White & Colour Lacquers Should Not Be Used On Wood
Living in Saskatchewan we are prone to constant changes in temperature and humidity causing wood to contract and expand. As wood absorbs humidity it expands and when it loses humidity wood contracts; the finish on the wood needs to be able to change with it.
Coloured lacquers including white have a very high solid content making it very stiff and unable to move during temperature changes.
There is, however, an exception for Natural clear lacquer. Natural Clear lacquer has a less solid content and more elasticity, making the Natural lacquer flexible allowing it to move with the wood, whereas, colour and white lacquers are good for a product known as MDF. This is because MDF keeps its shape no matter how humid or dry the atmosphere around it may be.
- What is the difference between stain and lacquer?
A stain does exactly what its name states – It stains the wood. Stain is a transparent product and depending on the color and shade used, the stain allows you to see the grain in the wood through the finish. Coloured and white lacquers are solid colors; there is no transparency. MDF as a raw product can be quite unattractive which is another reason we use coloured or white lacquers on MDF.
Drawers and lots of them. Unless it is absolutely necessary to have a cupboard in the bottom portion of your cupboards, such as under a sink, then put a cupboard but what is on the bottom should be all drawers.
Drawers are so much more convenient than cupboards. With drawers you can pull everything out towards you instead of you having to go into the cupboard. It eliminates having to kneel on the floor and searing through the very back of your cupboard to find what you need. When you pull out a drawer everything is automatically right in front of you. In the name of convenience plan for drawers.
two door knobs or one centered pull
FRAMED AND FRAMELESS CABINETS
Framed:
You probably won’t find this style of cabinets in many of the kitchens built within the last few years. This style of cabinets has a full frame across the face of the cabinet box. You will also notice with this style that the hinges are on the outside of the door. We try to stay away from this style at Mirage as it is an older style and with framed cabinets you are loosing about 2 inches of space in the middle of your cabinet.
Frameless:
Frameless cabinets are built without the face frame. With this style the door will usually cover the entire cabient box or sit inside of the cabinet box. You will find the hinges on this type of cabinet on the inside of the door.
Framed vs. Frameless
image taken from affinitykitchens.com
