained in colour and interesting in texture.
Your finish schedule is confirmed in writing before manufacture, so what is quoted is what gets made.
Behind the doors
What we stand behind
7-year structural cabinetry warranty
We stand behind the cabinetry we manufacture with a 7-year structural cabinetry warranty. Hardware, benchtops, surfaces and other supplied products are covered by the applicable manufacturer's warranty.
Hardware you can service
Blum and Hettich runners and hinges, chosen so that a drawer can be adjusted or a part replaced years later without rebuilding the cabinet.
One point of responsibility
Because we design, manufacture and install the cabinetry, responsibility for the finished result stays with us rather than moving between suppliers.
Keep reading
How the design stage works
Where finish selections happen, and how we test a combination before it's ordered.
What a complete renovation includes
Where cabinetry sits within the whole job, from demolition to handover.
Finishes in finished kitchens
Genuine Canberra projects showing matt, gloss, timbergrain and shaker cabinetry.
Talk through finishes for your kitchen
Send us your suburb and a little about the kitchen. We'll bring samples to the consultation and work through the options in your own light.