Cabinets & Countertop Design

These guidelines are intended to create a standard from which to start. Your design may decide to consciously deviate from these standards if you choose, but this sets a decent starting point from which to work.

Custom Cabinets may be built to any dimensions and are not limited to standard cabinet sizes, however, where possible using standard widths to lay out casework will keep our modeling simpler.  If the project will be using only standard cabinets then standard dimensions are all you have to work with and filler panels are used to close the gaps that remain. 

Cabinets are built as individual boxes that are then filled with any number of configurations of shelves, drawers, and accessories and given drawer and/or door facings. When we are talking about cabinet sizes, we are talking about the size of the cabinet box without the door on the front or any crown moldings applied, etc. The only exception to this is the height of base cabinets. If we are calling out a 36” tall base cabinet this indicates a cabinet base that is built to accommodate a 36” high worksurface of the countertop that will sit on top of it.

CABINET WIDTHS

• Standard cabinet widths come in 3 inch increments starting at around 9”and moving upwards to 48” in width (anything over this width is too wide for the shelves within to support themselves without sagging.  It is actually best if we can keep cabinets to 36” or possibly up to 42” wide at most from a design standpoint).   

• Once a cabinet is over 2 feet wide it generally moves to a double door cabinet box. A 2 foot wide cabinet can be made with a single door but for design purposes can also be made with a double door set if desired. This is possibly true of smaller cabinets but the door panel size begins to become too small much smaller than this. 

• Corner cabinets typically have two width/depth measurements rather than a separate width and depth measurements. Standard size corner cabinets may include 3’-0”for a typical corner or lazy Suzan type set up, or 4’-0”for a corner sink configuration and can have either a 90 degree corner set up or an angled front. Other variations for corner cabinets are also possible

CABINET DEPTHS

UPPER CABINET DEPTH

• Residential Uppers are typically 12” deep to provide for more usable counter top space. In custom kitchens this depth may be adjusted for different cabinets (usually paired with varying heights) to give some variation to the kitchen design (if that is your clients thing). 

• Commercial uppers are typically 14” deep. This depth allows for things like binders to be stored standing up with the binding toward the front of the cabinet.  

BASE CABINET DEPTH

• The most common depth of base cabinet is 24” deep and is nearly always the size of kitchen base cabinets. Back to back island base cabinets are the most common exception to this rule, but custom cabinets elsewhere in the home could be made at smaller depths as well.   

• Bathroom vanity cabinets can vary in size but ASG’s standard depth for bathroom base cabinets is 21” deep and is a standard for most bathroom base cabinets that are full built in cabinetry. Pre-built vanities are often of less depth than this.  

FULL HEIGHT CABINET DEPTH

• 24” or 18” are common depths for full height cabinets. An 18” deep cabinet is sufficient for something like a locker cabinet for storing coats and such in a mud room.  

CABINET HEIGHTS

UPPER CABINET HEIGHT

• Upper cabinet heights are determined by the overall height of cabinets desired for your space. For example, a 7’ tall desired height would have a 30” tall upper cabinet box. This leaves approximately 18” from the surface of the countertop (if a 36” countertop) to the bottom of the cabinet to use as workable space.

• Typical desired heights and resulting upper cabinet box heights include:

  • 7’-0” Overall desired height = 30” tall cabinet

  • 7’-6” Overall desired Height = 36” tall cabinet

  • 8'-0” Overall desired Height = 42” tall cabinet

• Some Kitchen designs will use varying heights (usually paired with varying depths) of upper cabinets to provide a variation in the design (if this is your clients thing)

• In custom kitchen designs a couple of cabinet heights might be stacked on top of each other to make the kitchen even taller, in this case the top cabinet is usually pretty small like 1’ or so but anything is possible. Taller cabinets including those at 8’0” will require a taller person to reach the shelves inside. Any cabinets above 8’-0” will require a ladder or other means of reaching the shelves in order to utilize the storage provided by these cabinets.

BASE CABINET HEIGHT

• Base cabinet heights are determined by the desired height of the countertop that will be installed above it.

FULL HEIGHT CABINET HEIGHT

• The height of full height cabinets should be designed to coordinate with the overall desired height of upper cabinets. Standard height include:

  • 7’-0” = 84”

  • 7’-6” = 90”

  • 8’-0” = 96”

• In custom designs taller cabinets may be achievable, or greater heights could be achieved by stacking an upper cabinet on top of a full height cabinet, which may be more desirable as this would provide a completely separate box with it’s own door configuration that could match other upper, upper cabinets in the design.

COMMON SPECIALTY CABINET TYPES

RESIDENTIAL

• Sink Base

  • The standard width of cabinet for a double compartment kitchen sink is 36”. The standard width of a cabinet for a vanity sink is 24”. Different width options are available and should be coordinated with sink sizes

  • This base cabinet will typically have a faux drawer front above the operational door fronts since the kitchen sink takes the space that a drawer would normally occupy.

• Over Stovetop Upper

  • Often a cabinet will be placed over the top of a stove. If this is desired, this cabinet is often held an additional 18” for total of approximately 36” above the stovetop. This allows for a vent hood or microwave/vent combo unit to be installed below the cabinet and allow space above the stove. Standard box heights for this cabinet include:

    • 7’-0” Overall desired height = 12” tall cabinet

    • 7’-6” Overall desired Height = 18” tall cabinet

    • 8'-0” Overall desired Height = 24” tall cabinet

• Over Refrigerator Upper

  • The cabinet above the refrigerator is often made to be a 24” deep cabinet to aid in being able to use this cabinet as reaching over the fridge can be difficult and is available as a standard depth for this purpose.   

  • The standard width of this cabinet is 36” which accommodates most refrigerators. If custom cabinets are to be used, it is nice to make this cabinet 37” to allow for a little maneuvering space getting the appliance in and out. If the design is for a smaller or larger than standard refrigerator, this cabinet would want to be sized accordingly.

• Built in Oven Full Height

  • If a built in oven is desired within a kitchen it will require a full height cabinet to house the appliance. The oven configuration may be a single oven, an oven and microwave combo, a double oven, or some other configuration. These appliances come in several standard width options and the cabinet will need to be coordinated to match the width of the desired appliance. Standard widths of these cabinets include 24”, 27”, or 30”. Other variations may also be available.

• Built in Microwave Base or Full Height

  • Often this type of cabinet is a base or full height cabinet designed for a built-in microwave to insert into the body of the cabinet. Check appliances sizing for cabinet sizing requirements

• Trash drawer Base

  • These can be built with a drawer above or as a completely movable face panel, but generally the entire drawer face opens with a drawer at the bottom of the cabinet to hold trash cans and is often made to look like a door face. A good standard width dimension is 18” which allows for two decent size trash bins (one for garbage the other for recycling) placed perpendicular to the direction of drawer pull stacked one behind the other. However smaller widths can work depending on trash bin sizes and orientations.

• Cabinet face ready appliances - Many appliances such as refrigerators, dishwashers, and others can be purchased with a face of the appliance that is designed to have a cabinet front built onto it so that the appliance hides itself in the design of the cabinets.

COUNTERTOP HEIGHTS

28” - Minimum Accessible Work Surface Height

30” - Standard Table or Sitting height - Vanity Height (Short Vanity)

• Standard dining room chairs are designed to accompany this height so it makes for a good option when designing a sitting work surface.

• This is the maximum counter height for an Accessible countertop. Often a lowered section of countertop is provided at this height to meet accessibility requirements that may apply while the rest of the area is designed at a more standard worksurface height.

• A vanity counter may be designed to this height, especially one that is meant to service children or shorter people.

32” - Vanity Height Range (Older standard) - Max Accessible counter with self rimming sink (sink rim cannot be higher than 34”)

• This seems to have been the most common height selected in the past for vanities, but has fallen out of favor over time. The lower the countertop height the less height you have for drawers, etc. may be part of the reason

34” - Maximum Accessible Work Surface height - Vanity Height (Newer standard)

• This is probably the most common height for a vanity countertop at the present.

36” - Counter Height - Standard worksurface height - Vanity height (Tall vanity)

• This is the most common worksurface height for a standing person, as such most worksurfaces in kitchens and workshop tables, etc. will be set to this height.

  • In reality if a slightly thicker countertop material is used, the actual height may be slightly above 36” but documentation should still be shown as 36” as this sets cabinet heights, etc.

• Some people prefer this height for their vanity worktops as well, this is becoming a more popular trend

• Chairs and stools are designed to accompany this height

42” - Bar Height

• Some worksurfaces are designed with a bar height countertop set on top of a wall at the back of an island or peninsula is where you see this height used most often.

• This is also the standard height for sitting up to a counter at a bar but may be configured with a worksurface height counter on the other side for workers preparing food and drinks.

• Chairs and stools are designed to accompany this height

44” - Standing Bar Height

48” - Spectator Height

• Tall stools or chairs are designed to accompany this height. Typically this type of set up will be located at the back of a space and the height allows people to see over people sitting in front of them.

COUNTERTOP DEPTHS

• Generally speaking countertops are designed to cover the cabinets below them. For a 24” base cabinet against a wall, we will draw the countertop depth at 25” deep so as to cover the cabinet and any drawer or door front as well and provide a slight overhang beyond the front (1-1 1/2”).

• At the end of cabinets open to the room such as at the end of an island or peninsula, a 1/2” overhang is probably sufficient unless you want something else for the design specifically.

• See kitchen design for Island & Peninsula rules of thumb.