What Are Drawer Fronts?

Drawer fronts are a vital part of kitchens – but do you know what they are? Every supplier has different standard options for drawers.

A white painted kitchen featuring mainly drawer fronts in the lower cabinets.
Image provided by Zak’s Home Building Centre, customer

If you’re a contractor, cabinet maker, or designer new to the market, choosing the right drawer fronts can feel overwhelming. You don’t know about the available options, their uses, and how to pick the best ones for your projects. Poor choices lead to mismatched designs, wasted time, and unhappy customers. Each of these problems hurts your reputation and affects your business.

At Cutting Edge, we’ve made high-quality cabinet doors and drawers for over 20 years. We understand the importance of selecting the right styles. In this article, we’ll provide the information you need to make informed decisions about drawer fronts. 

By the end of this article, you’ll have a thorough understanding of drawer fronts, including:

Drawer Fronts Are Similar To Cabinet Doors

Drawer fronts are the finished, visible pieces attached to the front of drawer boxes. Unlike cabinet doors that swing open on hinges, drawers pull out horizontally, giving you access to the contents inside the drawer.

Drawers play a big role in cabinetry. They add to the look of a kitchen, bathroom, or other space and improve how the room works. Choosing the right drawer front style ensures that your cabinetry meets your client’s design and practical requirements.

An island with white painted drawer fronts made in the same style as the cabinet doors.
Image provided by Zak’s Home Building Centre, customer

Three Types of Drawers - Slab, 5-Piece and 3-Piece

There are three drawer front styles: slab, 5-piece, and 3-piece drawer fronts. You must understand each option to know which would work best in each design.

1. Slab Drawer Fronts

Slab drawers are popular for modern and contemporary cabinetry due to their clean and simple design. Typically, you would order solid wood slab drawers. These have multiple laminations or boards glued together to provide strength and stability. At Cutting Edge, we produce solid slab drawers with horizontal grain. This feature improves the stability of the drawer fronts by reducing the number of boards used in each piece.

A contemporary pantry featuring white painted 5-piece cabinet doors on the uppers and slab drawer fronts and doors on the lowers.
Image provided by Hiebert Cabinets & Fine Woodwork Ltd., customer

Appearance

Slab drawer fronts are flat with no raised or recessed panels, offering a simple look that blends well with modern and minimalist designs. The clean lines and smooth surfaces make them an ideal choice for clients who prefer simplicity and elegance. For a traditional or farmhouse style, you can add decorative profiles to the outside.

Pros and Cons of Slabs

The simplicity of slabs makes them easy to clean. There are no grooves or recesses where dust and grime can accumulate. You can customize slabs from the wood species to the profiling, enabling them to complement many kitchen styles and designs. 

However, depending on the wood species, slab fronts may be more expensive than 5-piece drawer fronts. This is because popular or rare solid woods (like White Oak) cost much more than plywood panels in the same wood type. Plus, solid wood slabs may warp over time. Warping is more likely if you install them in an environment that experiences frequent or major humidity or temperature changes.

A vanity featuring navy painted flat slab drawer fronts and brass handles.
Image provided by Hiebert Cabinets & Fine Woodwork Ltd., customer

2. 5-Piece Drawer Fronts

5-piece drawers have two stiles, two rails, and a center panel. These typically match the style of the cabinet doors for a balanced design.

There are two types of 5-piece fronts: full-size and reduced-rail. Full-size drawer fronts are typically the lower drawers, over 7” high. These pieces have full-size top and bottom rails.

Reduced-rail drawers have reduced top and bottom rails. You would usually use this style for the top drawers or drawer fronts under 7” high. Reducing the top and bottom rails leaves you room to install the hardware. In addition, it makes the appearance of the fronts more balanced – and has the added benefit of making the parts safer to machine and build.

A vanity with white painted cabinet doors. The centre bank of drawer fronts contains both full-size and reduced-rail drawer fronts.
Image provided by The Kitchen Centre Ltd., customer

At Cutting Edge, 5-piece drawer fronts have a horizontal grain centre panel. This is unlike cabinet doors, which have vertical grain centre panels. This difference enhances stability by reducing the number of boards in each panel, though you can order vertical grain panels for a more consistent look.

Appearance

5-piece drawer fronts complement the cabinet door style, resulting in a consistent and balanced design. You can choose panels oriented the same way as the doors (typically vertical grain) or opt for horizontal grain to improve stability.

Pros and Cons of 5-Piece Drawers

5-piece drawers work well with many styles, from traditional to modern, allowing for great flexibility in design choices. The additional pieces also allow for more decorative options, such as inset panels, beading, ornate hardware, or edge details. You can adjust these customizations to make the drawer fronts match the surrounding cabinet doors or stand out as feature items.

However, adding the extra decorative details can rapidly increase the cost of your drawer fronts – especially if your customer chooses a solid wood panel instead of plywood. In addition, all those extra details make the fronts more difficult to keep clean.

This island features Walnut 5-piece drawer fronts with vertical grain centre panels.
Image provided by Chris Murray Custom Cabinets, customer

3. 3-Piece Drawer Fronts

3-piece drawers are much rarer than both slab and 5-piece drawer fronts. Typically, cabinet door manufacturers make 3-piece fronts out of solid wood, like slabs. In fact, the centre section is a slab. However, 3-piece drawers have two more pieces (stiles) along the vertical edges of the horizontal-grain centre panel.

A kitchen featuring White Oak mission-style doors and drawer fronts, some five-piece and some 3-piece.
Image provided by Evoke Cabinets, customer

Appearance

3-piece drawer fronts provide a sleek, streamlined look that balances simplicity with subtle detail. This drawer front style allows the stiles of the drawer fronts to line up with the stiles of the cabinet doors, creating a cohesive look. 

You can choose profiled stiles to match the cabinet doors. However, this only changes the appearance if you select a V-grooved inside profile. The rest of the time, it only changes how the centre panel and stiles fit together.

Pros and Cons of 3-Piece Drawers

3-piece drawer fronts combine the simplicity of slab fronts with a bit more structure and detail, making them versatile for various design styles. They offer a stable construction that resists warping and provides a unique aesthetic with a mix of horizontal and vertical grains.

However, their custom construction adds to the cost. Plus, the seams might collect dust over time, requiring more cleaning.

Price Out Your Drawer Fronts

Now that you understand the appearance, pros, and cons of slab, 5-piece and 3-piece drawer fronts, you can confidently select the style that best fits your cabinetry projects. By choosing the right fronts, you’ll enhance the beauty of your designs and ensure your kitchen design has the functionality your customers need.  This thoughtful approach helps you deliver quality results that stand out and satisfy your customers, strengthening your reputation as a trusted and skilled contractor.

Now that Cutting Edge has empowered you to make the correct design decisions, it’s time for you to take the next step. Learn how to submit a quote online and compare pricing between different drawer front options.

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