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gem_cap

Base cabinet - Height from floor to usable lowest base drawer

Gemcap
9 years ago

Most of the dimensions / discussions about kitchen base cabinet height seem to include toe kick space and if no toe kick, then a kind of "raised level" where the lowest base drawer starts. The height of this space varies from 3.5 to 5 inches.

What is the LOWEST height you would recommend for the bottom drawer base. ie would a clearance space of 1 inch above the floor be something to be avoided if I will not have a toe kick

I am trying to avoid the issue of difficulty of bending down to reach items in the lowest shelf / drawers if it is too low, but am loath to lose usable space.

Of course TK drawers are always a last option if all else fails.

Many thanks for your assistance.

Comments (13)

  • practigal
    9 years ago

    I use the roomba, the electronic vacuum cleaner, so I would make the height of the toe kick high enough so that the roomba could go under the edge of all of the cabinets and not get stuck.

    If you are using standard size cabinets they come in a standard height and are usually built with the presumption that they will rest on a 4" toe kick. So if you were to put the cabinet only 1" off the floor instead of the usual 4", your countertop height would be 3" lower than normal. That being said I have seen custom cabinets that sit directly on the floor and while I loved the extra space, I thought that it looked odd.

    If you really want to use every last bit of space you can have the toe kick be a drawer.

  • Gemcap
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thank very much for your thoughts practigal. I am getting the cabinets custom made with the counter top at 35 inches (just under the standard 36). The granite / support will be 1.5 inches. Less the 1 inch raised cabinet floor I will therefore be looking at 32.5 of internal cabinet space.

    I'm wondering though if I am going to regret this if it means that I have to bend down to reach for things in the lowest drawer / shelf.

  • annkh_nd
    9 years ago

    I have a range with a storage drawer which is just barely off the floor. I use it to store pots and pans, and it doesn't feel like it's any more of a reach than the bottom drawers next to it.

    I presume it will be a deeper drawer, with larger things in it, so you won't be reaching to the bottom of the drawer to use it.

  • Gemcap
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Annkh - would you be so kind as to give me the height from the floor to the base of the lower drawer in that range?

  • annkh_nd
    9 years ago

    I'm not at home, so I can't check - but as you can see in the photo, the drawer front almost touches the floor. My recollection is that the bottom of the drawer (on the inside) is no more than a couple of inches off the floor. The glides are on the sides, and the drawer itself is sheet metal, so very thin, compared to wood.

  • Gemcap
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    The pictures are extremely useful . Thanks very much Annkh. Makes me a lot more confident about going with lower toe kick space.

  • mushcreek
    9 years ago

    I'm planning on making my bottom drawers with the toe kick built in. I've seen pictures on here somewhere. That way, they have a toe space, and look like conventional cabinets, but you gain extra depth in the bottom drawers. Probably not cheap to have made, though.

  • Gemcap
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Mushcreek : You may be thinking of
    loves2cookfor6's toe kick drawers

    I love them and was planning to make them for my cabinets - and the contractor was more than happy to do so - but based on his calculations, the usable interior space is 4 inches so about 5 inches in all.

    My counter height is 35, so less 1.5 for granite and 5 for toe kick drawer, I would only have 28.5 for drawers. Considering that the TKD are going to be storing less accessed items, giving up that kind of space in a small kitchen seemed a bit of a luxury. Hence the reasons why I am considering the least possible toe kick space .

  • practigal
    9 years ago

    So long as the bottom cabinet is really a drawer that pulls out I don't think 3" will make any practical difference as to how your back will feel when you lean over and pick up the pots and pans from the open drawer. If the cabinet is a tall cabinet that holds cleaning tools like a heavy vacuum cleaner you might actually prefer the lower height.
    If it is a cabinet, where you have to get down deep on your hands and knees to pull something out of the back of the cabinet that extra low height could be really irritating. Personally I want full extension drawers instead of shelving in my lower kitchen cabinets....

  • scrappy25
    9 years ago

    surprised that no one has pointed out that the toekick is there for ergonomic reasons.Otherwise we would all have nonrecessed baseboards and drawers down near the floor.

    If you don't recess your baseboards you will have at least some scuffing or stubbed toes from others if not yourself.

    Why don't you like TK drawers? They are close to the same height as an inset cutlery drawer. My cabinetmaker is charging $90 per full extension TK drawer so I added them under all the wider bases.

    If you use frameless cabinets you will regain minimum 1 inch vertical height that you are losing to the slightly shorter cabinets since you will not have intermediate rails. That is probably a better way to go than lowering the toekick less than 3 inches, for your feets' sake.

  • Gemcap
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Scrappy - Not that I don't like TKDs , just that with my counters being 35", I am working with less workable space. The cabinets by the way are frameless. I have recessed the cabinets or rather, have a wider than usual overhang @ 3 inches so hopefully a bit of the toe stubbing will get avoided.

    Having said that, I am now considering a slightly higher cabinet slab of 2 inches with the overhang at 3'. I stood bare feet and in my home footwear to test the toe stubbing and 2" looks just about adequate.

  • marcolo
    9 years ago

    If your cabinets are modern-looking, you can still have a recessed toekick and capture that space as part of the bottom drawer. The toekick becomes part of the drawer face, so the bottom of the drawer is actually a few inches shorter (front to back) than the top of the drawer. The side profile of the drawer is an L, notch in the bottom front. There is also a narrow rail as part of the face frame, so the drawer doesn't scrape the floor. Somebody here has these. You should be able to find a picture.

  • marcolo
    9 years ago

    Found it! Keep in mind you can make the drawer taller so it becomes your bottom drawer.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Scroll down for pics