Shaker Kitchens in Modern Home Settings

Shaker kitchens are fashioned with simple clean lines, efficient features, and functional attributes that make them a successful combination with contemporary designs of modern home settings, as well as in informal traditional styled kitchens.

The Shakers, a communal religious sect, believed strongly in frugality, celibacy, integrity and most especially, industry, and these are some of the reasons that made them experts in the production of the most honest and forthright cabinetry and furniture pieces, during the late 18th century and the early parts of the 19th century.

Part of their religious beliefs included workmanship qualities (what we can refer to as today's quality control), and these standards were collectively set by their community and strictly adhered to.

The Shaker style kitchen was plain and devoid of any ornate carvings, wood veneers, moldings, or high lacquered finishes, and as a rule, all the kitchen cabinetry designs were delicate in proportions, with the pieces made with their bespoke and famous technical care.

Their kitchen cabinets were made with locally available woods, with the popular choices being pine, cherry, oak and maple. All cabinetry works, and indeed other furniture pieces, were carefully joined by dovetail, mortise or dowel joints.

Absolutely no screws, nails or glue are applied to the cabinetry joints, and they were fitted in this way to enable the wood contract or expand in a uniform manner, resulting in exceedingly strong, durable, and sturdy joints.

They mostly came as unfinished kitchen cabinets, tables and chairs, but some did come in finishes which included the use of light stains or clear thin washes of colours such as red, yellow, green or blue.

The theme of the traditional Shaker kitchen works very well in today's kitchen design setting, and for home-owners who desire country kitchens looks, but with a contemporary twist, Shaker style cabinets work very well with the following added features.

• Hardware (traditionally almost always knobs), can be replaced with very ornate hardware styles, including ceramic, brass or chrome knobs, pulls or handles.

• Finishing with high-tech wood finish materials, or painted in pure white, cream, or pretty colour finishes.

• Adding kitchen counter tops that highly complement Shaker style kitchen cabinets, such as slate, marble or ceramic tiles.

For kitchen remodelling works, there is no need to rip out the whole lot of cabinets to get a new look kitchen. The existing cabinet doors can be removed and replaced, and refacing kitchen cabinets is another great option.

These changes will also give the home a 'new kitchen' look, fashioned after the Shaker style.

So, for those who love the 'antique look' kitchen, or the antique inspired cabinet layout, and wish to blend the 'old' with the new, Shaker style kitchen cabinets are well suited to most interior décor schemes.

And just as they work, and can merge perfectly well within modern kitchen settings, designs of Shaker kitchens will also fit comfortably into any traditional style kitchen décor, with the use of warm woods and the good old-fashioned cabinet knobs or pulls.

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