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.