Question: what is the top of a kitchen cabinet called

title: Kitchen cabinet
text: Door Mounting . For both face - frame and frameless kitchen cabinets , it is conventional for cabinet doors to overlay the cabinet carcase . Face - frame cabinets allow for various door mounting options . Traditional overlay doors do not abut , allowing a partial view of the face frames when the doors are closed . Full overlay cabinet doors fit closely so that they obscure the face frame when closed . A third and less conventional option for face - frame cabinets is to inset doors into , and flush with , the face frame ( see below ) . Since frameless ( see below ) cabinet doors also fully overlay their carcases , the two types ( frameless and full - overlay face - frame cabinets ) have a similar installed appearance ( when doors are closed ) , both may use European cup hinges , and both tend to use decorative door and drawer pulls ( since there is no room for fingers at the door or drawer edge when installed ) . Space - utilization . Since typical face - frames are 1 ⁄ inches ( 38 mm ) wide and frameless side panels ⁄ inch ( 19 mm ) , access to the cabinet interior is 1 ⁄ inches ( 38 mm ) wider for a typical frameless cabinet relative to a face - frame cabinet . A 12 - inch - wide ( 300 mm ) cabinet accommodates a 10 - inch - wide ( 250 mm ) drawer in frameless construction or a 8 ⁄ - inch - wide ( 220 mm ) drawer in framed construction . The 1 ⁄ - inch ( 38 mm ) difference is most significant for narrower face - frame cabinets . Hence , the nomenclature `` full - access . '' Custom ( higher - cost ) face - frame cabinets , which use one 1 ⁄ - inch ( 38 mm ) stile to frame two cabinet openings , can also accommodate wider drawers comparable to frameless cabinets . Frameless wall - oven cabinetry further saves 3 inches ( 76 mm ) of wall space as compared to the same wall - oven installed in a face - frame cabinet , Many , if not most , contemporary ovens ( and other cabinet - front - mounted major appliances ) have been designed with the space - utilization advantage of frameless cabinets installation in mind . The oven is dimensioned , and thermally insulated , to fit within an industry - standard external width ( e.g. , 27 or 30 inches ( 690 or 760 mm ) ) cabinet cavity , less two standard ⁄ - inch ( 19 mm ) cabinet side - wall thicknesses while providing for a small space between the oven box and the internal cabinet wall . In ovens , the bezel is sized to fit the full external cavity width and overlay the cabinet side wall . Such an installation avoids any unused lateral space around the oven . ( While , hypothetically , ovens can be installed similarly in face - frame cabinets , such an installation may requires cutting away all but ⁄ inch ( 19 mm ) of each 1 ⁄ - inch ( 38 mm ) face - frame -- specifically not recommended by vendors as it may weaken the joint between side - wall and face - frame -- and buttressing face - frame cabinet side walls accordingly . ) Wood options . Frameless cabinets , which exhibit a modern appearance in keeping with the design movement of `` minimalism , '' are typically constructed of particle board , which features a high degree of dimensional stability , adherence to dimensional standards , absence of warping , uniformity , and a lower cost than solid wood and is very strong . Accordingly , the so - called European hinge includes a 35 - mm - diameter cup press - fit to a bored recess particularly well - suited to particle board construction . By virtue of the 35 - mm `` European '' cup design , European hinges avoided reliance on screws as a primary mechanism holding the cabinet door to the hinge . Nearly all non-custom framed and frameless cabinetry now use this 35 - mm cup design . Plywood and / or solid wood can also be used in frameless cabinet construction , generally at a higher cost . Hinge design features . Those European hinges intended for use with frameless cabinets afford a quick - release mechanism enabling a door to be removed and replaced without the use of tools . Such hinges typically afford six - way ( three - axis ) positional adjustment by screwdriver for door alignment . Some accommodate complex motions to avoid interfering with interior cabinet components while fully overlaying the carcases ( e.g. , permitting the full - interior - cabinet - width dimensions for pull - out trays ) . Scissors - type articulating hinges support wide - angle non-interfering adjacent doors . Inset door face - frame cabinetry . A special , and unconventional , category of framed cabinets is represented by those with inset doors . An inset - mounted cabinet door is fitted to the frame in the same way as a typical room door is fitted to the doorway ; such doors fit into a frame when closed . ( Full - size doors do not simply cover the opening between rooms or at an entrance to a building . ) Inset doors require more precise alignment of each door to the containing frame . Further , this alignment must be maintained with use . Upon opening or closing , inset doors are gently braked by the air cushion trapped between the door and frame . This desirable feature is one hallmark of high - quality inset door construction . Frameless or full - overlay face - frame construction can superficially resemble inset construction when doors are designed to fit closely within a cavity formed by surrounding doors , drawers , and / or an adjacent counter top .