Make
your sink cabinet 36" wide. A 36" wide sink cabinet is the industry
standard and will fit most kitchen sinks. Only change this width when
you know you sink is either much smaller or much wider than normal.
Otherwise, leave it at 36" wide.
Leave exactly 24" of space for
your dishwasher. 24" is the industry standard for a dishwasher opening
width. This will fit 99.99999% of all dishwasher models. Dishwashers are
almost always placed next to the sink. Simply leave a 24" wide span
between two cabinets.
Corner cabinets (e.g. base 90, base 45,
etc) are ordered at 36" wide by 36" deep. Keep them at this size to
allow for corner hardware to fit nicely inside. Adjustments can be made
in tight situations if you wish without causing too many issues.
When
running your cabinets full height (i.e. to the ceiling) leave a 4" tall
gap from the top of the cabinets to the ceiling. Use a 4" tall crown
molding to cover the gap. Why? Ceilings are rarely level. If you leave
too small of a gap, it will draw your eye to the imperfection/contrast
from a perfectly level cabinet to an imperfect ceiling. The 4" tall
crown is tall enough that you will not notice the difference even on
longer cabinet runs. The gap also allows for extra wiggle room on the
elevation of the cabinets.
Do not worry about alignment and
center lines on cabinets between the bases and the wall cabinets, they
are on different planes.Custom cabinets are rarely aligned as the form
of your kitchen follows the function if provides to the user. Use trash
roll-outs, spice racks, drawers, etc as you wish to provide good
organization and storage. Do not worry about how wide each door/drawer
is next to other cabinets as this will only decrease the usefulness of
your kitchen. Order the cabinets the way you need them and the form will
follow the function. A functional kitchen is a beautiful kitchen.
Millwork, like base shoe and scribe moldings,
are worth their weight in gold! Scribe and shoe are what professional
installers use to ensure a perfect installation and cover any gaps that
may occur between perfect cabinets and the imperfect walls/floors of the
project. These moldings are small and flexible and are able to bend to
the contour of imperfect surfaces creating a nice look. 95% of high end
kitchens use millwork like this to add depth and beauty to any project.
Do not over complicate the design. Kitchen cabinet layout is very simple and anyone can do it.
