Modify cabinet from door & drawer to single door with mixer lift?

8 years ago

I am considering buying a home that requires extensive remodeling. The kitchen is quality solid wood but hideous- yellowed pine with routed doors and wrought iron hardware... ick.

I'm trying to figure a budget for the kitchen remodel- and I'd like to just replace the cabinet doors and paint the cabinets white. However, I really want a place to install a stand mixer lift- which requires a single cabinet with no drawer above it.

Of course every base cabinet in the kitchen also has a drawer above the door. So I'm wondering if, while replacing all the doors and painting- could I remove a drawer, cut out the wood face between the door a drawer, remove the drawer hardware, and put in a larger door to cover the whole thing? Then I'd have an open cabinet I could use for my mixer lift.

Can it be done? ((BTW hubby and I are both very handy- he comes from a construction industry background. We build our own furniture, own all the necessary tools, etc. Just no prior experience with kitchen cabinets!))

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Gary Bedell

3 years ago

Can't find mixer lift hardware that will install UNDER a drawer like the picture shows. Any info on a supplier?

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Comments (11)

wildchild2x2
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
I am planning to use a cabinet with a drawer above for a mixer lift. I want the mixer to be below counter height. In order to do this the cabinet has to be wide enough to accommodate the mixer being placed sideways. That allows enough space for it to swing up and out since it won't sit as deeply into the cabinet as the regular way.

I saw the idea on Amazon in the reviews of the Rev A Shelf heavy duty mixer lift that is made for full height cabinet doors. The review was quite detailed on how to do this. So it can be done.

Yes you can cut the cabinet piece forming the drawer area and order a larger door for it. All cabs are the same before the face frames are put on. Just boxes after all.
weedyacres
8 years ago
Yes.

Heck, I hacked up some door/drawer lowers and made full drawer bases out of them (tossed original drawer). Like watchme said, they're just boxes. You can change out the insides however you want.
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Okay, so I've done a search. I'm pretty well versed with Google and how to find things on this site. As to the appliance lift, some love them, some not so much. I know the "disadvantages" of them and I'm fine with it. So here's the thing, I don't WANT it sitting out on the counter top and I didn't like when I had it in a cabinet where I needed to lift it out and up...I just don't use it then. I'm running out of options unless I can figure out a magic spell to have it just appear when I need it and go away when I don't. ;-) As to stability issues, I don't intend to keep it on the the shelf when using it, but instead use it to lift to close to counter height in my island and then place it on the counter, so it's relative stability during use isn't an issue. With or without the lift, I'm going to wind up devoting most of a cabinet to it anyway because of it's size. That's how it's been in it's current lift-less state, so I'm fine with devoting space to it as opposed to it sitting out on the counter. I can have a small roll out beneath the mechanism for some things and I'm cool with that. I'd like to know if anyone has compared the three different makers and what thoughts they had with each. Or if someone has another option of something to do with it that doesn't involve it residing on my countertop but being more easily accessible, I'm open to hearing it.
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My new KA is an inch taller than my old KA, and is taller tham my Magic Mill. Either fit on the lift, but mine has no drawer above it specifically to allow for the needed height as it's in a 33" tall cabinet. I have a small pullout tray below it, but it only takes up a few inches. Is your lift mounted so it is using all the lower room? We did put ours in and then DH changed what he wanted for the top, and then it ended up just a fraction too high, and we had to take down the brackes and re-install them lower. Then when we went to put on the doors, found the bracket was now in the way of hinge. We ended up overlapping the hinge and not installing the screw where the hinge is. Since there are like 12 screw holes, not haivng screws in a few has not impared performance one bit. I think often the thickness of the top gets forgotten about when measuring the clearance. With ours, the two sides were mounted into the cabinet, and the top(shelf) part was installed after. ALso didn't help that DH first installed the top too far back and then it bumped into the back of the cabinet when closing. It didn't touch when closed, but there was enough "spring" that it would hit the back wall before settling into the locked position. DH took it off and cut some off the back side so it would fit. BTW the problem was in the lowering, once fully down the mixer would fit with plenty of clearance, but it would hit the frame of the cabinet on it's way down. I think sometimes they also forget to allow for the depth of the face frame when figuring the clearnace. We measured and measured, and thought we had it all figured out, and then when we went to use it, found several problems that required adjustments before it would work. DH wasn't happy, at one point he was ready to take the lift out and send it back. They aren't cheap!
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Be aware that mixers come in various heights so choose the lift's placement in the cabinet carefully. I can't point to the exact thread, but I've read on this forum that someone's mixer made it only by a hair (she had not checked in advance), others said they installed only to discover their mixer was too tall for the placement they chose. I think it works out fine as long as the appliance's height is considered before installation. If you are interested on other threads on the topic in this forum, you'll get more results by doing a google search for: gardenweb appliance lift.
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Not to hijack but I have mostly drawers and I love them but I also have doors in some lower cabinets and these are also highly functional. All of my lower cabinets with doors have rollouts - the advantage to rollouts is that they are better able to handle some items that are taller. The only disadvantage is that they require two motions - open the door and pull out the rollout but it's not a huge issue for the kinds of things I store in the rollouts. I have two relatively narrow cabinets and having two rollouts in lieu of drawers in those cabinets made much more functional use of the space. I also have two tall cabinets and these also work better with doors since one is the utility closet and its "twin" houses heavy small appliances that can be slid out to the counter and has two very functional roll outs on the lower level. In both these specific instances, drawers would have been less functional in terms of specific needs for my kitchen. What absolutely is awful are lower cabinets with shelves that don't pull out since those become impossible to organize and access. I even had rollouts in the sink cabinets for kitchen and bathrooms so that everything is accessible.
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wilson853
8 years ago
Rockler has an appliance lift that can be used beneath a drawer. Maybe this will work for you.

http://www.rockler.com/under-drawer-swing-up-appliance-mechanism
Melissa thanked wilson853
practigal
8 years ago
You can make a fake front that matches all of the others and install the lift. Good for you for seeing that if you don't have that lift you are unlikely to use the mixer which is really heavy and cumbersome, but otherwise great...
wildchild2x2
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
The only problem with the Rockler is that it only has a 20 pound load rating. Be OK for a food processor but not a heavy mixer, especially if you want to run the mixer on the lift. The Rev A Shelf has a 60 pound load rating.
Melissa
Original Author
8 years ago
I LOVE my Kitchenaid. I used it all the time in my last house, which I had a mixer lift in. I'm in temporary housing on OH how I miss it!

I still don't know if we will build new or buy this place and renovate- but either way the mixer lift is a must-have!

I'm also tickled to find out that I can replace some of the cabinets with drawers- if I can do this, there's no reason at all to replace the whole kitchen, which will save us $10,000+
Melissa
Original Author
8 years ago
Wilson853, that lift, while not sturdy enough for my stand mixer, would be perfect for my food processor! I may have to install two, one for each!!
wilson853
8 years ago
Here's a couple of photos that I've saved which may be of help.
Great use of space in kitchen! · More Info

Great use of space in kitchen! · More Info

Custom Amish Cabinetry · More Info
J H
2 months ago
Many will but the use height will be lower
Joseph Babcock
2 months ago
https://a.co/d/3Ns6Lo5

Modify cabinet from door & drawer to single door with mixer lift?

Gary Bedell

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Modify cabinet from door & drawer to single door with mixer lift?

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