FeastHome –
There is a standard set to make the ideal cabinet toe kick dimensions to provide a safer and cozier area for your toes.
‘Toe kick’ refers to a notched profile you see at the bottom part of a cabinet. There should be some space between the lower part of the cabinet front door and your toes.
Both big-scale furniture manufacturers and small-business woodworkers and carpenters should include this advantageous toe-kick feature.
Also, they should follow the standard dimensions to go along with professionalism.
However, the dimensions you are going to read in this article are not the compulsory ones set by the building code.
Nevertheless, they are the ones that builders have worked with for a long time under great-scale experiences.
What are these so-called standard cabinet toe kick dimensions, by the way? Read below to find out!
Standard Cabinet Toe Kicks Dimensions
Measuring the depth and height is the prominent thing while creating or designing the kitchen cabinet.
Depth
A toe-kick optimal depth is 3 inches (7.7 cm). It means the distance between your toes and the cabinet lower part should not be less than 3 inches.
You should avoid any measurement of toe kick with less than 3 inches. Your toes might bump into the base cabinet and it will disturb your comfort in working above the cabinet counter.
With this deepness, anyone who works around the cabinet and must stand in front of it for quite some times, could lean comfortably and maintain balance effortlessly.
Nonetheless, no one has ever complained about some particular danger he/she felt from a deeper toe-kick measurement of more than 3 inches.
In other words, measurement applied deeper than the standard does not harm anyone, not even affect the effectiveness of the toe kick itself.
Height
If ‘depth’ refers to the distance of your toes from the cabinet front side, ‘height’ describes the measurement from the lowest part of the cabinet door to the floor.
Meanwhile, 3.5 inches (around 9 cm) is the toe-kick ideal height.
Usually, builders also raise the height to 4 inches at most. It indicates that any measurement higher than the standard will not affect the toe kick effectiveness whatsoever.
However, the higher the height is, the less the space of the base cabinet.
The Needs to Change Your Cabinet Toe Kick Dimensions
As much as users and builders try to obey the standard to get the optimum comfort, there are still one or two specific cases where the mentioned cabinet toe kick dimensions are not the ideal measurement.
Some tall persons with large feet might want to expand the dimensions a little bit to find a more accommodating toe-kick space.
In this case, have a kitchen set customized would be the best pick among other cabinet toe-kick options.
Ideal Cabinet Dimensions
Now, we cannot talk about the toe-kick dimensions without knowing the ideal cabinet measurement itself, can we?
Do those toe kick numbers fit any cabinet dimensions? If the ergonomic feature has an ideal measurement, so does the whole unit, does not it?
Below are the standard dimensions of various cabinet types, including the base, full-height, mid-height, and table-height cabinets.
1. Dimensions of Base Cabinet Set
Base cabinets are those units built to be the bases of countertops. Both their interior and exterior features offer great help in storing utensils.
Besides, they help in easing the cooking works if only their measurements follow the standard number.
Not only the height and depth, but a base cabinet measurement also includes the countertop thickness, depth, and more.
-
Countertop Dimensions
The ideal measurement for a countertop height is 36 inches (91.5 cm). Of course, this number only applies to the base cabinet.
Meanwhile, the standard depth is 25 inches (63.5 cm). For some cabinets, the countertops are deeper. They go up to 30 inches (76.2 cm).
Any measurement less than 25 inches will only lessen the workspace.
On the other hand, countertops with a depth of more than 30 inches will come longer than an adult’s arms reach, thus reaching things will surely be a difficult job.
-
Base Cabinet Dimensions
Base cabinet depth should not be deeper than the countertop. The ideal number is 24 inches (61 cm), but any deeper measurement will not affect its effectiveness.
Instead, deeper base cabinets up to 36 inches (91.5 cm) might be as useful since modern refrigerators are getting deeper, too.
However, looking up at smaller kitchen space, some manufacturers offer a 12-inch-depth (30.5 cm) base cabinet as well to their customers.
Also, you can find base cabinets in width between 12 to 36 inches (30.5 to 91.5 cm).
These varying numbers indicate that you must check the compatibility of your future base cabinet dimensions in the kitchen.
-
Interior Dimensions of Base Cabinet
Base cabinets come in various interior designs. It makes them come in different dimensions, too. Several are available in store along with shelves, while some others are not.
Nonetheless, the general measurements include depth, height, shelf thickness, and end panel thickness. They go as follows.
-
Interior cabinet depth = 23 inches (58.5 cm)
-
Interior cabinet height = 30 inches (76.2 cm)
-
Shelf thickness = 0.75 inches (2 cm)
-
End panel thickness = 0.5 inches (1.3 cm)
As for the width, the numbers are also varying, following the base cabinet measurement.
2. Dimensions of Full-Height Cabinet
These cabinet types commonly come in three average depths: 12, 24, and 36 inches (30.5, 61, and 91.5 cm).
On the other hand, there is no standard measurement for the height and the width.
The width is various and similar to that of the base cabinet, while the height depends on the manufacturers.
3. Dimensions of Mid-Height Cabinet
These mid-height cabinets are some new trend, part of kitchens owned by Europeans, specifically.
The name refers to its ¾ height, a little bit higher than the base cabinet but not as high as the full-height type.
Its height ranges between 40 to 60 inches (102 to 152.4 cm).
4. Dimensions of Table-Height Cabinet
As the name implies, these cabinet types use the measurement of height as those of tables or desks. Table-height cabinets are common to see in kitchens where an office area is visible.
You might guess that the worktop is lower than the average base cabinet countertop, and you are not wrong.
The ideal height is 30 inches (76.2 cm).
Having this kind of cabinet around is advantageous, primarily in doing kitchen tasks, like kneading, mashing, and rolling out.
Kitchen Island Should Have It as Well
As an ergonomic feature, toe kick gives you some space to lean on and stand comfortably in front of the counter. In other words, its existence affects your work in the kitchen.
If you do the cooking tasks in an area without one for a long time, body posture and composure issues might occur.
Therefore, it sounds a great idea to have toe-kicks for more than just your cabinets, in the kitchen island as well, for example.
The measurement is the same with cabinet toe kick dimensions: 3 inches (7.7 cm) deep and 3.5 inches (9 cm) high.
Toe Kick Drawer
Providing some space for your toes when you have to stand for hours in front of a worktop is surely beneficial.
No wonder, having a lot instead of some area down below in terms of height is tempting. However, higher cabinet toe kick dimensions could only mean less stock space for you.
Well, fret not; toe kick drawers could be the solution to this problem. They refer to some drawers positioned under the cabinet, right where the toe kick is, which come in super beneficially.
Instead of having the usual toe-kick, you can make use of the recessed area below to house your utilities as well.
By installing these drawers, you could have higher cabinet toe kick dimensions without facing the issue of less stock space. The drawers then could disappear out of sight when not in use.
Are you saying how do you build ones for your pre-made cabinetries?
Well, unless you are a carpenter or woodworker yourself, it would be the best and wisest decision to leave the entire labor works to the professionals.
However, it does not mean that you should sit and do nothing. Be sure to participate and chip in your thoughts, especially in these tasks below.
Selecting Hardware
People like how toe-kick saves them from some particular problems while working in the kitchen.
It is all thanks to the disruption-whatsoever-free toe access down below that allows them to make smooth moves back and forth around the counters.
Depart from the seamless appearance of the toe kick; you might want your future drawers to appear the same. In other words, do not bother to install any handle in front of the drawers.
After that, decide what kind of drawer slide you want to use. If you expect the slide to be invisible when opening the drawer, opt for the under-mount type.
However, if you are okay with a visible drawer slide, the side-mount type will do.
Drafting and Designing
In this task, you need to remember that the cabinet toe kick dimensions are not spacey, to begin with. Moreover, floor clearance and drawer bottom will lessen the already limited measurements.
Visualize your future toe-kick drawers with some views, including a plan view, elevation view, and section view.
Work the three views with the professionals while bearing the cabinet toe kick dimensions in mind.
To get more advantage of its existence, some drawers could fill the space, so that you have both the ergonomic feature and extra storing space.
In conclusion, toe-kick is a helpful feature to have in the kitchen if only it comes in the standard cabinet toe kick dimensions.