Framed cabinets originated from North America and have a slightly visible or concealed frame. Homeowners now have the liberty to choose between frameless and framed cabinet designs due to the advancement in hinge designs which has eliminated the need for rigid frames. Framed cabinets require an overlay evaluation and measurement to make sure that the all the cabinet doors are uniformly seated. Today, it's optional to use visible frames in cabinets due to the availability of hidden hinges.

 

Frameless cabinets can also be referred to as face framed cabinets. This style has rapidly risen in popularity and can be easily identified by visible trim boards which add strength to the skeleton of the entire cabinet box. The trim boards are often hardwoods even when the remaining cabinet is manufactured using composite or engineered wood. The edge that trim boards offer to framed kitchen and bathroom cabinets over frameless ones is that the strength of each side of the cabinet doesn't need to be as high as required in frameless cabinets. The main issue with framed that the trim board often interfere with access to the cabinets.