Measuring for Replacement Drawer Fronts and Cabinet Doors

Have you been thinking about how your kitchen cabinets need a new look? Or have you wanted to change them for a while now and are finally ready to get started? No matter what brought this on, when updating the cabinets it is important that they fit correctly.

The best way to ensure your new or replacement cabinet doors and drawer fronts will properly fit is to accurately measure. When getting drawer fronts measured making sure all those little details match is key in creating an overall nice looking finished product!

Measurement Notes for Replacement Drawer Fronts and Cabinet Doors

When measuring for your cabinet doors and drawer fronts, it is important to record your measurements with the width first and height second. This is important for two reasons. The first is that it is the typical format for recording your measurements.

The other reason is that the boring and grain pattern are based on the measurements being entered as width x height. For cabinet doors, the grain will be vertically oriented and for most of our drawer fronts, it is horizontal. And so, making a mistake here could result in a lot of wasted time, money, and material. However, we do have thermofoil drawers available with vertical grain for matching cabinet doors’ grain.

Measuring Cabinet Openings and Doing the Math

The first step is to measure the cabinet opening that the door will cover. Once you have this measurement, you will need to decide if you want inset or overlay. Inset cabinet doors and drawer fronts will be flush with the face frame of the cabinet box.

For overlay, you can have a partial overlay or a full overlay. The partial overlay will leave space between the doors, whereas the full overlay can create a flush line of cabinetry.

Once you have chosen a style you will either add to the cabinet box measurement or subtract from it. For example, if your cabinet box opening were 10” x 10” and you wanted a ½” overlay, then you would need to add 1” to your width and height to account for each side. For inset, you will need to subtract at least ⅛” from each side, or ¼” from the width and height, to ensure the door is able to freely open and close.

For double door designs that have the doors come together in the middle, you’ll need to do some extra math. To learn more about sizing split doors, as well as other oddities like lazy susans, check out our cabinet door measuring guide. If you don’t have the time and need replacement cabinet doors quickly, we provide a free calculator that can size single or split doors for overlay or inset. All you need is the cabinet box opening

Hinges are made according to overlay size. This means that you need to double-check that your hinge can be installed with your desired overlay. For example, a smaller 1/4” overlay hinge will not let you mount it to the door and get a 1/2” overlay. Hinge measurements and requirements can vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, so be sure to check your hardware’s requirements before ordering.

Drawer Front Sizing

If you have already sized a kitchen cabinet door, then you are in luck, because our cabinet drawer fronts at CabinetDoorMart are sized the same way. For those ordering for an overlay installation, simply measuring the cabinet box opening for the drawer and add your desired overlay.

For inset, you will want to be sure to know what hardware you will be using for the slides as well as the drawer box size. The drawer slides will require some clearance to be installed with the drawer box, and so you will need to be doubly sure that everything will fit.

Final Tips For Cabinet Doors and Drawer Fronts

As you can see, calculating sizes for your cabinet doors and drawer fronts looks complicated and confusing, but it really is rather simple once you understand the basic principles.

One easy way to get a rough first measurement is to use your smartphone if you have a newer one. There are apps available now that you can download that can help you measure. These apps use augmented reality (AR) technology to digitally measure surfaces.

For Apple users, newer iPhones come with the Measure app installed. If you have an Android phone, there are many apps available through the Google Play store. While these apps are very useful and have come a long way, they are not always 100% accurate. It is important to always double-check your measurements with a physical tape measure.

If you are ready to start ordering or if you need assistance, please feel free to call us at 1-844-326-6680 or info@cabinetdoormart.com. Our team is here to help with everything from measuring to ordering.