| Any time you can keep your selections to stock sizes | | | | adequate drawer space. If you are in doubt add more |
| and items, you go a long way towards keeping the | | | | drawers than you think you will need. While it is great |
| cost of your project down. So it is a good idea to | | | | to have just enough drawers for silverware and |
| know what the stock sizes are as you are designing | | | | stirring spoons, you will want a place to keep your |
| your space. Standard lengths for plywood and | | | | other kitchen essentials like tin foil, rubber bands, pot |
| melamine cabinets are 8' and 12' in a 4' width. Keep | | | | holders and dish towels.o Add a lazy Susan to your |
| these dimensions in mind as you create your design. | | | | corner. Adding a turntable to your corner spaces will |
| While you can always have some special, custom | | | | let you use them more efficiently.o Use common |
| additions made to your cabinets by the manufacturer, | | | | sense. You refrigerator keeps food cold, and your |
| you may be able to start with a standard cabinet and | | | | stove and oven heats food. Do not put them right next |
| simply have a local cabinet maker do some after | | | | to each other. You will just make your refrigerator |
| market work on your cabinets to make them look | | | | work harder to do its job, and you will wear it out |
| custom without paying the full custom price. | | | | faster. You might also want to consider what this |
| Kitchen cabinets are normally 12" deep and the bottom | | | | brainstorm would cost you in higher utility bills. |
| cabinets are usually 24" deep. Generally you will not | | | | Whenever you design a kitchen you want to keep the |
| run into a problem with these two dimensions. The | | | | efficient food prep triangle in mind. This is a pattern |
| challenge comes when you are fitting the width of | | | | formed by you refrigerator, sink and stove. If you have |
| your cabinet. Cabinets come in 1' increments, and as | | | | to put all of these spaces on a single wall try to have |
| luck would have it, your kitchen space may not be a | | | | your sink in the middle. |
| measurement that is evenly divisible by one-foot | | | | After you settle on the configuration of your bottom |
| increments. As a result, you may end up with a small | | | | cabinets, then you can decide where your upper |
| pocket of odd space that you need to deal with if you | | | | cabinets will go. Now instead of a floor plan style |
| are using stock cabinets in your kitchen. | | | | layout, you will want to look at the elevation view of |
| Best Ideas for a Floor Plan | | | | your room. This view shows the walls of your room to |
| To design your cabinets get some ¼ inch graph | | | | scale. It shows all of the window and door openings, |
| paper and draw a detailed floor plan. You can use a | | | | and shows the height and width of each. We are not |
| 1-inch to 1-foot scale. Draw the perimeter of your | | | | concerned about depth in this drawing; your goal is to |
| kitchen to scale on the graph paper. Then mark all of | | | | mark the height of all the base cabinets. Stock base |
| the openings into the room like windows and doors. Do | | | | cabinets are generally 34 ½" high which allows |
| not include the current cabinets in your drawing, but | | | | your countertop to be about 36" from the ground. |
| you may want to mark where the refrigerator and | | | | First, mark out your refrigerator, and draw a line around |
| sink go unless you are planning to move your plumbing. | | | | your room. This is the level of the bottom of your |
| You may want to mark where your stove is as well if | | | | upper cabinets. Your regular wall cabinets will be 18" |
| redoing the venting is a big deal. Generally redoing the | | | | over the countertop or 54" from the floor. If you prefer, |
| wiring for a stove is not a big deal, but redoing the | | | | you can always mount your cabinets 16" over the |
| venting may be. | | | | counter to help you reach the second shelf more |
| Now make some stock size cabinets out of paper | | | | easily. |
| cutouts. Make a variety of standard size cutouts so | | | | Once you can see how the elevation view of your |
| that you can move them around the kitchen to find | | | | new cabinets will look, go back to your floor layout, |
| which configuration works best. You may also want to | | | | and mark a 12" line to indicate the depth of the upper |
| have a cutout for your refrigerator and stove to add | | | | cabinets wherever you plan to mount an upper |
| to the mix. | | | | cabinet. |
| Now that you have your design grid ready to go, there | | | | If you make paper scale cutouts of your cabinets |
| are some things that you want to consider as you | | | | from the elevation view, you can line them up on your |
| create your design.o Do not put drawers in a corner. If | | | | elevation drawing to see how they look. In particular |
| you do, the space beside the drawers will just be dead | | | | you want to notice how the vertical lines of the doors |
| space. It would be a better option to put two cabinets | | | | line up. Even if the lines between the upper and lower |
| side by side in a corner, because you can modify a | | | | cabinets do not match completely, you want to make |
| stock cabinet and add an opening in the side so you | | | | sure that they create an aesthetically appealing pattern |
| can access the corner space. This modification will not | | | | and do not look disjointed. Move your paper cutouts |
| show once the cabinets are assembled.o Do not place | | | | around to see what patterns are the most appealing |
| your stove in a corner. Even if you have counter | | | | before deciding on your final cabinet placement. |
| space on either side of the corner, the cupboard | | | | After you have moved your paper cutouts around and |
| beside the stove will be useless.o Keep corner | | | | settled on your cabinet configuration, you will have a |
| cabinets at least 18 inches. Any narrower, and you will | | | | really clear understanding of how they will look in your |
| create a cabinet that is too narrow to use.o Allow | | | | kitchen. |