# Hybrid inset-overlay cabinets



## jsvenson11 (Feb 8, 2018)

I'm building a set of kitchen cabinets for our remodel. Yes, I realize it might be cheaper to buy premade cabinets, but we're going for a "high end" look and I haven't seen premade cabinets that fit that criteria as well as our budget.

I am trying to do a hybrid inset-overlay look with the visible portion of the carcass or frame on the inset being relatively narrow. The base cabinets will only be inset into the stiles, not the rails or stretchers. In other words it will look something like this first picture:










I can't tell how wide the stiles are in that picture but it looks like they may be about 1.5". In other words, it looks like the two 3/4" sides of the adjacent cabinets meet flush with a stile attached to where the sides meet.

Ideally, I think I'd like the stile to be thinner as in this second picture where all the parts on the inset frame appear to be only 3/4".










Unless these cabinets in the second picture were constructed as one piece and the box with the doors and the box with drawers share a 3/4" cabinet side, I can't figure out how they made the inset appear so narrow.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance


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## Sparks500 (Jun 30, 2017)

I read in Fine homebuilding, I think, a long time ago about a guy that was building cabinets using ⅜ overlay euro hinges and then filling in between the doors to give the appearance of inset.


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## cabmaker (Sep 16, 2010)

Second pic…....ofcoarse its one cabinet !

Not sure I'm understanding your question


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## jdh122 (Sep 8, 2010)

I built a study with my brother, where we started out with standard Ikea cabinet boxes but used filler strips between the boxes. The result was, as in your first picture, with vertical stiles but no rails between the drawers. You can make the inset as narrow as you want simply by varying the thickness of the filler strips since they're not structural. (This is basically what Sparks said).


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## waho6o9 (May 6, 2011)

32 mm European cabinetry.

^ Unless these cabinets in the second picture were constructed as one piece and the box with the doors and the box with drawers share a 3/4" cabinet side, I can't figure out how they made the inset appear so narrow.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance

I like the 3/4 American face frame cabinetry with the inset doors:


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## Tony1212 (Aug 26, 2013)

My first bit of advice is to find some cabinets you like in a store and see how they are made. Go back home and copy that technique. Take a lot of pictures. Tell the salesperson that your are just starting your research and not interested in buying just yet,

I'm not a cabinet maker, but here is how I would go about making the base cabinets in your first picture.

There are 4 vertical uprights (I think you are calling them stiles), There are 3 in the picture, there has to be a 4th off to the left of the picture.

From a sheet(s) of plywood, cut out 4 rectangles measuring your desired height by the depth from the wall to the front. Stack them up (they should all be the same size) and cut a toe kick out of one corner.

Use plywood offcuts as triangle braces and stretchers at the top, back and bottom. Do 3 stretchers at the front that are far enough back to be covered by the drawer fronts: one at the very top, one at the toe kick and one in the middle. Use pocket hole screws to assemble onsite.

That's your basic carcass. No need for big, wooden boxes if you can avoid it. Just add the drawer slides and a long continuous board for the back of the toekick. Use edge banding to hide the plys.

You can probably get all four uprights (stiles) and most of your bracing out of 2 sheets of plywood.

The hardest (and most expensive) part will probably be building and installing the drawers and drawer fronts.


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