What Types of Interior Doors are Popular?

Interior doors types

Building a new house or renovating the interior is the perfect way to give thoughtful attention to the overall design of the living space. However, most homeowners usually neglect the types of interior doors. Even when they consider interior doors, they typically think about durability or functionality, such as how they will accommodate the level of privacy or noise control without feeling their beauty. Most occupants do not bother much to pick the suitable style of interior doors for their houses.

Interior doors are the evident elements of any home. Thus, they can add charm and character to any room. Additionally, they divide public areas and private spaces with aesthetics such as custom kitchens. Despite the project and the property’s design, interior doors can have various styles and types to complement the home’s appearance and functionality. The interior doors in any home can add beauty to the decor by choosing and installing the right stylish one.

Interior Doors Types

As told, there are a wide array of interior doors available in the market. They vary in functionality, style, materials, and finishes. Manufacturers utilize various methods and techniques, including a Custom CNC cutting system, to create different interior doors. However, each type can fulfill the home’s design needs if chosen precisely. Thus, knowing current door types that are practical for both kitchens and other areas of the house is essential.

Interior MDF Doors

The interior MDF door is utilized to connect two areas of a house. This type of door is exceptionally resistant to heat and moisture to be practical for kitchens, bathrooms, and other rooms. Additionally, MDF panel doors accept various finishes and coating on their surfaces, making them durable materials for long-term usage. Moreover, the expansion and contraction caused by temperature change and humidity will not affect MDF interior doors. Thus, this type of interior door will not be deformed easily. The smooth surface of these materials helps experts to paint MDF panels in more straightforward methods.

MDF doors for interior areas come in different sizes depending on the demanding door frame dimensions. Thus, interior designers can create limitless styles for the room entries. Furthermore, the MDF door is resistant to insects and termites. Another advantage of interior MDF doors is that they are available at reasonable prices and stylish faces, making them one of the most popular Interior doors among current designers and homeowners.

Slab Doors

Interior Slab Doors are considerably lightweight products allowing occupants to open or close the door with a bit of force. These interior doors are produced with a heavy core layer or an empty internal section as is required. The primary reason that these interior doors became popular is that they feature a stretched-out and stylish appearance. Slab doors do not have dents and decorate the interiors with no details except those completed with additional design characteristics. Thus, these interior doors are functional and practical for contemporary and modern interior designs giving them a minimal aesthetic look.

Slab interior doors are produced with various materials. These doors have limitless facing and finishes, making them suitable for different areas, including homes, work offices, cafes, and more. The coating material used on their surfaces determines their glossy appearance, which most designers appreciate. As slab doors feature uniform and flat surfaces, cleaning and maintaining them is easier and quicker than traditional designs. However, depending on the material used for producing these interior doors, they will require regular care and maintenance. But, it is essential to note that slab doors are very durable and usually do not get damaged easily. Manufacturers often apply some substances on their surfaces to provide extra protection against sharp stuff and scratches. Additionally, most people appreciate buying slab doors due to their economical and low price.

Flat Panel Interior Doors

The Flat panel interior doors are produced with single or multiple flat boards with various materials. These interior doors feature a hard-core or hollow central section. These doors are considered economical for homes or buildings requiring the same door designs for different facility sections. As flat panel doors have a simple yet modern appearance, they are suitable for minimal indoor areas. Their design features smooth, ornate, and straight lines that will modernize the interiors. Flat panels are also usable for custom closet doors and can provide various functionalities.

Raised Panel Doors

When it comes to the trendy designs of the interior doors, raised panel doors are definitely in the picture. Their design and style are well-suited for classic and traditional interiors. When carpenters make raised panel doors, they create the doors to feature a raised section which is generally at the center of the board and is surrounded by a remarkable space. Actually, it is the negative space that creates the raised panel vision for the interior doors. The unique appearance of these interior doors plays a massive role in making them the luxurious options in the market. Additionally, the embossed areas that involve more complex shapes that are not developed with smooth sides enhance the stylish look of raised panel interior doors.

How do You Glue Up Raised Panel Doors?

Raised Panel Doors

Raised panel doors are among the most popular kitchen cabinet and interior door designs that provide a unique appearance for various applications. These doors feature a modern and sleek look while having a classic vibe and attractive characteristics. The revolutionary design of raised panel doors combines two tiny wings that cut downward and two larger sections that shear upward for an ideal smooth cut in different types of wood, including hardwoods, plywood, MDF, and even softwoods. Manufacturers and carpenters aim to create the highest quality doors with the advanced tools available in the market.

Raised panel doors consist of a frame surrounding a particular panel, and it contains stiles and rails. Each product has two stiles and two rails to form the surrounding structure around the board. The rails are typically the horizontal sections of the design, while the door stiles are the vertical sections of the door. Manufacturer’s machine one edge of each stile and rail and create a groove to provide a holding section for the panel. Then they fabricate the ends of the door rails with a tongue to form a strong glue joint for the frame and fit it into the side of the product. Experts call the groove and profile a stick cut on the edge of the rails and stiles, and the tongue or counter profile is known as a cope cut among the carpenters. The length of the raised panel door stiles is often the same as the height of it, and experts determine it by subtracting the width of the stiles from the width of the product. Then they add the length of both of the tongues on the edges of the rails. This method is practical for creating both kitchen cabinet doors and interior doors.

Raised Panel Doors Glue Up Process

Creating and producing raised panel doors is a rewarding woodworking process. Manufacturers follow precise instructions and methods to develop these practical products with the best quality. After they make raised panel doors, an additional process is called gluing up the joints. When making larger and wider panel doors, experts should make a glue joint to provide superior fit and secure the door. They utilize a wide range of joint bits and glue joints to make stronger joints by developing a larger surface area for the substance. The joints help produce alignment for the workpieces and provide more glue surfaces for a robust and invisible attachment. The glue-up process features predefined and standard steps to follow. The following are the stages that every manufacturer or carpenter should follow to glue up the raised panels to create more oversized products.

Inserting the Glue Joint Bit into The Router Collet: The first step is to insert the glue joint on a table-mounted router and then unplug the router. It is essential to make sure the device’s collet is clean and in excellent working condition. Experts set the routing speed to the recommending setting for the cutter. Then they make sure that at least 80% of the router bit shank is inserted in the collet and tighten the bit securely in the holder.

Setting the Cutter Height and Making a Test Cut: This step starts with unplugging the router for the second time. The height of the cutter tool above the machine table must be equal to half the thickness of the workpiece. Carpenters can utilize a straight edge to set the router table infeed and outfeed fences to align with the minor cutting diameter of the bit. It is crucial to be sure of the free rotation of the bit and the contact-free of the router with any part before plugging the cutting machine. Then after hitting the device, cutting along the edges of a piece of sample material starts. Experts cut the sample piece in half and flip one of the sections for better precision. Then they again unplug the device for cutter height adjustment if necessary, for making the surface flush. If the flipped piece is higher than the face-up section, it is required to lower the bit, and for the lower part, the operator must raise the bit. After ensuring no contact between the router and the table or the fence, it is better to make another test cut.

Creating Glue Joint Edges: The glue edge creating step begins with labelling the best surface of each panel as “Face”. Manufacturers run one edge of the board with a side label Face up and then flip the board to run the opposite edge with the Facedown. The joint edges step must be repeated on all pieces except two of them to side up. Face run on one edge only. The last remaining part must be run with Face side down on another advantage.

Gluing and Clamping the Panel: The last step is to turn the pieces face side up, arranging them so that the mating edges are adjacent and the panel on each end features a flat edge. Then carpenters should apply glue to all edges and utilize plenty of clamps for securing the board until the bond is dried thoroughly. The final process is to remove the clamps, sand, or plane the panel flat and trim or smooth to finalize the demanding product’s size.

How do You Make a Raised Panel Door?

raised panel door

A Raised panel door is a practical door system that is efficient for interior and kitchen cabinet applications. It is a panel made of wood materials with a groove in its frame and starts to lift as it moves inwards. It emulates a structure that can be a result of cutting the tip of a pyramid shape. It is common to find kitchen cabinet doors with a particular depth followed by their edges with a plat plain that merges diagonally into it. All of these doors are often Raised Panels. These doors and panels are straightforward yet aesthetic and classy. Homeowners have been using them for decades, and they are still practical in the modern era. Their design is considered elementary, but their characteristics make them very appealing. After having basic information about the definition of the raised panels, it is essential to know how these practical products are made.

Required Tools and Inventory to Make a Raised Panel Door

Manufacturers utilize professional tools and equipment to produce their raised panel doors. The good news is that simple carpenters with no complex devices can also create these panel doors. The only essential tool critical to making this type of kitchen cabinet door is a saw table. No additional tools are required, except for the final touch and finishing. The followings are the only equipment that is needed for the purpose. However, it is crucial to have in mind that if any individual tends to create Raised panel doors needs to have years of experience and carpentry skills to obtain the best result.

  • A smoothing plane which is also known as a block plane
  • Depending on the size of the demanding panel, two or more universal table clamps are vital
  • An extra piece of a hard-wood panel or MDF panel which should be a bit larger than the primary board
  • A Tape Measure
  • Most importantly, a table saw

Taking Measurement Before Starting the Process

The first step to make a raised panel door is to take measurements of the product’s face for which the carpenter wants to create the panel. It is a straightforward process featuring calculating the interior width of the doors or cabinets. For larger cabinets requiring two doors, it is better to add few centimeters to the with and apportion it by two to achieve the width for each demanding product. In contrast with large products, in the case of smaller ones, the carpenter should measure the interior width to know the width of the future door. However, for the height, the only thing is to calculate the size of the door from top to bottom and utilize the measurement in creating the raised panel door.

Creating a Frame to Make a Raised Panel Door

After completing the measurement process, it is time to make a frame for the future product to hole the panel in between. Making a frame starts with cutting four woodblocks to represent the width and length of the raised panel doors, while the inner part must be empty to fit the product in it. Taking the correct width precisely for the blocks is crucial. If the creator tends to cut the woods out of the same block, it is recommended to use a more significant piece than the calculated width and length of the product. As getting the correct width and height is crucial, it is better to have a block made individually.

Putting the Blocks Together

After cutting the blocks and making them ready for the process, it is time to put them on the table to make a straight groove in the middle section of them to hold the panels. The good news is that the depth and width of the track are adjustable depending on the design. It is essential to put them in a way to run the saw through the center of each block. In this step, the frame gets ready to fit the raised panel in it. For a better fit, it is possible to cut the edges of the blocks to attach, similar to jigsaw puzzle games.

Primary Process to Make a Raised Panel Door

The Raised panel door making process starts with creating a boundary on the panel to help in identifying the steepness of the door. This boundary must be on the face of the board and the side sections to ensure a suitable diagonal cut. For keeping the panel steady, it is good to use larger pieces of wood to clamp the board. The most crucial stage is cutting out the raised panel, which features setting the blade height so that its teeth place at the same level as the boundary outline on the board’s face. Then, it is essential to bring the saw table fence closer to the blade to ensure the tool intersects the side boundary. After confirming that everything is in a proper place, the carpenter starts the machine and cut the panel to have the board raised from one side. This process needs to be repeated for all four sides while ensuring a tight clamp.

Assemble and Finalize

After creating the raised panel, the block plane or the smoothing plane is utilized to smooth out blade marks on the board to obtain a better finish and ensure the perfect fit for frames. The assembly stage is pretty straightforward, involving putting three pieces of structures together and sliding the panel into them, closing the fourth side of the cabinet door.

Different Types of Interior Doors (part 2)

trendy interior doors

Interior doors are products which are made to provide exit and access to the different parts of residential or commercial buildings. These doors require to have aesthetic appearance and installable characteristics and specifications. In Different types of interior doors part 1 article, some of the important and common products were introduced. This article contains another interior door products introduction which are utilized widely for different types of projects or applications.

MDF Interior Doors

MDF is the short term of Medium Density Fiberboard. MDF doors are engineered wooden doors which are made of planer shavings, saw dust, recycled wood and wheat. Their numerous advantages and benefits make the popular among the people all over the world. They are easy to shape and do not contain knots. Thus, these products offer uniform, smooth, sleek and spotless surface.

In addition, MDF interior doors are considered one of the easiest maintaining and cleaning doors in the market which is due to their rotting free, warping free and other damages resistant characteristics. Another advantage of these doors is that they can be painted and finished with different materials easily. Additional specifications which are considered as advantages are strength, durability and sturdiness of the product. MDF is also sound resistant which means it can provide privacy at every corner of a room. These doors are very popular due to their durability and sustainability and they serve the purpose for long time.

Raised Panel Doors

Raised panel doors are another type of interior doors which are very trendy nowadays. These doors are more applicable for classic and traditional designs. They are available in different colors and finishes which makes them perfect for contrasting and harmonizing the wall appearance and attract more attention. Raised doors have particular parts which are raised a little and are often at the center of the product. The central section of the door is protruded and creates prominent space and it is located in the middle of the center part and main frame. These doors are also perfect for elegant and luxurious appearance due to their complex shapes which are not created with smooth sides.

Cottage Doors

Cottage doors look so spectacular for period homes. They are also called plank doors or ledge and brace. These doors are often made from oak and are a hard, rusty style door. Despite of their traditional appearance, cottage doors are perfectly appropriate for both contemporary and traditional residential facilities. This type of internal door contains vertical planks which cover the full length of the product. In some cases, these planks can run from on edge to another or they can be encased within a border.

Hollow and Solid Core Doors

Hollow core doors have high level of affordability which are made of plywood or molded composite material and contain hollow interior. This type has lightweight and is perfect for any kind of interior project and is easy to install or fabricate. In addition, hollow core products allow more sound to pass through. They also approvable for any room of a house such as bathroom, bedrooms and even kitchens pantry door. Solid core doors are designed almost like hollow core products. However, they structure is filled with a wood fiber blend material. It is important to know that they are not a solid wood product but are made with an engineered filter product. This adds the advantage and ability of sound acoustic and temperature control to the door.

Dutch Doors

Dutch doors are known as perfect option for stables. These products have split look in their style which provide users the opportunity of opening the top half separately. The top part can act as a window and due do this, they require four hinges instead of other standard interior doors. Dutch doors allow users to have clear view of outside thus they can be applicable for small offices. Employees can pass document without needing to open the door and with just using the top part as a window.

Flat Panel and Raised Panel Comparison

Flat Panel and Raised Panel

Renovating kitchen is not all about changing colors, floorings or equipment. Using right wood for kitchen cabinets is the most effective factor in enhancing beauty and aesthetics of the portion. Two of the most popular wood-based kitchen cabinet doors for perfect elegant design are flat panel and raised panel doors. They are many factor need to be considered before choosing and buying any of the products. As designing standard, drawer fronts and cabinet doors are considered as the core of the kitchens visual characteristics. Thus, knowing the differences between flat and raised panels could be vital. Nowadays, they are so many people who want their kitchen to have classic or modern look. Both of the product can do the desired service with their unique characteristics and beauty.

Main Appearance and Specifications

The main difference between raised panels and flat panels is in the height of the center panel of the kitchen cabinet door or drawer. The raised panel cabinets are raised above the rest of the door and generally have flat border around them. On the other hand, flat panels have a flat center, which has a raised border around it. Both of the panels are manufactured with CNC cutting and other machinery or hand techniques for custom kitchen applications.

Flat Panels

Flat Panels are the simplest door type for kitchen cabinets. These products have variegated appearance. Variety of finishes and coating is used for the product and this is due to its perfect flatness. The name of the product is relevant to its center panel of the door, which is flat rather than contoured or raised. These panels are very sleek and have clean design and lines. The simplicity of the product is unique and it can bring an extreme modern look to the kitchen

However, they are also great choice for having traditional looking kitchen. These type of cabinets have the ability of blending perfectly into any type of kitchen designs. The material used in flat panels are budget-friendly laminate or wood which are decorative. These panels often have minimal design and are frameless. Thus, the kitchen will take minimal but beautiful characteristics to itself. Another important specification, which the product has, is its easy maintenance and cleaning procedure due to its coverings. These products are often made in light or controlled weights, thus they have easy installing process and obey every safety standard factors in the industry.

Raised Panels

The raised panel is made in a way to provide extra dimension and 3D visualization to the cabinet design. The middle section of the door, which is a raised piece of wood and floats in the center of the frame, creates groove and depth between the frame and the central panel. The center portion of these doors is a little bit higher than the surrounding wood frame and they usually have square edges or arches. These panels bring additional characteristics and extra depth to the cabinets which results in having more appealing interior design for the kitchen.

These are also used for traditional designing of the bathrooms. These panels are not all the same. This means that some may have simple framework appearance around the edges and another may exaggerate greater dimensions. They are some unique products available, which are combination of varied frame-type panels and raised center panels. In general, these products are detailed and intricate. All of the raised panel products can merge perfectly with the grain, texture and color of the wood creating an aesthetic delight and masterpiece of cabinets.

Popular Colors Used for Flat panels and Raised Panels

Mixed Wood Tones

This Type of color finish has been popular for many years. It is available for both raised and flat panels. However, it is recommended for flat doors. This unique color has every type of wood characteristics form high vibrancies to low and faded hues. This color is perfect for creating modern look of a kitchen. It is classy and due to its wood-grain, which shines in some of the portions, it brings texture and depth to the area.

Old World Inspired Hues

Old world colors often contain hues with higher warmth level and have more of yellow in their structure. These colors are also called as old world charm. They are different old world colors available for raised panel such as MONA LISA, PYRAMIDA. Flat panels also have old world inspired hues such as DAVINCI, PILLOW. This type of color is suitable for both modern and traditional looking kitchens.

Sea Green

Sea green is one of the most versatile colors available for raised panels. It can completely merge and blend into any taste of design and it has unique ability of creating a tranquil feeling in the kitchen.

Muted Shades

As the interior designing art improves day by day, designers try to use more modern and improved colors in order to harmonize the kitchen characteristics with cabinets. Designers appreciate muted colors such as navy, deep greens, ivories and even charcoal. These colors are useful for both raised and flat panels.