Looking to buy hinges for a cabinet? Wondering what to look for?  Choosing hinges is no doubt a daunting process.

And with the availability of innumerable hinge choices, the process becomes even more complex.

How do you go about selecting high performance cabinet hinges? Here is a simple guideline that can help you out:

Style

Cabinet hinges are available in many contemporary and antique styles. Choose the one that compliments your home décor. You will find plenty of options, including brass, bronze as well as stainless steel.

You can also get cabinet hinges in the same materials as knobs and pulls. This gives you the opportunity to mix and match hardware.

Cabinet type

In general, face-frame and frameless are the two types of cabinets. In a face-frame cabinet, the hinge is attached to the inside of the face-frame. This is the most common type for American cabinets. On the other hand, frameless cabinets are a four-sided box. Hinges are attached to a frameless cabinet’s interior. Choose the type of cabinet that meets your requirements.

Door overlay

Determine the door overlay. In other words, measure the position of the cabinet door in relation to the cabinet opening.  Face-frame and frameless cabinets have different configurations.

Overlay types for face-frame cabinets include overlay, inset and partial insert. Overlay hinges cover the cabinet opening on all sides. Alternatively, inset hinges fit within the cabinet opening and face frames when closed. Similarly, partial insets overlap the cabinet opening slightly on all sides.

For frameless cabinets, full, half and inset are the three overlay types. While a full overlay covers the entire front edges of a cabinet, half hinge is used for cabinets where the doors share a single partition wall. It will cause the cabinet door to cover half of the partition wall.  Inset hinges fit within the cabinet opening.

Hinge placement

Where would you like to see the hinge? You can choose from the three most widely used options. These encompass concealed, semi-concealed and exposed hinges. As the name applies, a concealed hinge is installed on the interior of the cabinet.  No part of the hinge is visible from the outside when the cabinet door is closed. This type of hinge creates a clean look. It allows you to choose any exterior cabinet hardware that caters to your style.

A semi-concealed hinge is partly visible from the outside of the cabinet door. Some of the parts of the hinge are contained inside, while others are on the outside.  This type of hinge adds an antique touch to a cabinet.

Lastly, exposed hinge is fully visible from the outside of the cabinet door.  This type of hinge is available in various designs to create a distinctive look.

The degree of door opening

How far do you want the hinge to allow the cabinet door to open? This is known as the ‘degree of opening’. Most hinges offer a 90° door opening. That being said, there are other options you can choose from. A 270° hinge lets the cabinet door to open wide open and swing back against the cabinet side.

Keep these tips in mind to buy the right hinges for your cabinet.

Interested in buying high quality cabinet hinges? Prima Home Hardware has got you covered. Whether you need hinges or door hardware for your house, Prima offers a large selection of decorative hardware. The company also specializes in custom made architectural hardware products in bronze and brass.