Beautiful Beadboard Kitchen Cabinets (Design Ideas)

Beadboard kitchen cabinets are easily identified by their appearance: vertical slats of wood pieced together on their long side, resulting in a bead-like connection. These are made from long wood slats with a tongue and groove joinery. This was originally used for wainscoting on traditional houses but has also made its way into cabinetry & other aspects of the interiors.

Beadboard cabinetry is usually found in French-style homes, country-style homes, and beach-inspired interiors. Although beadboard was originally made from vertical wood planks, nowadays, you can get faux beadboard panels the size of a whole plywood sheet with a beadboard-like vertical slat pattern. This is perfect for those on a tighter budget and shorter timeline who want to achieve the rustic appeal it gives.

One of the most common applications for beadboards is on kitchen cabinets. Country and Cottage-style homes have recently regained popularity, so beadboard cabinets are also coming back. The subtle addition of pattern and texture can instantly transform the look of any space, giving it an old-world rustic vibe. For more kitchen cabinet styles, visit our gallery page.

Beadboard Cabinet Doors

Depending on pre-existing conditions, beadboards are mainly applied to cabinet doors. The drawer faces and main carcass are usually plain or use another paneling style. In this kitchen design, the cabinet doors are beadboards, but the drawers and main carcass are plain/flat. Because of the dark charcoal paint used on the cabinetry, this design has a totally different vibe compared to white beadboard cabinets – it has a more masculine, rustic-contemporary feel.

If you have existing beadboard cabinets and drawers, you can always freshen them up by re-sanding the wood and refinishing it with either stain/varnish or even paint. An antiqued finish can be applied over the cabinets to give the layout a rustic look. See more examples of kitchens with distressed cabinets here.

Modern beadboard-textured panels can now be bought in hardware stores. Some of them ship raw or primed beforehand, but some also ship already finished in a particular color. It’s possible to create very unique combinations by mixing a white cabinet carcass and a gray beadboard accent center, for example, helping add depth and body to the design. It has plain white beadboard panels combined with an antique-finished island countertop cabinet and white granite counters, which is a simple combination that helps keep the design elegant yet low-key.

White Beadboard

White beadboard cabinets are the easiest to use and style because the white finish makes them more versatile—they easily match both contemporary and classic interiors. Additionally, the white finish helps make it look lighter/less heavy, making it easier to apply in small floor plans. If clean/plain white finishes are not your cup of tea, you can also use a more rustic white color to give it a more aged appeal.

A transitional/contemporary kitchen with an all-white color scheme can use white beadboards for cabinet doors to add texture and help keep the design from being bland and too modern. Combined with a marble countertop and glass backsplash tiles, the result is a fresh-looking take on classic country-style kitchens.

Dark granite countertops are really popular for kitchens, both contemporary and classic. They are adored as stains, and minor damages are not as visible on their dark surface compared to lighter-colored countertops. Using antique white kitchen with beadboard cabinets helps balance out the dark colors and gives the room a brighter glow.

Beadboard Kitchen Island

If replacing your current cabinets would require too much work or cost, you can also consider applying beadboard cabinets on the kitchen island. It will serve as an accent piece for added detail and personality. Placed in an open plan space, the beadboard kitchen island not only serves as an additional worktop and small dining space, but also as a “divider” between spaces. The use of slatted panels on the counter face gives the kitchen island an added texture and pattern, emphasizing the separation of the areas without having to use partitions.

The use of black-painted beadboard cabinets on a kitchen island gives it a retro industrial vibe that would complement any current design style. The dark finish of the cabinets makes the stainless steel appliances and pulls stand out and gives the room a more sophisticated look.

Beadboard cabinet doors and carcass can be used for the worktop kitchen island of a classic country style kitchen. The vertical grooves add a subtle texture detail to the surface, making it stand out without taking too much of your attention.