Minimum Door & Drawer Front Dimensions
Minimum Door & Drawer Front Dimensions
We often get asked why we don’t offer narrower doors (or shorter drawer fronts) in certain styles. If a square flat panel door is available in an 8” width, why are arch-top doors only sold in widths of 12” or more? The answer lies in the size of the detailing and the frame widths. Every door (and drawer front) of a particular style has the same frame size and detailing – regardless of the door’s actual size. This allows a door that’s 19” wide and 32” high to look “right” and match, even when it’s next to a drawer front that’s 6” high and 11” wide. It also means that as doors get smaller, it’s the panel that shrinks, not the frame width or detailing. The minimum size is reached when the panel is so small that there’s less than an inch of panel left between the detailing. That might not even be enough space to install drawer pulls. The images at the left show how this looks with square raised panel MDF drawer fronts, but the same thing applies for hardwood doors as well.
What to do if you need a size below minimum This is a common problem, especially when re-facing drawer fronts. Older kitchens often have cabinetry that was built on-site by the contractor, with very little detailing. When replacing them, very narrow doors and very short drawers are often a problem. Fancy new designs really improve a kitchen (and a home’s value), but what if all your drawer fronts are 5” high – won’t that rule out most fancy styles? Not necessarily – there are several options available for resolving this problem, and one will likely work well for your situation. 1) Order a fractional inch size. The shortest square raised panel drawer front we list is 6” high, but the minimum is actually 5 ½” high. It doesn’t cost any extra or delay production of your item when you specify a fractional inch size. When you just need it slightly smaller, fractional inch ordering is often the best option. Just contact us if you want to know the minimum for a particular style.
2) Increase the overlay. This is the space between the edge of the opening in the front of the cabinet, and the outermost edge of the drawer front or door. Sometimes you can simply make the overlay at the top and bottom a little larger. This works well if you’re replacing all the drawer fronts, but not when just replacing one or only some. It also doesn’t work if there isn’t much space between your drawers and the countertop above or the cabinet doors below. If you’re planning on putting drawer pulls on your drawers, you can get away with a smaller gap between the drawer front and the counter above and doors below.
3) Specify a smaller frame. This can be done two ways: on all four sides, or just on two opposite sides. Making frames on all four sides smaller works well when you need a very short and narrow drawer front. Just making the top and bottom frames smaller is a good choice for wider drawers and will match the surrounding cabinetry better; BUT it can’t be done with mitered drawers – it prevents the corners from meeting at a 45 degree angle. Using narrower frames all the way around works well when many of your drawers are short. 4) Select a flat panel door or drawer front. Since there’s no detailing at the edge of the panel, they can be made smaller. A lot of people will use all flat panel drawer fronts with raised panel doors. The outer and inner frame profiles are the same, so they match fine. This works really well when re-facing an entire kitchen, but not at all for a single replacement. Flat panel drawer fronts can be ordered with mixed frame sizes too.
5) Order solid drawer fronts with edge detailing. These can be made as short as three inches. The edge detailing is the same used on our flat panel and raised panel doors and drawer fronts, so they match fine when re-facing an entire kitchen. They’re also very inexpensive.
6) Custom order a drawer front or door to match your existing cabinetry. This usually costs about the same as ordering a standard style, since all our items are made to order anyway. Two or three good cell phone photos are usually enough for us to match the existing cabinetry. It will take a little more time and effort to place the order, but you’ll get exactly what you need. This is often the best way to find a single replacement door or drawer front that’s a true match for your existing cabinetry. If you’d like to see every option available, just ask us for a free catalog.
Copyright 2015 Custom Cabinet Warehouse
We often get asked why we don’t offer narrower doors (or shorter drawer fronts) in certain styles. If a square flat panel door is available in an 8” width, why are arch-top doors only sold in widths of 12” or more? The answer lies in the size of the detailing and the frame widths. Every door (and drawer front) of a particular style has the same frame size and detailing – regardless of the door’s actual size. This allows a door that’s 19” wide and 32” high to look “right” and match, even when it’s next to a drawer front that’s 6” high and 11” wide. It also means that as doors get smaller, it’s the panel that shrinks, not the frame width or detailing. The minimum size is reached when the panel is so small that there’s less than an inch of panel left between the detailing. That might not even be enough space to install drawer pulls. The images at the left show how this looks with square raised panel MDF drawer fronts, but the same thing applies for hardwood doors as well.
What to do if you need a size below minimum This is a common problem, especially when re-facing drawer fronts. Older kitchens often have cabinetry that was built on-site by the contractor, with very little detailing. When replacing them, very narrow doors and very short drawers are often a problem. Fancy new designs really improve a kitchen (and a home’s value), but what if all your drawer fronts are 5” high – won’t that rule out most fancy styles? Not necessarily – there are several options available for resolving this problem, and one will likely work well for your situation. 1) Order a fractional inch size. The shortest square raised panel drawer front we list is 6” high, but the minimum is actually 5 ½” high. It doesn’t cost any extra or delay production of your item when you specify a fractional inch size. When you just need it slightly smaller, fractional inch ordering is often the best option. Just contact us if you want to know the minimum for a particular style.
2) Increase the overlay. This is the space between the edge of the opening in the front of the cabinet, and the outermost edge of the drawer front or door. Sometimes you can simply make the overlay at the top and bottom a little larger. This works well if you’re replacing all the drawer fronts, but not when just replacing one or only some. It also doesn’t work if there isn’t much space between your drawers and the countertop above or the cabinet doors below. If you’re planning on putting drawer pulls on your drawers, you can get away with a smaller gap between the drawer front and the counter above and doors below.
3) Specify a smaller frame. This can be done two ways: on all four sides, or just on two opposite sides. Making frames on all four sides smaller works well when you need a very short and narrow drawer front. Just making the top and bottom frames smaller is a good choice for wider drawers and will match the surrounding cabinetry better; BUT it can’t be done with mitered drawers – it prevents the corners from meeting at a 45 degree angle. Using narrower frames all the way around works well when many of your drawers are short. 4) Select a flat panel door or drawer front. Since there’s no detailing at the edge of the panel, they can be made smaller. A lot of people will use all flat panel drawer fronts with raised panel doors. The outer and inner frame profiles are the same, so they match fine. This works really well when re-facing an entire kitchen, but not at all for a single replacement. Flat panel drawer fronts can be ordered with mixed frame sizes too.
5) Order solid drawer fronts with edge detailing. These can be made as short as three inches. The edge detailing is the same used on our flat panel and raised panel doors and drawer fronts, so they match fine when re-facing an entire kitchen. They’re also very inexpensive.
6) Custom order a drawer front or door to match your existing cabinetry. This usually costs about the same as ordering a standard style, since all our items are made to order anyway. Two or three good cell phone photos are usually enough for us to match the existing cabinetry. It will take a little more time and effort to place the order, but you’ll get exactly what you need. This is often the best way to find a single replacement door or drawer front that’s a true match for your existing cabinetry. If you’d like to see every option available, just ask us for a free catalog.
Copyright 2015 Custom Cabinet Warehouse
