Toe Kick Drawers

16 years ago

Toe kick drawers -- who has them? Do you like them? Can you give me an idea of what the internal dimensions are? Were they expensive additions? Do you have them under all of your cabinets or just some? Does it look odd not to have them under all the cabinets? What do you use them for? Anyone want to share a picture?

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loves2cook4six

16 years ago

I have 5 and wish I had more. Well actually, strictly speaking they are not toe kick draws alone as they use some of the space above the toe kick as well, but they do go almost all the way to the floor.

We put 2 of them in the butlers pantry, without handles - they can be pulled open with your toe, and I love those. No one knows they are there and they are great for storing big items that need to be kept flat. One has platters, the other has my 1000 sheet package of parchment paper and my 5000 cupcake liners.

Then I have another under my double ovens where we store foil containers and other baking goods.

A fourth one forms part of the drawer system I have for can storage and the final one turned out to be a bit of a waste. It's in the dish drawer and because the fit of the dishes is tight, having a ledge in the drawer didn't work so dh filled that one in with scrap wood. It would have been better to put that one under the cooktop where the toekick space could have added to the drawer height and allowed storage for extra big stock pots.

My cabinets were all custom built by Ayr cabinets out of Nappannee IN. They ship worldwide.

Open...

and closed...

Oh, please excuse the construction dust.

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Comments (6)

pecanpie
16 years ago
We (no, that would be I) wanted toe kick drawers for platter storage, as a 'safe' of sorts for sterling flatware and other goodies, and because they just seemed so cool!

Our cabinets were custom, so it was entirely do-able, but the cost to do these along one run was disproportionate to the cost of the project itself. Did not make sense to do them.

I don't know to what extent the cabinetmaker did not want to mess with them, and therefore decided to charge an arm and a leg for them, or whether they are truly a PITA to construct and install. Whatever, when the time came, I was just ready to get the show on the road and their importance faded quickly.

Although I haven't missed having them, I still think it is a great idea and a perfect use for otherwise wasted space, especially in a small kitchen.

Good luck- hope you get yours!
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ardcp: I am very happy with my Thomasville cabinets. We upgraded to all plywood, and chose a solid wood door style. The construction, finish, hardware are all just what we expected. We have had some concerns related to the installation, but that was a contractor the KD hired. BlackChamois and sstrazisar: If the drawers/cabinets are installed properly, they will skim 1/8"+ above the floor. Keep in mind that if at some point in the future you want to install a new floor, you will need to either give up your toekick drawers, or tear out all the old flooring. Another layer of flooring will not fit under the drawer. Also, you can't open the drawers if a rug is in front of them. Neitsdelf: The fronts of my drawers is a separate piece of the toekick molding, which was attached to the drawer front when the molding was installed. My drawers came with a standard cup style pull, but we chose to use pulls that match all the others....not that it matters, as you can't see the pulls unless the drawers are open.
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is this a problem for crawlers? Not for the slides I have installed. A crawler wouldn't be strong enough to push the drawer in. A strong toddler might be able to, but their face would most likely be above the drawer line. If the drawer has something in it, it pops out slower and not as far. An empty drawer will pop out quicker and farther, but there's no mass so it also takes less to stop. How high is the inside of the drawer? I'm thinking that it's about 2 1/2"? Is that right? Mine drawers are 2.25" deep. But there is about 2.5" of head room. Did you use the transparent contact paper over the entire front of the toekick drawer? I wrapped the entire drawer front. Do you have to push in around the center area or can you push it anywhere along the bottom for it to come out? You can push anywhere on the face of the drawer, which is why I wrapped the entire drawer front with transparent contact paper.
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Hi Lori, The drawer box is made to go down to almost the floor and is moved by super duper hardware-slides or glides, I guess. I can't see the hardware. My particular tk drawer is made like loves2cook4six where the toekick part is part of a large lower drawer-and there is no separate hardware or construction for the toekick part. Altho, I think that these particular pics of Loves' show 'a drawer within a drawer', in addition to toekick drawers. There are other tk drawers where the tk drawer is only as high as the toe kick area and there is a separate drawer right above. The toekick drawer space is maybe no taller than 8 inches high. There are probably other ways to construct tk drawers. I was so concerned about you getting what I believe to be inaccurate info that I called my grandson and asked if he would please post a couple of pics of my kitchen. So he came over and he monkeyed with my computer and posted these 3 photos. They are, tada, ta da, the very first pics of my kitchen ever posted-and my kitchen was completed in mid 2011. So this is a special thread to me! They are not the best quality photos but I hope they convey my thoughts. I so love my kitchen, and especially the cabinetry. Now my grandson and I will get together and belatedly post my kitchen on gw, hopefully.
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This sure is one of those projects that would be MUCH better done as the cabinets were built! Not, alas, the case for me. I have ordered one of the slides and will post some more info about then when I have looked at it. Deedles. What I really like about the Rockler slides is that they make building the drawer so easy. Just slide the bottom in place and screw the front and back to the mounts. Cut three pieces and screw two of them in place and you are finished! The OT glides you linked seem to require building a drawer the traditional way, and I think considerably more side clearance is required. But the full extension plus would be VERY desirable. Thank you for sending this link. Scrappy, From the pictures I am estimating that I will lose less than 1/2" depth with the Rockler slides. I suspect that any slides would require that there be some space between the bottom of the drawer and the shelf below. Of course, I will also loose some space to the false bottom that must be built for the cradle. I am hoping I can use 1/4" plywood for that. Andrea Look at the OT glides Deedles linked above. They would be VERY nice.
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xoxosmom
16 years ago
I ordered a couple toe kick drawers. My cabinets will be delivered today.
talley_sue_nyc
16 years ago
They *are* expensive--all drawers are expensive. That's because there is the construction of the drawer box (4 corner joints & a bottom joint, plus the finishing of all those surfaces), the slides themselves, and the installation of the slides. Plus, an extra drawer front.

And it's reason for the installation of those drawer to cost a bit more if your cabinet maker doesn't have a template/installation jig/experience that makes the "where do I drill the holes" question an automatic, foolproof decision.
iambpt
16 years ago
hi loves2cook4six... do you remember any specifics about the price for just the toe-kick drawers? (if you don't mind sharing :)

beth
loves2cook4six
16 years ago
My cabinet order was not broken down by item, however that being said, I want to think a figure of $400-$500 per draw rings a bell. It was basically the cost of building a special shaped drawer and the hardware. The cabinet box stayed pretty much the same.

Toe Kick Drawers

loves2cook4six

Comments (6)

pecanpie

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