Glossary

Buying  portable kitchen carts or kitchen islands? This glossary is written to help you make an educated decision.

Apron – The rail around the table found under the tabletop.

Backsplash – A vertical surface designed to protect the wall behind the countertop.

Birch - A durable, close-grained hardwood sometimes used to describe a light-wood finish.

Braces – Reinforcement for added strength for your kitchen cart or island.

Breakfast Bar – An additional counter top that is ideal for quick meals.

Buffet – A console table comprising of drawers or shelves.

Bun Feet – A cutting board that has little legs to keep the board from sliding.

Butchers block – A thick, high-quality cutting surface often placed on the top of kitchen carts. We have defined a butcher block to be no less than 2″ thick.

Casters - Wheels to provide added mobility for your kitchen cart. Many kitchen carts feature two locking casters.

Casual Style – A style that is simply designed and built and often combines materials (wood and metal are the most common).

Commercial grade (or food service grade) – A label for high quality materials, those used by chefs and professionals.

Create-a-Cart – A line of kitchen carts and islands by Home Styles in which you choose the size of your cart, the base finish, and the counter material.

Distressed – a finishing technique in which the final paint coat is worn and battered to produce an aged appearance.

Drop-leaf – A table top that has leaves that can be raised or lowered down as needed to create an extra work space or serving area.

Electric outlet strip - Some kitchen carts feature outlets for plugging in small kitchen appliances.

Embossed – Decorative designs molded or carved on to furniture.

Enclosed (or Concealed) Undercart Storage – A kitchen cart that features drawers or cabinets that enclose the stored items.

End grain – When the individual boards of wood are arranged so that the grain of the wood runs vertically. This causes a knife to be able to cut in between the wood fibers rather than cutting the actual board.

Hutch - a piece of storage with doors or shelves that is placed on top of a base piece of furniture, such as a desk or buffet.

Inlay – A decorative technique that consists of implanting wood, metal, or other materials into a piece of furniture or veneer.

Knife block – A type of knife holder, typically made of wood, which is mounted on top or on the side of a kitchen cart

Kitchen Island- Larger than utility kitchen carts, kitchen islands provide the maximum amount of work space and storage.

Laminates- Thin layers of material formed together to create a solid piece to craft into furniture or tabletops

Maple – A hard, heavy, and light-colored natural wood.

MDF – Medium density fiber board – A man-made material used as a durable alternative to wood.

Microwave cart – A type of kitchen cart designed for a microwave to fit on top.

Molding - Decorative shape protruding inward or outward from the surface of tables. It results from the use of a mold to shape intricate design.

Multi-bin drawer – a drawer that is separated into different sections to maximize storage potential

Natural finish – A type of finish that utilizes the original, light color of the wood.

Oak- A type of hardwood that has a natural reddish tone and a varied, wavy grain pattern. This also refers to the medium brown color used to stain wood.

Open Undercart Storage – A kitchen cart that features shelves underneath the kitchen cart to store items.

Pine – A soft, durable wood that is light in color with a straight, medium coarse grain.

Prep table – A type of table that features a lot of work space, ideal for preparing meals.

Professional/gourmet Style – A style of kitchen carts that features everything a chef would need. These carts have lots of storage space and other special features like spice racks, pull out cutting boards, power strips and drop leaves.

Rattan – This wood from the climbing palm family brings a textured effect and looks great with tropical décor. Wicker is made from rattan.

Satin nickel – A finishing technique that produces a soft, silvery finish.

Shaker style – Design philosophy developed in early American furniture-making. A very simple design featuring strips of wood, shaker furniture is built on concepts of order, utility and durability.

Slatted shelf – This type of shelf can be removed or adjusted in order to meet your storage needs.

Tempered glass – A type of glass that is very strong ,  so it is used to hold heavier objects.

Traditional Style – A style that is simple in structure but often has ornate handles. A traditional kitchen cart will always have a wood base and usually does not have as many accessories (i.e. cutting board, knife holder, etc).

Utility Kitchen Carts - This smaller type of kitchen cart is easy to store and can be used as a portable serving surface.

Veneer – This less expensive finish consists of thin slices of real wood, which are adhered to a surface to give it the glowing appearance of real wood. This also allows each piece to have the same grain direction and coloring.

Walnut- A European hardwood with dark brown color.