Properly Measuring Before Buying Kitchen Cabinets Online

Properly Measuring Before Buying Kitchen Cabinets Online

Homeowners all over the country have realized that buying kitchen cabinets online is a welcome replacement for spending excessive amounts of money at local and national chain hardware stores. It's important for people to remember, however, that these huge savings come at the cost of handling many aspects of the project themselves. The most significant facets of this job is getting proper measurements. Without accurate measurements, putting in new kitchen cabinets is simply not going to happen. Luckily, there are some easy-to-follow steps for any homeowner who is wanting to measure their kitchen and spend less on their new cabinets.

Making a Grid

Kitchen measurements start with a simple sheet of graph paper. This paper can be purchased in books at several types of stores or simply printed online for free. Artistic ability won't come into play on this diagram, but uniformity and consistency will. It's important to assign a specific value to each square on the grid. Most people make each square represent six or twelve inches, but six inches will probably provide more accuracy. Only inches should be used for measurement since cabinet measurements come in inches. This, of course, is just a basic information about how to use the graph. The fun part is the measuring itself.

How to Measure the Kitchen

Every kitchen's diagram has to start out with the measurements of the room's walls. Unfortunately, walls aren't always exactly the same length. Worse is the fact that one wall may vary slightly in measurements at the top, middle, and base of the wall. This is the reason a measurement should be made on each wall at each of these three spots (top, middle, base). The smallest measurement of the three should be used to draw the initial diagram. This will ensure that, regardless of whether the kitchen cabinets are for the base or the wall itself, all the cabinets will fit.

What about Obstructions?

Obstructions such as windows, appliances, and doors, also need to be accounted for. Every one of these features must be drawn on the graphing paper exactly where they appear in the kitchen. Once again, you don’t need to be Leonardo da Vinci -- it is enough that these features be drawn accurately where they appear in the kitchen. Windows and doors should not be measured at their openings. It's important that they're measured from the edges of the trim that surrounds them. Drawings for appliances also need to be placed accurately on the grid and if new appliances that aren't installed yet are being used, it's vital to get accurate measurements for them.

When you're buying kitchen cabinets online, it's critical that you get the measurements right in the beginning. At RTA Cabinet Store, we're committed to ensuring that this happens. Visit us online at http://www.rtacabinetstore.com/kitchen-cabinets-online for our tools to help you get accurate dimensions the first time around.