could use advice on inset door hinges

[Bob Cooper]

I'm hoping i didn't screw up so bad that i cannot recover.

I built this "built-in" years ago when i was building my first set of kitchen cabinets. The main kitchen turned out fine but i've been putting this project off for along time. Now the wife is after me to finish.

I really didn't think through this much at the time but had to get something into place so the granite could get installed.

So is there a hinge that will work here. I'd like to build inset doors. As you can see the plywood sides, which are in the same plane as the tigerwood, sit about 1/2" towards the center of the cabinet (yellow line) and the front to back measurement is about 3/4" (red line).

Any suggestions?

BTW in case it's not obvious my goal is to put drawers behind those doors. Looking back it sure would have been easier just to bump the drawer slides out rather than the entire sides but live and learn.

[Wayne Lomman]

Do you really need to have drawers behind a door? It would work much better just to fit drawers with separate fronts that fit the opening. It gives you scope to match the existing panelling and the step ceases to be a problem. Putting a door in front means you need them to open far enough to clear the drawer as it is pulled out. Over time this will result in door/drawer collisions and visible damage. Cheers

[johnny means]

I use a partial overlay setup in this situation. Specifically, a Blum straight hinge paired with a 9mm plate.

[Bob Cooper]

Do you really need to have drawers behind a door? It would work much better just to fit drawers with separate fronts that fit the opening. It gives you scope to match the existing panelling and the step ceases to be a problem. Putting a door in front means you need them to open far enough to clear the drawer as it is pulled out. Over time this will result in door/drawer collisions and visible damage. Cheers

Wayne...i thought about this but do you think it would look right. If you look at the bigger picture you can see i have a drawer above this large opening and there's a rail beneath it. This approach though would be a whole lot easier though.

[Bob Cooper]

I use a partial overlay setup in this situation. Specifically, a Blum straight hinge paired with a 9mm plate.
Johnny i'm not sure i follow.

[John TenEyck]

I agree with Wayne, drawers make a lot more sense and would be easier to do, too. That opening is so large, however, that I would make at least two drawers instead of one. You could add rails in like you have below the first drawer and it will look like you planned it for drawers all along.

John

[Patrick Walsh]

I agree with drawers also but you know nothing is going to align if two drawers. You’d almost have to match the side panel intermediate rails and IMO thatnwould look much to busy.

Looks good if flanked by doors butnif all drawers I dont know..

Butt hinges should work so long as those interior sides are setback 7/8..

[Tony Pisano]

I'm on the side of drawers without doors. Last year my girlfriend had some cabinets made for a mini kitchen and the family contractor who does all of her mom's work insisted that she needed doors (even though she resisted) in front of the drawers, so went ahead and made them that way and installed. After a few months of having to open two doors every time she wanted to get something out of a drawer, she had me remove the doors. I ended up modifying them into drawer fronts, plus making one more to match and her problem was solved and she was happy. I guess if the space you have contains things you don't use very often, and it's more about form than function go with the doors, but my experience says skip the doors.

[Bob Cooper]

I agree with Wayne, drawers make a lot more sense and would be easier to do, too. That opening is so large, however, that I would make at least two drawers instead of one. You could add rails in like you have below the first drawer and it will look like you planned it for drawers all along.

John

the space is 23" tall x 28" wide so i think it would be 3 drawers.

I don't see how i can put a rail in there given that the molding (can't recall the name for it) runs along the entire opening.

[Bob Cooper]

I agree with drawers also but you know nothing is going to align if two drawers. You’d almost have to match the side panel intermediate rails and IMO thatnwould look much to busy.

Looks good if flanked by doors butnif all drawers I dont know..

Butt hinges should work so long as those interior sides are setback 7/8..

the molding that i added is about 3/4" deep and it hangs over the face frame by about 1/4". So would butt hinges look ok to sit out past that molding?

[Bob Cooper]

I'm on the side of drawers without doors. Last year my girlfriend had some cabinets made for a mini kitchen and the family contractor who does all of her mom's work insisted that she needed doors (even though she resisted) in front of the drawers, so went ahead and made them that way and installed. After a few months of having to open two doors every time she wanted to get something out of a drawer, she had me remove the doors. I ended up modifying them into drawer fronts, plus making one more to match and her problem was solved and she was happy. I guess if the space you have contains things you don't use very often, and it's more about form than function go with the doors, but my experience says skip the doors.

this is all about looks...stuff in here is stuff you pull out at holidays to cover the table. The top drawer though would likely get used a lot

[Wayne Lomman]

Wayne...i thought about this but do you think it would look right. If you look at the bigger picture you can see i have a drawer above this large opening and there's a rail beneath it. This approach though would be a whole lot easier though.
If you make 2 drawers below, you can match the existing with no problems. Your style lends itself to the fronts being a solid panel with beading etc to match the look. The colour is dark. It will look like you always meant it. Cheers

[Jim Becker]

the space is 23" tall x 28" wide so i think it would be 3 drawers.

I don't see how i can put a rail in there given that the molding (can't recall the name for it) runs along the entire opening.
I agree with the suggestion to do drawers. Much easier to use and it continues the theme with the drawer already at the top. I would do two or four, matching the horizontal moldings that are visible right and left of the opening already.

Block out at the side to support the rails for slides using material that comes flush with the opening. It will not be seen once you install drawers.

[Bob Cooper]

Ok I'll need to sketch something out and post it here. I'm having trouble visualizing how to het the ?cock bead? to match on these 2-4 lower drawers

[johnny means]

Johnny i'm not sure i follow.

Here's ons that's on my bench right now. The design is a slab door that sits inside there's rabbet, flush with the front edge. Basically, you treat your inside ledge like it's the front of a frameless cabinet. The tall mounting plates position the door inwards so you don't need a full 3/4".

[Bob Cooper]

Johnny

what hinges are those? Before I fallback to drawers I’d like to at least consider doors if they can be made to work

[johnny means]

They're standard Blum 110° hinges. It's the middle set-up in the picture. The catalog is accessible online. Your looking for the twin overlay configuration. You'll also want to get the 87° limiters to avoid damaging your cabinet and doors.
There's other combinations you could use, but I find this the simplest.

[Bob Cooper]

Great. Thanks so much. I’ll let everyone know how this turns out