Clearance Allowed for a Cabinet Drawer Opening in a Wall
If you have to finish a run of cabinets against a wall, the clearance for opening drawers can be tight. Flush drawer fronts surrounded by face frames have plenty of clearance between the wall and the drawer front’s edge, as do partial, or regular, overlay drawers. However, with full overlay drawers, drawer fronts might scrape against an out-of-plumb wall. Unless the wall is quite crooked, 1 inch clearance is more than sufficient. Fill the gap with a matching face framework filler. Three inches is standard, but it is possible to trim one for a tight match. An alternative is to utilize a matching 3/4-inch cabinet end panel.
Comfortable Clearances
Other clearances are able to make your work in the kitchen more comfortable. Standard height between countertops and upper cabinets is 18 inches. If you’re short in stature, you are able to lower them 2 or even 3 inches without compromising the usable space below. Twelve-inch-deep upper cabinets allow comfortable clearance for functioning at standard 25-inch counter tops. If you are building your base cabinets, plan a 3-inch-deep by 4-inch-tall toe space. Standard counter top height is 36 inches. If you are tall, you could raise them to a comfortable 38 inches by installing the cabinets on top of a 2-inch wood platform.
