Designers Are Shifting Away From Classic Shaker Kitchen Cabinets in 2023

What does 2023 have in store? Our community of editors, experts, and tastemakers predicts the trends coming soon to a home near you.

We’ll never really see the end of Shaker kitchen cabinets—the style has been around for 200-plus years and counting. But we are about to see a little bit less of them. We recently asked seven pros not only what cabinet paint colors they predict will be big in 2023, but also the door designs we should expect to spot everywhere. The gist: There are plenty of timeless options that don’t involve inset panels with 2 1/2-inch-thick rails and stiles. Whether you’re Team Flat Panel or eyeing intricate beading, they delivered fresh ideas for every aesthetic. 

All the Trimmings

Young Huh is just one pro who is anticipating a “return to the traditional,” but what does that actually look like? According to fellow designer Zoe Feldman, it will come in the form of embellished door profiles. “Like beading, step details, and ogee edges,” she shares. “I also think we’ll lean into exposed hinges and more decorative hardware.”

Liz Hoekzema of KLH Custom Homes is also on board, but she predicts subtler touches, such as exposed dovetailing on drawers and subtle curves that double as finger grips. “We’ve seen so much playfulness with scale in the past year; now we’re expecting finer, quieter details,” she shares.  

Old-School Glass Inserts

Stained, leaded, and reeded glass is having a moment. But before you panic at the dollar signs, know that you don’t have to go the fully bespoke route. “Using off-the-shelf upper cabinet boxes, then replacing any glass with custom inserts, is a budget-friendly way to get a distinct look with timeless appeal,” says Kele Dobrinski, cofounder of Colossus Mfg. The space pictured above is a recent project in which he and his designer wife, Christina Valencia, did just that.

Flat Panels With Not-So-Flat Hardware

“I suspect flat cabinet doors may rise in popularity again,” says San Francisco–based designer Noz Nozawa. Others agree, but most are over the recessed finger pulls that have become synonymous with these simple doors—they’re ready for 3D hardware again. Katelyn Pascavis and Alexa Lameiras of Two Muse Studios are loving the look of extra-long vertical pulls that span the edges of frames, while architect Anand Sheth wants to see a resurgence of laminate fronts with supertactile knobs and pulls: “This is a comeback of the utilitarian-institutional aesthetic—think: fingerprint-proof, velvety smooth laminate like Wilsonart Traceless,” he says.

Shaker Cabinets 2.0

Plot twist: Kirsten Blazek, the professional stager and designer behind A 1000 X Better, is still all in on Shaker-style doors. “They are versatile in so many types of homes,” she says. However, for next year, she’s predicting an evolution with much slimmer rails and stiles, like the 3/4-inch ones in the kitchen designed by Abbie Naber, pictured above. It looks like the difference between the kitchen cabinets of 2022 and 2023 will come down to inches.