The wall cabinets and the base cabinets are drawn at different depths, and a designer can test the reasons on your plan. One cabinet maker’s sizing guide lists 12 inches for its wall cabinets and 24 inches for its bases. They’re that maker’s sizes for its own line. A run can depart from them: a deeper box around the refrigerator, a shallow base run on a pantry wall, a deeper base beside a larger cooktop or sink. So confirm kitchen cabinet depth run by run with your designer, before the cabinets are drawn.
The depth decides how far each run reaches into the room. It also decides whether a run lines up with the appliance beside it, and whether a pantry wall fits at all. A run that doesn’t line up shows up after the plan is set. By then, fixing it means redrawing.
Kitchen Cabinet Depth Is Set Box by Box
Depth is how far a cabinet box reaches out from the wall. The wall cabinets are drawn at one depth. The base cabinets are drawn at another. As a general rule, each run can be set on its own, so the uppers and the bases don’t have to share a number.
One cabinet maker’s sizing guide lists 12 inches as the depth of its wall cabinets and 24 inches as the depth of its base cabinets. The same guide says that figure covers the box alone, from the face frame to the back panel, and doesn’t include doors and drawers. That’s one maker describing its own cabinets.
Other makers and other lines can differ. Doors and drawers also add to what reaches into the room. So ask your designer for the depth of the line on your plan, and for the overall projection with the doors and drawers included.
Why Are Wall Cabinets Shallower Than Base Cabinets?
The two runs do different jobs, so they’re drawn at different depths. That guide says its 12-inch wall cabinet holds items like cereal boxes and dinner plates without blocking the counter below. It also says anything deeper than 24 inches makes the items in a base cabinet hard to reach and retrieve.
The counter under the uppers is where the work happens. A shallower box up there can leave room to work and room to see. Down low, the box carries the countertop and holds the drawers you reach into all day. That’s the job the depth has to suit.
Depth and the gap above the counter are separate calls. Kitchen Design Partners has a post on how far above the counter the uppers hang, and that one settles the gap. Depth is a different question: how far the box reaches out, not how high it sits.
When Does a Wall Cabinet Run Deeper Than 12 Inches?
When the run has a reason. That guide says its maker also offers 24-inch wall cabinets that can create a built-in effect around a refrigerator. A deeper upper can serve one spot rather than the whole wall. Your designer can draw it beside the appliance before you commit.
Picture a run where the refrigerator sits beside a wall cabinet. A deeper box above can bring the cabinet face closer to the face of the appliance, so the refrigerator reads as part of the wall rather than a block in front of it. Ask your designer to draw the refrigerator at its real depth, right next to the cabinet. That drawing is the test.
A deeper upper also reaches farther out over the counter below. That can change how the counter feels to work at. It’s a trade. So look at the elevation before you choose it, and ask what sits under that run.
Which Base Runs Need a Different Depth?
Runs with a special job. That guide says its maker offers 27-inch base cabinets built for larger cooktops and sinks. It also says its 12-inch shallow base cabinets pair with uppers to make a wall of pantry storage. Each one answers a need the rest of the run doesn’t have.
A large cooktop or a deep sink can crowd the cabinet that holds it. Ask your designer to put each one on the plan at its real depth, then set it against the run around it. A drawing settles that. A guess doesn’t.
A shallow run gives back floor space and holds less. A deeper run holds more and reaches farther into the room. Neither one is free. Ask to see both on the plan, in the spot you’re considering, before the depth is locked.
Do the Depths Have to Line Up Across a Run?
Not always, but the place where two depths meet matters. That guide says its tall pantry cabinets come in 12-inch and 24-inch options that line up with adjacent wall or base cabinets of the same depth. A step in depth can be planned, or it can be something nobody drew on purpose.
A step in depth shows up at an end panel. It shows up at the edge of the countertop above, too. Both spots can look deliberate when they’re drawn that way. So ask your designer to show every step, and to say whether it’s intended.
The top of the run is its own decision. Kitchen Design Partners has a post on whether the cabinets should go to the ceiling, and that one covers the top of the run. Depth stays a separate line on the drawing.
What Should You Ask Your Designer About Depth?
Four answers belong on the plan. The depth of each run comes first. Then the real depth of every large appliance beside it. Then the spot where a step in depth lands. Then what the doors and drawers add to what projects into the room. With those four on paper, you can check the depth yourself.
Bring the list of what you keep on the shelves and in the drawers. Platters, stock pots, cereal boxes. The depth can then be judged against what has to fit, not against a number on a page.
Design planning and custom cabinetry selection are among the services Kitchen Design Partners offers in kitchen remodeling and cabinetry planning.
Frequently Asked Questions About Kitchen Cabinet Depth
How deep are kitchen cabinets?
One cabinet maker’s sizing guide lists 12 inches for its wall cabinets and 24 inches for its base cabinets. Those are that maker’s sizes for its own line, so another line can be drawn differently. Ask your designer for the depth of the line on your plan, and for what the doors and drawers add on top of the box.
Why are base cabinets 24 inches deep?
That guide lists 24 inches for its base cabinets and says anything deeper makes the things inside harder to reach and pull out. That’s one maker’s reasoning for its own cabinets, not a rule for every kitchen. What you store matters too. Ask your designer how that depth suits the pots and platters that have to live in that run.
Can I use a deeper base cabinet for a large cooktop or sink?
That guide says its maker offers 27-inch base cabinets designed for larger cooktops and sinks. Whether one suits your plan depends on the unit you’ve chosen and on the cabinets beside it. Ask your designer to draw the cooktop or sink at its real depth in that run, then look at what the extra depth does to the room.
Does cabinet depth include the doors and drawers?
Not in that guide’s figures. It says the measurement covers the cabinet box alone, from the face frame to the back panel, and leaves out doors and drawers. Those add to what reaches into the room. Ask your designer for the overall projection on the plan, not only the box depth, before you decide a run is deep enough.
Will Kitchen Design Partners help me set kitchen cabinet depth?
Design planning and custom cabinetry selection are part of what Kitchen Design Partners offers. The first step is to schedule an appointment. The team discusses your needs and tours the showroom with you, then starts developing a customized design plan. At the showroom you can explore different kitchen layouts, styles and materials. Bring your depth questions along.
Set the Depth Before the Cabinets Are Drawn
Kitchen Design Partners specializes in kitchen and bath design, remodeling, custom and semi-custom cabinetry, countertops and tile, and guides each choice in the right order.
The depth sets how far each run reaches into the room, and what lines up with the appliance beside it. It helps to settle that while the plan is still open.
Kitchen Design Partners’ design process guides each choice in the right order, and the company invites homeowners to visit its showroom in Northbrook.
Bring the list of what you store, plus the appliances that will sit beside each run. Then schedule a design consultation to go over kitchen cabinet depth run by run before the cabinets are drawn.