How to measure cabinets for pull-out shelves before you order

How to measure cabinets for pull-out shelves before you order

The short version

• A · clear width past the door
• B · depth
• C · hinge side

Measure with the door open, and use the narrowest clear width on the hinge side.

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To measure cabinets for pull-out shelves, start at the door. A pull-out shelf has to clear the face frame, the hinges and the open door before it can slide. That is why the inside width of the cabinet is not the number that matters.

Take these measurements with the door open as far as it goes.

1. Open the door all the way (C)

   Open the cabinet door as far as it goes and look at the hinge side. On some cabinets the open door and its hinge sit inside the opening and narrow it.

2. Measure the narrowest point of the opening (A)

   Measure across the opening from the inside of the face frame on one side to the hinge or the open door on the other. If the cabinet has no face frame, measure from the inside of the side wall. Take the smallest number. This is the width a pull-out has to pass through.

3. Measure the depth to the back (B)

   Measure from the back of the face frame, the side that faces into the cabinet, to the back wall, at the height where the pull-out will sit. If there is no face frame, measure from the front edge of the cabinet side. Check for a pipe, an outlet or a back rail that would stop the slide early.

4. Measure the height and the lip

   Measure the height of the opening and check whether the cabinet floor sits lower than the bottom of the face frame. A pull-out mounted on the cabinet floor has to rise above that lip to slide out.

5. In a rental, note how the shelf mounts

   Some pull-outs screw into the cabinet floor and others stand on their own. If you rent, read the lease or ask before you put screws into a cabinet, and write the mounting type next to your measurements.