Kitchen Cabinet Glossary
57 terms explained in plain English, so you can compare Northline Cabinetry collections, read a product listing, and talk to your installer with confidence.
Cabinet Construction
How a Northline Cabinetry box is put together, and the parts you never see once it's installed.
- Face Frame
- A solid wood frame attached to the front edges of the cabinet box. It stiffens the box and gives doors and drawers a surface to mount against.
- Frameless (Full Access)
- A box built with no front frame, so the doors cover the entire opening. You get roughly 10–15% more usable interior space and easier reach into the cabinet.
- Plywood Box
- Cabinet sides, top, bottom and shelves built from multi-ply engineered panels. Plywood resists moisture and holds fasteners better than particleboard.
- Cabinet Back Panel
- The rear panel of the box. A full-thickness back panel lets the cabinet be screwed securely to wall studs.
- Toe Kick
- The recessed space at the floor beneath a base cabinet, usually about 4½" high, so you can stand close to the counter comfortably.
- Stretcher
- A horizontal rail across the top of a base cabinet that keeps the box square and supports the countertop.
- Mounting Rail
- A reinforced strip inside the back of the cabinet used to anchor the box to the wall.
- RTA (Ready-to-Assemble)
- Cabinets shipped flat in cartons for you or your installer to assemble on site. Lower freight cost, same materials as our assembled boxes.
- Pre-Assembled
- Cabinets that arrive fully built, glued and squared, ready to set and install straight out of the carton.
Doors & Drawers
The parts you touch every day, and the words we use to describe them.
- Full Overlay
- Doors and drawer fronts that cover nearly all of the cabinet face, leaving only a thin reveal between them. Creates a clean, continuous look.
- Partial Overlay
- Doors that cover part of the cabinet face, leaving some frame visible around each door. A traditional, more relaxed look.
- Shaker Door
- A five-piece door with a flat center panel inside a square-edged frame. The most versatile style we sell — it reads traditional or modern depending on finish.
- Slab Door
- A single flat panel with no frame or detail. Standard on our gloss and matte collections.
- Raised Panel
- A door whose center panel is contoured and sits proud of the surrounding frame.
- Rail and Stile
- The horizontal (rail) and vertical (stile) members that make up a framed door. Stile width is one of the easiest ways to tell a slim shaker from a classic shaker.
- Dovetail Drawer Box
- Drawer boxes joined with interlocking wedge-shaped cuts rather than staples or glue alone. Standard on Northline drawer boxes.
- Soft-Close
- A damper built into hinges or drawer glides that catches the door or drawer near the end of travel and eases it shut silently.
- Push To Open
- Hardware that releases the door with a light press instead of a pull. Available as an upgrade on select pre-assembled gloss and matte collections.
- Hinge Side (Left / Right)
- Which edge a single door swings from, viewed while facing the cabinet. Choose the side that swings away from your walkway or appliance.
- Reveal
- The narrow gap of visible frame or space between adjacent doors and drawer fronts.
Cabinet Types
The building blocks of a kitchen layout.
- Base Cabinet
- A floor-standing cabinet that carries the countertop. Standard height is 34½" without the counter and 24" deep.
- Wall Cabinet
- An upper cabinet hung on the wall, typically 12" deep and available in 30", 36" or 42" heights.
- Tall / Pantry Cabinet
- A full-height cabinet, generally 84" or 96" high, used for food storage, brooms, or built-in ovens.
- Sink Base
- A base cabinet with no drawer or center stretcher in the way, leaving room for the sink bowl and plumbing.
- Drawer Base
- A base cabinet fitted with two, three or four stacked drawers instead of a door.
- Corner Cabinet
- A base or wall unit shaped to work in the turn of an L-shaped run. Includes blind corner, diagonal corner and lazy susan versions.
- Blind Corner
- A corner cabinet where one section is hidden behind the adjoining cabinet run. Pair it with a pull-out organizer to reach the back.
- Filler Strip
- A matching finished strip used to close small gaps between cabinets, or between a cabinet and a wall, so doors clear each other.
- Finished End Panel
- A finished skin applied to an exposed cabinet side so it matches the door fronts. Required wherever a cabinet run ends in the open. Ours are priced per panel and selected right on the product page.
- Dishwasher End Panel
- A finished panel that closes the exposed side of the opening next to a dishwasher.
- Refrigerator Panel
- A tall, deep finished panel that frames the sides of a refrigerator opening.
- Wall Bridge Cabinet
- A short wall cabinet installed above a range, refrigerator or window.
Sizing & Specs
How to read a Northline cabinet code and order the right size the first time.
- Nominal Width
- The width in the cabinet's name, in inches. Base and wall cabinets are typically offered from 9" to 48" in 3" increments.
- Cabinet Code
- A short code describing type and size — for example a wall cabinet listed as 30x30 is 30" wide by 30" high.
- Standard Heights
- Base cabinets 34½" (about 36" with counter), wall cabinets 30", 36" or 42", tall cabinets 84" or 96".
- Standard Depths
- Base cabinets 24" deep, wall cabinets 12" deep, tall cabinets 24" deep.
- Rough Opening
- The clear space you need to leave for an appliance, measured wall to wall or cabinet to cabinet.
- 10x10 Kitchen
- An industry-standard sample layout of two 10-foot walls used to compare pricing between collections on equal footing. Our basic kitchen price is based on this set.
- Linear Foot
- One running foot of cabinet along a wall — a quick way to estimate a kitchen's size.
Finishes & Hardware
Color, sheen, and the moving parts behind the doors.
- Painted Finish
- An opaque, uniform color sprayed and cured over the door. Hides wood grain and gives the crispest color match across a run.
- Stained Finish
- A translucent color that lets the wood grain show through. Natural variation between doors is expected and part of the look.
- High Gloss
- A reflective, mirror-like surface. Bright and easy to wipe down, but shows fingerprints more.
- Matte
- A low-sheen, soft-touch surface that diffuses light and hides smudges well.
- Thermofoil
- A durable vinyl layer heat-sealed over a shaped substrate for a seamless, easy-clean face.
- Concealed Hinge
- A hinge mounted inside the cabinet so nothing shows from the outside. Ours are six-way adjustable, so doors can be aligned after installation.
- Undermount Glides
- Drawer slides mounted beneath the drawer box instead of on the sides, hidden from view and typically full-extension.
- Full Extension
- A glide that lets the drawer pull all the way out so you can reach the back.
- Pull vs. Knob
- A pull spans two mounting holes and is measured by center-to-center spacing; a knob mounts on a single screw.
- Center-to-Center
- The distance between the centers of a pull's two mounting holes. Match this when replacing existing hardware.
- Door Sample
- A full-finish door section you can order from Northline to check color and sheen in your own lighting before committing to a kitchen.
Molding & Trim
The finishing pieces that make an installation look built-in rather than dropped in.
- Crown Molding
- Decorative trim installed along the top of wall cabinets to bridge the gap to the ceiling and finish the run.
- Light Rail Molding
- Trim under wall cabinets that conceals under-cabinet lighting and the shadow line above the counter.
- Scribe Molding
- Thin flexible trim used to close uneven gaps where cabinets meet walls, floors or ceilings that aren't perfectly straight.
- Valance
- A decorative panel spanning the space above a sink or between two wall cabinets.
- Skin Panel
- A thin matching veneer or laminate panel applied over an unfinished cabinet side or island back.
- Base Molding
- Trim run along the toe kick so cabinetry matches the room's existing baseboard.
- Batten / Furring Strip
- A shim or strip used behind cabinets to bring them plumb against an out-of-square wall.
Still deciding?
Order a door sample to see the finish in your own kitchen light, or let a Northline Cabinetry designer lay out your space for free.