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How to Choose Between Cabinets and Drawers
When planning for a remodel or update in your home, you should consider your storage needs first. No matter what room of the house you are remodeling or updating, having a detailed plan at the start is vital. Two rooms that can have particularly tricky storage woes are the kitchen and the bathroom. In this blog, we will look at how the right mix of cabinets and drawers can help keep your spaces clean and organized.
The Kitchen Cabinets and Drawers
The typical kitchen will almost always have a good mix of drawers and cabinets for storage. While cabinets can be great for storing cups or plates, drawers are essential for things like utensils, dish towels, and other kitchen necessities. But, how can you know what the right combination of drawers and cabinets is right for you? Before you start measuring and looking at styles, the first step is to take an inventory. What are you currently storing in your kitchen?
Make a list of all the items that are essential to your kitchen routine. It is also helpful to consider how you use your kitchen. Think about what gets used the most, or where you tend to do most of your prep or cooking. This will help you create an efficient plan to organize your kitchen cabinets and drawers.
The Bathroom Cabinets and Drawers
The last thing you want to see when you walk into a bathroom is a cluttered mess. Bathrooms need to be both clean and organized, and one great way to do this is with cabinets and drawers. Much like the kitchen, there are several bathroom essentials, and so it is important to take an inventory.
When planning to add cabinets or drawers to your bathroom, think about your morning routine. The last thing you want when running late in the morning is to not be able to find what you need. Having a well-planned and organized bathroom helps keep the space comfortable and clean.
Wood Cabinet Shelves
Adding more shelves to your cabinets can be a great way to increase your storage space in an accessible way. Wood shelves have many material options, so it is important to know what items will be placed on them. In addition, also consider the placement. As an example, you don’t want to put your heaviest items on the highest shelves. For lighter weight capacities, laminated shelves are more affordable since they are made from particle or fiberboard and then covered on the surface with a laminate. However, solid wood shelves in oak, cherry, or walnut can handle heavier items and resist moisture better.
When it comes to wood strength, oak and hickory are two of the strongest woods that you can choose from for cabinet shelving.
Cabinet Shelf Depth
Wood shelf depth also plays a big role in strength and durability so choose your custom cabinet depths carefully. The deeper the shelves go, the more they are prone to bending, warping, and breaking. To bend and warp, shelves don’t need much weight on them, if any. They can also break if someone climbs on them, so consider that if you have children in the household. You’ll want strong wood shelves to handle the applied pressure, as well as the temperature and moisture changes.
Cabinet Drawer Styles and Options
When it comes to cabinet drawers; the material, design, and size are big determining factors in how your cabinets will be built. Bigger drawer depths are nice for extra space but can lead to function failures earlier than less deep drawers. The bigger sizes require more force and effort, but they do hold more items. Also, their width carries the same factors.
Depending on what you plan to use your cabinet drawers for, it may be better to split the cabinet space into 2 smaller drawers.
Using solid wood materials is typical for custom made drawers and the same options for shelving apply here too. Hickory and oak are the strongest over many other hardwoods. Particleboard is more cost-efficient, but it can be less reliable and much less durable option.
For lightweight storage in your cabinets and drawers, particleboard will work because it won’t have as much weight in it and won’t require as much effort or strength to open. However, it still won’t last as long so you want to consider that.
Final Thoughts
If your New Year’s resolution is to remodel your kitchen or bathroom, then hopefully this blog gave you some great ideas for getting started. The first thing that you do to get your project going is planning your cabinets and drawers. Start taking inventory of what you use the most, what has tricky storage needs, and how you use the space. An added benefit of our custom cabinetry is that you can also order doors to mounted as drawer fronts or vice versa. The allows you to achieve visual unity without sacrificing functionality.
If you have your plan ready or need help getting started, feel free to give us a call at 1-855-669-5222 or an email at info@cabinetnow.com. We look forward to working with you!
