If you’re looking to revamp your kitchen’s look, you might want to start with new kitchen cabinets. However, knowing how to measure cabinets in kitchens is an essential skill to have when you want to take your kitchen’s appearance and functionality to the next level.

In this guide, we’ll provide you with the skills you need to measure your kitchen properly.

STEPS TO MEASURE YOUR KITCHEN FOR CABINETS
To begin the measuring process, you’ll need to gather:

Grid paper
A tape measure
A pencil or pen
After collecting the materials, follow these seven steps to measure your kitchen for cabinets:

DRAW YOUR FLOOR PLAN

The first step you have to take to begin measuring your kitchen for cabinets is to draw up a floor plan. With your pen or pencil, sketch the layout of your kitchen onto a piece of grid paper. On this floor plan, you’ll need to identify the locations of:

Windows
Doors
Light switches
Water lines
Gas lines
Drain lines
Vents for heating and air
Hood vents
Electrical outlets
The first draft of your floor plan doesn’t have to be to scale, but you should make sure it conveys the layout accurately and clearly.

TAKE HORIZONTAL MEASUREMENTS

With the layout taken down, you can begin measuring your space. Your measurements should be entirely in inches. For example, instead of recording that a wall is four feet long, you should record that it is 48 inches long.

The first horizontal measurements you’ll need to make are the full wall lengths. It’s best to start taking horizontal measurements from one of the adjoining corners of the wall. Measure clockwise, moving from edge to edge with your tape measure. You’ll want to skip over appliances, windows, and other fixtures. It’s a good idea to label your walls with a specific number so you can reference them easily.

Once you’ve got the full length down, you’ll then move on to measuring the wall in smaller segments. In this stage, you’ll measure every opening. To get these measurements, you’ll measure from one outside trim edge to the next outside trim edge. Ensure you include any molding or trim in the smaller wall segment in the measurement. Like the larger walls, number your openings for simple referencing. You’ll need to record both the full and partial length measurements on your floor plan.

TAKE VERTICAL MEASUREMENTS

After recording your horizontal measurements, you’ll need to do the same for your vertical measurements. In your initial measurements, you’ll measure from the floor to the windowsill. Next, you’ll measure from the windowsill to the window’s top, and finally, from the top of the window to the ceiling.

The final step is to measure from the floor to the ceiling. Since some homes will have different ceiling heights in the same room, you should take at least three different floor-to-ceiling measurements.

NOTE OBSTRUCTIONS

With the measurements in place, you should note any obstructions alongside your walls, including vents, pipes, and radiators. It’s essential to note obstructions because they usually can’t be removed, which can influence where you place your cabinets.

IDENTIFY APPLIANCES AND UTILITIES

In your kitchen, you’ll want to determine what large appliances and utilities you’re going to want to keep in the kitchen after you’ve installed your newest cabinets. Knowing where your power sources, water supply, air vents, light switches, and electrical outlets are will help you figure out where you can and can’t place your cabinets.

Other than marking the location of these utilities and appliances on your floor plan, you should also indicate where their center points are. The center point of an appliance will usually be the point where the gas line or plumbing line begins.

PLAN YOUR KITCHEN LAYOUT

With all your measurements and notes handy, you can begin to plan out how your kitchen is going to look with your new cabinets. Since you know how much space to work with, you can pick out areas where you want to include your new cabinets.

SELECT YOUR KITCHEN CABINETS

After you’ve figured out where you want your kitchen cabinets to go, you can begin to figure out which kitchen cabinets are right for you. There are a lot of different options available for you to choose from. Consider a variety of cabinets before you make a decision. Just make sure their dimensions fit before you order them.

TIPS FOR MEASURING YOUR KITCHEN FOR CABINETS

Do not forget to measure your granite countertops, quartz countertops, and marble countertops while making your measurements.

Take horizontal measurements at the same distance from the floor: You’ll need to take all the horizontal measurements of your kitchen walls at the same height. By taking your measurements at the same distance, you’ll make sure they stay consistent across all the walls you measure.

• Make accurate measurements with the right tools: To be as accurate as possible, get a reliable tape measure and pencil to help you take measurements. Additionally, use graph paper and a straight edge to help you draw up a floor plan that best represents your kitchen.
• Measure clockwise: To ensure you never miss a wall or forget where you left off, it’s best practice to measure your walls clockwise. As you move around the room, you should be labeling walls, doors, and windows with numbers to keep everything as accurate as possible.
• Don’t forget the trim: When you measure windows or doors, remember that it’s trim, or casing, is considered part of the window or door. For example, you’d measure a window from one end of its trim to the opposite side to get the window’s length or height. 

For further information about kitchen and bathroom cabinets, and countertops or to add granite, marble, or quartz countertops to your kitchen and vanity tops to your bathroom, call Potomac Kitchen & Bath Now! You can also make a free appointment to get service in:

Leesburg, McLean, Chantilly, Merrifield, Dunn Loring, Annandale, Dulles, Oakton,  Aldie, Warrenton, Lorton,  Sterling, Alexandria, Arlington, Potomac Falls, South Riding, Gainesville, Vienna, Gaithersburg, Great Falls, Bethesda, Rockville, Clifton, Haymarket, Burke,  Dumfries, Dalecity, Springfield, Reston, Centreville, Ashburn, Herndon, Manassas, Fairfax, Fairfax Station, VA.

Choosing the right doors for your cabinets is no small decision. After all, they’re an important visual element in your kitchen, meaning the design you choose will have a significant impact on the overall design of the room. Based purely on your cabinet door choices, you can set the tone for a kitchen that’s bright and fun, sophisticated and refined, or minimalistic and classic.

It’s no surprise, then, that the number of potential options can be overwhelming. To help you make the decision of which cabinet door will help you achieve the look and feel you’re going for, we’ve put together a handy guide on popular cabinet door styles, as well as which criteria you should be looking for as you make your selection. Continue reading this cabinet door styles guide to find out which is best for your kitchen style and budget.

CRITERIA FOR CHOOSING YOUR CABINET DOORS

There are plenty of different ways you could evaluate your choices of cabinet doors. Everyone has their own method, and none of these methods are wrong. If you’re feeling swamped by all the possibilities, however, it can be helpful to know some of the standard criteria for choosing your types of cabinet doors.

You can also find which kitchen cabinet is compatible with your granite countertop, quartz countertop or marble countertop from our link pages.

A few of the common criteria people evaluate while making this choice include:

KITCHEN LAYOUT AND STYLE

Your entire house has a theme, a style, and a feeling that is carried throughout. Every piece of furniture, every carpet, and every light fixture works together to contribute to this feeling, and no room is exempt from this. While the style might vary slightly from the bedroom to the hall, and the living room to the dining room, a consistent theme will likely run throughout your house. This includes the kitchen as well.

When it comes to deciding on your cabinet doors, think of them in terms of your home’s overall style. The first step is to determine what the current style of your home is and consider what look you want to achieve. Is your home classic and elegant? Is it modern and minimalistic? What about bold, bright, and fun? Whatever style your house has working for it, carry this through with your kitchen cabinet doors.

As you’re thinking about your home’s overall style, it might also be wise to devote some time to thinking about your kitchen’s layout. Is it L-shaped? U-shaped? Think about how different styles of doors will look in your current layout, and let this guide your decision accordingly.

FUNCTIONALITY

Another important consideration when choosing between different kitchen cabinet door styles is functionality.

Think about how you typically use or would like to use your cabinets. Do you frequently entertain guests and need extra storage space for all your serving dishes, plates, and drinkware?

These kinds of factors will influence what your functionality needs are.

PRICE

Like anything else, cabinet doors exist in a wide range of prices and styles. Some are less expensive, while others are more expensive — and there’s something for everyone’s budget.

As you browse cabinet door options, we recommend looking through the options available to you as a start, so you get a solid understanding of typical price ranges. Then, look at your own budget and decide how much money you’re willing to spend. Compare this decision to the prices of cabinet doors, and you’ll find that you’re quickly able to eliminate many of the options that fall on either end of your desired price range.

When you shop cabinet doors at Potomac Kitchen and Bath, you’ll find that our cabinet doors are available at a wide selection of prices. Browse from our affordable Potomac Kitchen and Bath cabinets to our semi-custom options at a middle-of-the-road price point and finally our Potomac Kitchen and Bath choices at the very top of the price range. Decide which options work best for you and your wallet, and move forward from there.

CONSTRUCTION

While there are countless different aesthetic designs for cabinets, the actual structural bones of a cabinet are available in two primary different construction options.

The first option is full-access cabinets. This is a more European style that allows for slightly more storage inside an elegant frameless construction. If you’re interested in this style, we recommend checking out our Potomac Kitchen and Bath cabinets.

On the other hand, the second, more popular option is framed cabinets. This style is more common in the United States and features framed cabinets built in many different sub-styles. We offer many different cabinets in this style, such as our Potomac Kitchen and Bath.

DOOR STYLE AND FINISH

The aesthetic is an important part of the choosing process. Ask yourself which finishes and styles you like the best, and which ones you think will look the best in your kitchen. These criteria alone should help you narrow down the choices considerably.

It’s not surprising, then, that the number of potential options is huge. We’ve put together a handy guide to help you decide which cabinet door will help you achieve the look and feel you’re looking for. make your choice. Keep reading this guide to cabinet door styles to find which is best for your kitchen style and budget.

ADDITIONAL DOOR-STYLE OPTIONS

Beyond the simple matter of overlays, there are numerous other ways your cabinet doors can vary in style and design.

Drawer fronts, for example, come in two different styles. These styles are one-piece drawer fronts — a style known as a slab — and five-piece drawer fronts — a style known as decorative. Not only can you customize your cabinets, but you can also allow yourself some freedom and expression with your drawers as well.

Stains and finishes are also important design elements to keep in mind. Cabinets and drawers come in all different colors, shades, and finishes, and we recommend basing your choice on a variety of factors such as price, taste, and overall compliance with your kitchen’s style as a whole. Some of our most popular styles and finishes for cabinets are painted, SmartShield, and glazed.

COLOR

No matter what style of kitchen cabinet doors you choose, the color palette will play a significant part in how the finished project will look. 

Lighter color palettes using cream or white can help create looks ranging from contemporary to farmhouse. Meanwhile, adding pops of color or sticking to a more earthy color palette can help you achieve anything from a modern to a mid-century style.

While cabinets were traditionally painted just one color, choosing a two-tone design — where you paint or stain the top and bottom in two different shades — can really add some visual appeal.

For further information about kitchen and bathroom cabinets, and countertops or to add granite, marble, or quartz countertops to your kitchen and vanity tops to your bathroom, call Potomac Kitchen & Bath Now! You can also make a free appointment to get service in:

Leesburg, McLean, Chantilly, Merrifield, Dunn Loring, Annandale, Dulles, Oakton,  Aldie, Warrenton, Lorton,  Sterling, Alexandria, Arlington, Potomac Falls, South Riding, Gainesville, Vienna, Gaithersburg, Great Falls, Bethesda, Rockville, Clifton, Haymarket, Burke,  Dumfries, Dalecity, Springfield, Reston, Centreville, Ashburn, Herndon, Manassas, Fairfax, Fairfax Station, VA.

Shaker-style cabinets get their name from the Shakers, otherwise known as the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing. Today, there aren’t many Shakers left — only one Shaker community remains. But their furniture has had a lasting effect. The hallmark of Shaker furniture is its simplistic look, using local American woods like pine or maple and doing without veneers, inlays or carving. Shakers thought this simplicity made the furniture honest. Shaker furniture is now on display as memorabilia in historical museums across the country, the Metropolitan included.

However, designers, architects, and homeowners alike still have a great appreciation for Shaker furniture. They demonstrate this through Shaker-style furniture, a near-replica of original Shaker furniture. Shaker-style cabinetry, especially, is desirable for many people who have an investment in interior design. Clean lines are the first thing that comes to mind when you think about Shaker-style cabinets, and flexibility is the second. An affection for Shaker-style cabinets comes less from their straightforward construction and more from their uninvolved charm. It also goes well with shaker-style cabinets, granite countertops, quartz countertops, and marble countertops.

Shaker cabinets are best known for their boxy look — rectangular, to be exact. Imagine a slab of wood in the shape of a rectangle. Within it, picture another rectangle engraved inside, but only slightly smaller. The overall appearance is a four-cornered frame with an inset panel. Any curves are gentle, and most lines are straight. The formal name for the panel-and-frame structure of a Shaker cabinet is rail-and-stile construction. The rail represents the inset panel’s width-side overlay, and the stile refers to the length-side overlay. Together, a Shaker cabinet has five pieces — the panel, two stiles and two rails.

You might have heard the terms Mission cabinets and Shaker cabinets used interchangeably, although there is a distinction. While Shaker cabinets originated in 1774, Mission cabinets came along much later, at the end of the 19th century. The Arts & Crafts movement prompted the design of Mission cabinets. Handcraftsmanship defined this movement, which differed from the Shakers in this way. Mission-style furniture is oak, emphasizing flat planes that bring attention to the wood grain. For this reason, Mission cabinets usually have a heavier look, whereas Shaker cabinets come off as delicate.

BENEFITS OF SHAKER STYLE CABINETS

Shaker cabinets have a versatile use in the home, but Shaker-style kitchen cabinets seem to be their most cherished use. The cabinets can give the kitchen a cleaner, less cluttered look. Most of all, homeowners like the timeless effect of Shaker cabinets. If you feel the need to remodel, there is one less thing to think about. Shaker cabinets don’t feel outdated. A simple color change — from unfinished wood to black or gray — can give Shaker cabinets a more modern look. The style of Shaker cabinets also prizes repetition. If you decide to use Shaker cabinets in your home, having all your drawers and cabinets in the same style ensures a clean, consistent look. 

In addition to all their other perks, Shaker-style cabinets also happen to be economical. When you compare Shaker cabinets to other furniture styles, they are cheaper overall because of their ease of construction. Since there are many ways to reflect the character of Shaker cabinets in the way you adorn them, you can choose to customize the cabinets to your liking or leave them as is. Either way, they’ll maintain their functional use.

TYPES OF SHAKER CABINETS

The unfettered look of Shaker cabinets allows for a diverse range of stylistic techniques to personalize them. Shakers themselves made many variations of the original style in the 1800s. Their popularity in the community made it essential to tailor the cabinets to individual tastes. Sometimes, this meant dividing the section into smaller pieces, termed mid-rails or mid-stiles. However, there are countless other ways to alter the look of your cabinets, whether Shaker or otherwise.

Cabinets, in general, have three main structural styles — inset, partial overlay, or full overlay. The construction of the cabinets alone affects the look and functionality of the piece. Here’s a look at the different Shaker cabinet structure styles.

• • Inset: Inset cabinets sit within a frame that surrounds the five-piece structure. This feature is typical of British kitchens. The design increases the stability of the cabinets as the frame grounds them to the floor. 
• • Partial overlay: Cabinets with a partial overlay have a small gap between the cabinet doors. The framing and gaps mean no internal hardware is necessary to open the cabinets, which reduces costs. On the other hand, if you want a completely flat appearance for your cabinetry, an inset or full-overlay cabinet may be a better option. This design is most common in American homes. 
• • Full overlay: With a full overlay, cabinet doors cover the cabinetry face, meaning no raised edges. People tend to like this aesthetic the most. Its construction also provides about an extra inch of space for the cabinet itself, since the cabinet doors don’t rely on actual cabinet space to close. Full-overlay cabinets typically don’t have frames. 

You should also consider the type of edge you want in your kitchen cabinets. The following Shaker cabinets have a beveled edge, which can help you achieve a unique look for your kitchen.

• • Berwyn: These full-overlay cabinets combine elegance and tradition. Berwyn Shaker cabinets feature an attractive outer edge with a recessed center panel. Get them exclusively in our Opal paint, which contains pigments of warm white and gray. 
• • York: The beveled edges of our York Shaker cabinets accent their clean lines and classic finishes, available in both stain and paint. You can find the perfect look for your kitchen. 
• • Livingston: Be ready for anything life throws your way with our Livingston Shaker cabinets. In the next section, we’ll take a closer look at the different cabinet finishes and the benefits they can offer you. 

CABINET FINISHINGS

Once you’ve decided on your cabinets’ construction, you can use the following finishing techniques to moderately change their appearance.

• • Paint: Painting the cabinets will give them a more modern or contemporary look. White cabinets look elegant, while blue ones look chic. Gray cabinets extend a neutral tone. 
• • SmartShield: Cover your cabinets in a laminate wrapping to create a seamless surface with smooth, consistent color. This finishing option will make your cabinets more durable and easier to keep clean. Enjoy the look of the paint and the durability of the laminate by choosing SmartShield as your cabinets’ finish. 
• • Polyurethane: Polyurethane is a translucent polymer base that deepens the natural color of the wood. Think of polyurethane as liquid plastic bringing a glossy edge to your cabinets. 

For further information about kitchen and bathroom cabinets, and countertops or to add granite, marble, or quartz countertops to your kitchen and vanity tops to your bathroom, call Potomac Kitchen & Bath Now! You can also make a free appointment to get service in:

Leesburg, McLean, Chantilly, Merrifield, Dunn Loring, Annandale, Dulles, Oakton,  Aldie, Warrenton, Lorton,  Sterling, Alexandria, Arlington, Potomac Falls, South Riding, Gainesville, Vienna, Gaithersburg, Great Falls, Bethesda, Rockville, Clifton, Haymarket, Burke,  Dumfries, Dalecity, Springfield, Reston, Centreville, Ashburn, Herndon, Manassas, Fairfax, Fairfax Station, VA.