A cupboard is essentially a six-sided box which includes two sides and a top, bottom, back and front. A face frame is usually front of a framed cabinet and is attached to the cabinet carcass (top, bottom, sides and back). A face frame provides strength to the cupboard and is the part to which the cupboard doors have been attached.
A face framework is utilized for inset doors, full overlay doors and overlay doors. A frameless cabinet is one where the doors are attached directly to the cabinet carcass.
Bud Dietrich, AIA
A cupboard box is made up of carcass (rear, top, sides and bottom ) and also the face frame. The face frame is composed of stiles (the verticals) and rails (the horizontals). The openings created by the placement of the stiles and rails are at which doors and drawers will be placed.
ROM architecture studio
An inset design is created when a cupboard door and drawer front are placed in precisely the same plane as the face framework. This kind of design has a more conventional aesthetic, as it is an older way of building furniture and cabinetry.
A variation on the inset design is incorporating a bead into the face frame. This creates a small shadow line across each door and drawer, giving the cupboard an even more conventional feel.
Structures Building Company
A full overlay cabinet is one where the doors and drawer fronts cover the face framework completely. In appearance, a full overlay cabinet design is very much like a frameless cabinet design.
Blue Line Design
A partial overlay is a cupboard design where the doors and drawer fronts don’t cover the face framework completely. This is just about the most frequent cabinet construction, as it’s a more traditional look than full overlay and is less costly than inset structure.
Zack|de Vito Architecture + Construction
A frameless cabinet is one where the face framework was eliminated completely and the doors are attached directly to the cabinet carcass. This is a normal kind of construction for a more modern-looking cupboard design.
