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DIY Toe-kick drawer - Anyone do this?

16 years ago

Okay, so I should be prepping walls, but one of my daily treats is a trip to GW, and last night I saw a couple of pictures of toe kick drawers... and it got me thinking that maybe we should add couple when we install the cabinets. I can't think it would be too hard.. A trip to IKEA to get a couple drawers, then mount them in the bottom of the cabinet before they're installed.. put on a front with hardware and whalla!! Am I missing something? Has anyone ever done this??? Should I stop desiging and start spackling?!

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Comments (10)

miaolinwei
16 years ago
Wow, they are like 2" drawers, good place to put big sheets of papers I guess. Other than that, I think it's useless
imrainey
16 years ago
Wrong-O! I had a toe-kick drawer installed for the step ladder that's essential for me. Can't believe I got along without it before! And now I wish I'd looked for more spots to use toe-kick drawers. It's empty unused space down there. Might as well make use of it for seldom-used things.

Sorry to say I don't know a thing about how it was engineered. I just asked for it and the cabinet guy did it.
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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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"I can't think of any possible way to install the runners into the cabinet sides with the cabinets in place." You do not use the cabinet sides to mount the runners, but a box with a thin top (and bottom if you want) and about 1/2 inch thick sides. Slide the whole thing under the cabinet and fasten in place. Depending on how the cabinets originally where installed it can be a real chore to gain access. 2x lumber has been used to make up a level floor frame to then rest cabinets on for many years in many places. Cutting though it in the toe kick space is a real chore (drill large holes and use a narrow sawzall blade).
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This is the second time today I posted a request for info after searching for an answer through Google, and then returned to search for more and found what I was looking for. (The first time was on the cooking forum.) If anyone has better instructions than the link I will post below, I would love to know. But the link below is the site I was looking for. Sandra Here is a link that might be useful: DIY toe kick drawer instructions
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I bought the 24WX80"H and using the reinforced shelf that Ikea sells for the oven. I also bought 2 39"H doors to close the cabinet. Keep in mind, this is to use with my Miele set which is smaller than the American machines. I just stack my GE W/D on each other. I also bought base cabinets to build storage and provide support for a counter. They are 30"W, 24"W and 18W. Thanks Writersblock.
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imrainey
16 years ago
I should have added that my GC was prescient enough to make sure the cabinet guy built it with enough clearance that it doesn't drag on the floor. Even so, we put teflon slides on it.

Worth keeping in mind!
Nancy in Mich
16 years ago
tablecloths, serving trays, big serving platters, baking pans, the good silverware, rarely used kitchen utensils, important papers you don't want the crooks to find, ditto jewelry... Some people even put a step in the toekick so when you pull it out, you can step up on it to reach the high cupboards.

Keep searching the forum and you will find more info. Did you try the search function on the Kitchen Forums main page at the bottom?

I will try to get these in my next kitchen remodel.
pbrisjar
16 years ago
I mentioned this idea to Hubby a while ago. He took one look at me and said "not gonna happen". Oh well, maybe some day.
don_chuwish
16 years ago
If you've ever built any kind of cabinets with drawers on sliders before then I'd say go for it. Get good quality sliders tho, you don't want it sagging and scraping along the floor in a year.

- D
kisaacs
16 years ago
I built my own. I have IKEA cabinets, and I did it with all IKEA parts. There's an article with a how-to that I wrote, but it's on the IkeaFans website. You may need to join to see it, but it's linked below.

Here is a link that might be useful: How to make a toekick drawer
talley_sue_nyc
16 years ago
You don't even have to have *built* a entire cabinet--you just have to be able to install a drawer slide.

The biggest issue will be, is the front of your cabinet, in the toe-kick area, closed in?

And attach them BEFORE installing.

If you have cabinets whose sides come all the way down to the floor, you can skip the risers that KIsaacs had to use.

Also, there are drawer slides that are top-mount.

I bet keyboard slides would work. They even come 18", 20", and 22" long.
bethv
Original Author
16 years ago
Kisaacs - THANK YOU!!! This is just what I was thinking! Your instructions & pictures are such a help - DH was skeptical & I think reluctant to add to the job, but he saw your instructions and was on board! He even started to list the places we could add them!!

imrainey - your drawer was my inspiration! I think it was in a thread about step stools : )

Talley Sue - good call with the keyboard slides - one drawer will go next to a heat duct - so if we top mounted the slide we'd have more room.
abejadulce_z9b
16 years ago
Well, graniteoutlaws, you are right - size does matter. That's why for those of us living with a kitchen the size of a thimble (mine is 8' x 8.5'), every 2" is a treasure. Thanks, Kisaacs!

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