Is Shaker Cabinets Dated?

Is Shaker Cabinets Dated? Yes, but you have to know how to tell. Some of the tell tale signs that tell the difference between a Shaker cabinet and an older cabinet include a high shine finish, and a look of much use.

A dark finish for a cabinet's design or type is a sure sign that the cabinet is not from the same family of cabinets as others from the same family. The black and gold finish looks like it is centuries old, while newer cabinets may be white and silver, or light silver or gold.

Again, the look of a Shaker cabinets might be different, because you may see them in the kitchen, on a side wall, or next to a newer cabinet. A Shaker cabinet is used and therefore has a higher gloss finish than an older cabinet would have, and they may look as if they have been in a long time since they have been put away.

Blackboards are another important design element that can indicate whether or not a cabinet is older or newer. A cabinet with a painted cabinet face, rather than a wood cabinet, are considering older because wood cabinets have a wooden cabinet face. However, if the blackboard is a nice smooth white surface, then this means that it is new and most likely from the same family as many other Shaker cabinet designs.

Having kitchen cabinets fitted when a recent kitchen remodel or reconstruction is completed is another clue to the cabinet's age. There are a lot of colors available today that were not available a few years ago, so most manufacturers now use either white or gray paint to dress up these older cabinets. This makes them look new again, and the more that an older cabinet has been used, the darker it is going to look.

Finding out what type of wood that was used to make a cabinet designs is another sign of its age. Wood is not a traditional material that cabinet makers used to make cabinets. The heavy oak, maple, and mahogany wood of the past were replaced by lighter, cheaper materials in order to keep costs down.

In order to use a cheaper material, the wood is already heavily finished, so this will make the finish look older than it really is. There are some cabinet makers who still use wood, but they have put an expensive, less traditional finish on it, so it looks much older.

A colored cabinet may also look older because it is painted black, or brown, or yellow, or green, or blue, or any other color that a manufacturer wants. In fact, newer cabinets may be painted any color that you want, as long as it fits with the current furniture color scheme. This is another reason to be careful about Shaker cabinets being dated, because all new cabinets should have a special finish to them, and this makes them look older than they really are.

Having the matching parts for an older cabinet is another sign that it is old. Parts for Shaker cabinets often have an "ancient" quality to them, and a person who buys a part for an older cabinet may wonder if it is a reproduction. Replicas were made centuries ago, so if a part is old, it may also be a reproduction.

Another clue is if there is no current cabinet design, but someone from the family of cabinet makers still designs their cabinets. A cabinet maker who does not design his own cabinets would probably not recommend a new Shaker cabinet, because their cabinets were not made to be copied. If you see someone in your family cabinet design business who will design a cabinet for you, this is another sign that he is not an expert in cabinet design, but just trying to sell you a Shaker cabinet.

There are a few signs that a Shaker cabinet is old, but no one knows all of them. By looking at things, a Shaker will tell you if the cabinet is dated. But if you want a Shaker cabinet, the best thing to do is to go to an older cabinet maker and have him design one for you.

You might also be surprised to learn that the cabinet you are considering buying actually came from a Shaker, even if it looks like an older cabinet design. Many younger cabinet makers are Shakers, because their family's history makes it easy to understand why certain cabinets were designed the way they were.