I am planning to design and build a small galley kitchen in my house to replace the old Merrilat cabinets put there by the builder. I know, I know, I need my head examined. I have some experience in furniture making and have my own shop, but I have not had enough experience to know better and hire someone else to build the kitchen. Maybe in my next life, but now I need some good advice.
I will probably build face-frame cabinets with inset drawers and doors similar to Norm Abram’s dream kitchen (Fine Woodworking). However, I want to create as much drawer space storage instead of shelving which often has a lot of wasted space. What is the best source, or sources, for ideas and/or plans to provide me with directions on how to build-in the most efficient use of storage space? All help and advice will be greatly appreciated.
Replies
Free advise
Go to a big box store and let them lay out a kitchen for you.
If small is the word then I would suggest using European style construction w/ overlay doors. Face frames just seem to get in the way and make access tighter. And why drawers. They look wonderful if you have all the space in the world but the width of each shelf is reduced 2 inches to (3 1/2 inches with a face frame) for the drawers and hardware. You might have trouble finding stuff at the back of the base cabinets but there is more storage on a straight shelf than it's replacement drawer.
If you have the width in the room (9-0) you might try the trick of moving the base cabinets 6" away from the wall and having 30" deep counter tops. Doing that gives you space to clean behind the sink and room for all those extra appliances you want to push out of the way. It also brings the face of the cabinets in better line with a standard refrigerator depth of 30 + inches.
In planning avoid inside corners if possible. Lazy Susans and that fancy German corner cabinet hardware are Rube Goldberg concoctions at best. If you don't know them the key dimensions are 24" for a base cabinet, 48" aisle. Don't try to get the aisle much narrower or too big. Cabinet widths used to come in 3" increments. When planning make sure you have a 1 to 2" filler space at each end of a bank of cabinets. It is embarrassing to not be able to open a drawer because it hits the door frame. When you make the wall cabinets make the shelves at least 12" wide or more if you can and reach for the ceiling.
Have you consider the option of having someone else make the boxes and you just make the doors and drawer fronts, the stuff that shows. I keep wondering about others experience buying the boxes. I understand some cabinet shops even buy the doors from others. Spend your energy where it shows, at least that's what I tell myself.
Peter
Go for it!
I'm doing the same thing now. I lived in my place for three years before deciding to embark on this journey. The best thing you can do is pay attention to the way you use your kitchen. Jot down your thoughts as you have them on what works and doesn't. Use the big box stores and whatever you find online as a guide, but remember, you have the freedom to entirely customize your kitchen. I also took a lot of techniques from Norm's article.
I found myself in the same spot as you, wanting more drawers. So my island, which was mostly shelving, will be entirely drawers. I'm using the Blum TandemPlus full extension slides, which are well worth the cost in my opinion. I'm also building inlay cabinets, which are a bit more work, but well worth extra effort for the more classical/period look. I can see the argument about losing shelf width, but you're gaining the ease of access to the full depth of the drawer. For me, the benefit of full access to the entire contents of the cabinet outweighs the loss of a small amount of space.
Whatever you do, don't rip out the existing cabinets until you have new ones built. I'm building my cabinets in stages, in large part due to lack of room to build them all at once in my garage. First I did the uppers, now I'm doing the island, and finally I'll build the wall cabinets. I'll post a few pics when I get the chance.
Matt
Kitchen
I sure appreciate the good advice and pep talk. You reinforced my thoughts and I feel that I am finally on the right track! The first thing I am planning to do is one section of wall cabinets over the sink area with LED under lighting. If there is anything I can help you with let me know.
When I re-did my kitchen around 15 years ago there were several good books available on planning kitchens and building your own cabinets. I'm sure there are many newer books available today, including books from Taunton. The New Yankee Workshop did a multi-part series on a kitchen remodel a couple of years back that the FWW article was based on.
I found the biggest difference between funiture and kitchen cabinetry is the need to accomodate uneven walls and floors. This can be dealt with easily, but you need to anticipate the difference.
I recommend finding a kitchen designer to develop a good layout, especially if it's small. I did this with my kitchen, and she gave me a plan that was simple yet made very good use of the space. Because I was doing it all myself, including building cabinets, she didn't need to make up a full set of plans, so the bill was only $500. Well worth it in my case.
design trade-offs
Design-wise, I, too, like big drawers in the base cabinets. Or, at least shelves that are also on edge glides, so they roll out for access. Even the bottom shelf on wall cabinets can have edge glides, but an inside back is needed for things like platters to lean against. I'd love to try tambour doors on wall cabinets.
I also like the idea of adding a few inches to the depth of the cabinets, if floor space allows. Afterall, who doesn't covet a few extra inches? Of storage space, that is. ;-)
Kitchens
Dear Tom7:
Thanks for the great advice - I just looked at the Blum site and it will be very helpful. I would love to see any pictures you might send.
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