Size to fitThe beauty of building your own cabinets is that you’re not locked into these dimensions.They can still serve as a guide, but you can vary them to fit your particular needs. For example, you can vary heights and widths to easily work around strange door and window configurations. A shorter base cabinet puts the counter at a height that makes kneading and rolling out dough easier for bakers.
While some manufacturers now offer “universal design” cabinets that accommodate persons with physical disabilities (including those in wheelchairs), you can really tailor your shop-built cabinets to meet individual needs. It’s all of those custom touches that provide one of the greatest incentives for building instead of buying.
Maximize the spaceThe concept behind stock cabinets is that manufacturers build a variety of small, easy-to-handle units that can be combined to fit most any situation. They’re easy to mass produce and sized so the cabinet companies can get maximum usage from standard sized sheet goods. And compact sizes (42" widths or less) are easier to ship and store.
While this approach works well for the manufacturers, distributors, and installers, it winds up wasting space. Especially in a small kitchen where space is extremely valuable, you don’t want to waste even a few extra inches.
At first glance, the main section of cabinets in the two drawings on this page look similar. Look closer and you’ll see that large base cabinet at the left (above) is a single unit compared to the three separate stock cabinets (below).
By building one large unit, it eliminated the double stiles and gaps between the separate cabinets (see the photo at right). I was able to use this extra space to make drawers that are 141/4" wide inside, compared to only 13" in the stock unit.
There’s another advantage as well. It took less material — two end panels, two dividers, and four stiles vs. six end panels and six stiles on the stock set. I also think the continuous rails and toekick, and the single stiles give my cabinets a much cleaner look. Cabinets this large can be hard to move once they’re assembled (that’s another reason you can’t buy a stock cabinet this size). But as you’ll see on the next page, the parts can be machined ahead of time and easily assembled in the kitchen just prior to installation.
When you lay out your cabinets, look for the natural breaks between cabinet sections, such as gaps for appliances. For example, I designed my base cabinets in two sections, fitting them on either side of the dishwasher.The larger unit incorporates the sink base, a drawer unit and a drawer-and-doors base. |
Building Kitchen Cabinets