Decorative Hinge Guide

These face-mount decorative cabinet hinges attach directly to the front of the face frame on your cabinet. The overlay here is variable by simply moving your hinge left or right on the face frame. By nature, you will need some precise measurements for the mounting holes on your face frame to keep your cabinets consistent and make sure your doors aren't lopsided.

Reverse bevel hinges have an angle to them to allow for reverse bevel doors. Reverse bevel doors have edges that angle inwards to the back side and give the impression that the door is floating in front of the frame. These types of decorative hinges are also face mount, so the rules for mounting and overlay for face mount hinges above apply here too.

These decorative cabinet hinges have bends in them to accommodate the lip on a 3/8" partial inset door. This is a face-mount version, so the hinge would mount directly to the front of the face frame of your cabinet. The overlay here is fixed, meaning you cannot change it.

Half wrap hinges are so named because they wrap halfway around and attach to the edge of your face frame. Because of this wrap, you can't move the hinge left or right on the face frame, making this a fixed overlay hinge. You can generally find these types of decorative hinges in both 1/2-inch and 1/4-inch overlay versions.

This decorative cabinet hinge is a blend of the previous two in the list. They are just like the 3/8-inch inset hinge above, except the face frame side wraps all the way around and attaches to the edge, making this a half wrap hinge. By the nature of these two features, the overlay here is fixed.

This type of decorative hinge is for full inset doors, meaning your door will sit flush with the face frame or side panel of your cabinet. It will attach to the edge of your frame or directly to the inside of your side panel, and wrap around to the back of your door. This particular decorative cabinet hinge has mounting holes for the edge of your door and the backside of your door, but your mileage may vary if you find this type of hinge elsewhere. Rather than having an overlay measurement, because they don't overlap the frame at all, inset doors have a reveal gap between the door and frame. In this case, the reveal is set by the hinge.

This type of decorative hinge is full inset, like the previous one, making the door flush with the face frame. The hinge wraps around to attach to the back and side of the door, like the previous one, but this one also wraps around to attach to the back and side of the face frame as well. Also like the previous decorative cabinet hinge, this one is full inset making overlay irrelevant. The reveal here is also fixed.

Single demountable hinges are attached to the door in such a way that makes it easier to take the door off the hinges. This type of decorative hinge requires machining of the door to be able to slide the hinge into the door.

Double demountable hinges offer all the same benefits as the single demountable hinge above, but also on the face frame side. That means these decorative cabinet hinges require machining both on the door, and on the face frame in order to insert the hinges.

When you hear the words 'cabinet overlay,' it is in reference to how much your cabinet door covers up the face frame or side panel of your cabinet. If you have a relatively new kitchen, all your doors may be identical in terms of overlay, but you should check, just in case. If you're replacing decorative cabinet hinges, take the time to determine the overlay of all your cabinet doors. You can learn how to measure them by watching the ‘DIY Tips and Tricks from Larry’ video below.