Installing Kitchen Cabinets: Hang Your Own? Or Hang It Up!

by Wendy Croix
Face Your Kitchen Columnist

I'm a can-do girl, so I'd never tell you to think twice about a project without a good reason. But installing new kitchen cabinets is one of those home improvements that looks deceptively easy--though it's not. Unfortunately, there's a lot of room for error unless you create a kitchen cabinet plan and follow it to the letter.

Your kitchen cabinet plan

• Your plan must begin with accurate measurements. You've got to know the exact kitchen cabinet size you need, and you've got to be precise.
• Once you've bought the cabinets that fit your space like a glove, you've got to be good with your level and plumb. No by guess and by gosh. Mark your wall studs, too.
• Now, take your doors and hardware off your cabinets to make them as light as possible, and hang them.

How good kitchen cabinet plans go bad

Can you say catty-wompus? That means crooked beyond belief in Midwest-speak. The number one problem with a do-it-yourself kitchen cabinet plan is crooked cabinet installs or crooked doors. Next is failure to find the studs, which damages the cabinets when they fall off the wall. And that damages the wall itself.

A Safe, Sane Kitchen Alternative

A friend of mine opted for a bold solution to the problem of hanging cabinets. She has NO hanging cabinets at all. That's right. Everything in her kitchen is stowed beneath her counter--or in one of the antiques that create her kitchen's distinctive style. Where you'd expect to see hanging cabinets, you see antique mirrors or open shelves displaying her glass and pewter collections. Not only does her kitchen create a bold statement, nothing in her kitchen is out of reach. So, before you hang those cabinets yourself, know that you have choices.

Source

• Installing New Kitchen Cabinets

About the Author
Wendy Croix, Ph.D. is a creative writer, freelancer, and self-confessed home improvement junkie. She's also a professor with more than twenty years experience in the field of education.