Exploring the cabinet inside

What is a Cabinet?

Cabinet in interior design means, a cube made with plywood. The following constitutes the different parts of a cabinet:

• 4 side panels (left, right, top, bottom of the carcass) of 18mm thick.
• 1 back panel of 8mm thick 
• 1 shutter panel of 18mm thick.

Understanding semi-modular vs fully-modular

Each one of us might wonder what is the difference between the semi-modular kitchen and fully-modular kitchen. Just placing the countertop over the wooden cabinet doesn’t make your kitchen fully modular. Techniques used to assemble the cabinets describe whether it is fully or semi-modular. Fully modular cabinets are separate modules that can be disassembled separately when required. Whereas semi-modular cabinets are either made at site or have support from the adjacent cabinets. In some cases, you won’t even find the shell inside (wall and floor might be visible once the door is opened) which are also semi-modular. Fully modular cabinets can be constructed only when you have an empty kitchen without any countertop laid. 

Frame and shutters

When you want your space to be covered with only a shutter, a frame is constructed over which the shutter is fixed. A standard example is loft space, where you don’t need a cabinet but just a shutter to cover the space. Few other examples are covering a niche with stone slabs inside, cylinder space in the kitchen, space under the sink. 

Shelves & partitions:

Shelves are partitions that can be used to separate spaces and increase the storage. You have the option of having the shelf either as a fixed one or a removable one (supported by small pins at the sides). Vertical partitions are generally used in wardrobes to divide the space vertically and use the available spaces as per one’s requirement (either as coat hanging space or any other storage).

Leg support:

Cabinets are not placed on the floor directly. You can find small black structures beneath the cabinet. These are leg supports that hold the cabinet above the floor skirting level to avoid the undulations while completing the work and prevent water from the floor enter the cabinets. Every cabinet will have 4 of these legs. These legs are mostly made of PVC (since they are height adjustable) or some manufacturers use plywood support. Finally, to cover these legs, skirting panels are fixed in the front. These skirting panels are of the same colour as the floor units or made of PVC (silvery grey or black). The skirting panels can be either fixed permanently (no more worries underneath the cabinet) or made removable (to clean the areas beneath the floor cabinets but you will find it difficult to put it back). 

Edges

The edges of the shelves and cabinets are places where there are more chances of you to keep your hand on and off while opening and closing the cabinets. The edges of the panels are made smooth at the factory. You might find some edges pretty sharp which would have been trimmed at the site by a carpenter. As a practice, 2mm edge-band tapes are used at places where you can touch. The thicker the edge-band tapes that are being used, the smoother the edges are.