Wood – Enlarge a drawer opening

kitchenswood

I need to know what tool and instructions or suggestions on how to make my kitchen drawer openings taller. The drawer faces are tall enough to cover another 3/4 " and i really could use that little bit of height. There is a quartz counter top installed and so i wont be able to use a normal type of router on the top drawers. Thanks

Best Answer

Cabinet front faces are normally built as a structural frame. In general trying to cut away part of that frame can literally mean that the frame could fall apart as you cut into the doweling or mortise and tenon joints that hold the frame together. What you propose is not something I would recommend.

I think that you may be asking an X Y type question here. You should really step back and re-evaluate how much junk you are stuffing into your drawers that they are so full that they need another three quarters inch to be able to close. I see two things to consider instead:

  1. Take a hard look at how much stuff is in those drawers that never gets used. If you are like most of us there is probably 30% or more content that can be taken out for donation, charity or throw away.

  2. If your situation is one where kitchen drawer space is very poorly designed and minimal then take a look to see if there is some way to gain some more space. Some ideas that come to mind are to add a kitchen island with added cabinet space/drawers or to purge the dishwasher (pick up the old craft of hand washing dishes) and retrofit the dryer space with more drawers.