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bethv_gw

DIY Toe-kick drawer - Anyone do this?

bethv
16 years ago

Okay, so I should be prepping walls, but one of my daily treats is a trip to GW, and last night I saw a couple of pictures of toe kick drawers... and it got me thinking that maybe we should add couple when we install the cabinets. I can't think it would be too hard.. A trip to IKEA to get a couple drawers, then mount them in the bottom of the cabinet before they're installed.. put on a front with hardware and whalla!! Am I missing something? Has anyone ever done this??? Should I stop desiging and start spackling?!

Comments (10)

  • miaolinwei
    16 years ago

    Wow, they are like 2" drawers, good place to put big sheets of papers I guess. Other than that, I think it's useless

  • imrainey
    16 years ago

    Wrong-O! I had a toe-kick drawer installed for the step ladder that's essential for me. Can't believe I got along without it before! And now I wish I'd looked for more spots to use toe-kick drawers. It's empty unused space down there. Might as well make use of it for seldom-used things.

    Sorry to say I don't know a thing about how it was engineered. I just asked for it and the cabinet guy did it.

  • imrainey
    16 years ago

    I should have added that my GC was prescient enough to make sure the cabinet guy built it with enough clearance that it doesn't drag on the floor. Even so, we put teflon slides on it.

    Worth keeping in mind!

  • Nancy in Mich
    16 years ago

    tablecloths, serving trays, big serving platters, baking pans, the good silverware, rarely used kitchen utensils, important papers you don't want the crooks to find, ditto jewelry... Some people even put a step in the toekick so when you pull it out, you can step up on it to reach the high cupboards.

    Keep searching the forum and you will find more info. Did you try the search function on the Kitchen Forums main page at the bottom?

    I will try to get these in my next kitchen remodel.

  • pbrisjar
    16 years ago

    I mentioned this idea to Hubby a while ago. He took one look at me and said "not gonna happen". Oh well, maybe some day.

  • don_chuwish
    16 years ago

    If you've ever built any kind of cabinets with drawers on sliders before then I'd say go for it. Get good quality sliders tho, you don't want it sagging and scraping along the floor in a year.

    - D

  • kisaacs
    16 years ago

    I built my own. I have IKEA cabinets, and I did it with all IKEA parts. There's an article with a how-to that I wrote, but it's on the IkeaFans website. You may need to join to see it, but it's linked below.

    Here is a link that might be useful: How to make a toekick drawer

  • talley_sue_nyc
    16 years ago

    You don't even have to have *built* a entire cabinet--you just have to be able to install a drawer slide.

    The biggest issue will be, is the front of your cabinet, in the toe-kick area, closed in?

    And attach them BEFORE installing.

    If you have cabinets whose sides come all the way down to the floor, you can skip the risers that KIsaacs had to use.

    Also, there are drawer slides that are top-mount.

    I bet keyboard slides would work. They even come 18", 20", and 22" long.

  • bethv
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Kisaacs - THANK YOU!!! This is just what I was thinking! Your instructions & pictures are such a help - DH was skeptical & I think reluctant to add to the job, but he saw your instructions and was on board! He even started to list the places we could add them!!

    imrainey - your drawer was my inspiration! I think it was in a thread about step stools : )

    Talley Sue - good call with the keyboard slides - one drawer will go next to a heat duct - so if we top mounted the slide we'd have more room.

  • abejadulce_z9b
    16 years ago

    Well, graniteoutlaws, you are right - size does matter. That's why for those of us living with a kitchen the size of a thimble (mine is 8' x 8.5'), every 2" is a treasure. Thanks, Kisaacs!