Home> Help> Kitchen Cabinets> What is a Kitchen Cabinet?

A kitchen cabinet is the box — the rigid carcass that forms the structure of a kitchen unit. On its own a cabinet is just the empty box; it is what everything else attaches to. Add doors, hinges and drawers and it becomes a complete, usable unit. Getting this distinction clear helps you order exactly what you need.

What a cabinet is

The cabinet is the carcass: the sides, top or bottom, base and back that make up the box. Ours are built from hard-wearing 18mm MFC with an 8mm solid back and assembled using cam-and-dowel fixings for a strong, square structure. They are FIRA Gold certified and covered by a 6-year warranty.

What a cabinet is not

A cabinet on its own does not include doors, hinges, drawers, handles or a worktop. When you want the finished article, choose a complete unit — that bundles the cabinet together with its doors, hinges and soft-close drawers. Handles and worktops are always supplied separately.

Which should you buy?

Buy a bare cabinet if you are reusing doors you already have; choose a complete unit if you want everything ready to fit straight out of the box.

See our cabinets, or call 02920 007 948 or email info@flatpackkitchens.co.uk if you are unsure which you need.

What is a Kitchen Cabinet?

A kitchen cabinet is a kitchen unit that, together with other units, builds the base for your kitchen.

Kitchen cabinets are also sometimes called kitchen carcasses. They are the empty shell of the unit, either the wall cabinet or base cabinet.

Kitchen cabinets are just the shell though, they do not include the doors, drawer fronts or drawers. You would normally need to add these in to make the entire kitchen unit. They also don’t include the hinges and handles, or typically any of the metal hardware.

Base Cabinets

The base cabinets usually include four or five adjustable legs too. These are typically set at 150mm high, but would need to be adjusted to ensure the cabinet it level.

Wall Cabinets

The wall cabinets would normally have two holes at the back. These allow you to get access to the wall bracket, that secures the wall unit on to the wall.

Shelves

Kitchen cabinets also usually include shelves. Base cabinets will include one shelf, while wall cabinet usually include two. It does vary will full height cabinets, so it is worth checking before purchasing, but often come with two fixed and two adjustable shelves. The two fixed shelves tend to also offer additional structural support for the unit.

All our kitchen cabinets come with a six year warranty as standard. To view more details on the units, please click on the links below.