Cabinet Settings

Setting Cabinet Defaults

We're almost ready to finish out the bathrooms and the kitchen, but first we need to set some cabinet defaults. I remember we talked about painted cabinets (though not necessarily white), and we might want to choose a basic sink, toilet, and tub porcelain color (such as shiny white, ivory, or even pale pink!). Many manufacturers offer a range of colors. You might peruse some online sources to find what you need.

Double click on the Cabinet Tools icon. A small dialog appears with 7 buttons. The General button permits you to set the minimum cabinet width and width increment. They should be OK as they are. The Base Cabinet button will let you set defaults for (guess what?) base cabinets. Let's click this button to see the Default Base Cabinet dialog box. Let's look over the various settings.

The General tab controls the height, width, door style, and other settings. We will set the Backsplash Height to 6, for now.

The Cabinet Front tab is shown above. The most useful thing on this page is the ability to customize the elements in the cabinet. However, the things shown are probably OK, for now.

Above is the Hardware tab. You might want to change the Hinges from hidden to standard. Personally, I don't mind seeing the hinges. You may also want to change the drawer and/or door handles. Perhaps a simple knob would be nice. Go for it!

Above is the Moldings tab, and we will be adding a molding on the counter top. So, click Add New and the Select Library Object dialog box appears. Expand Moldings and Profiles, and then expand the Chair Rail tree. The various chair rails we can select are then shown on the right. Note that your selections may differ from mine. No matter. We want to choose something like the CA-64 (half round) or perhaps the CA-36 or CA-40. So, pick one (select it) and click OK.

Now, notice that some of the boxes are now filled in. We need to change the height of the molding to match the counter height (which is 1 1/2"), and since we are multiplying our molding height (by 3), we will also multiply the width, so enter 1 1/2 in the Height box, and 3/4 in the Width box. Now, click on the Materials tab.

We will change several things on the Materials tab (below). First, click on Cabinet (in the tree control) and note the Material that comes up. In my design it said Alder1-Light-R. Let's change the cabinet color, so click on Select Material (or on the material box itself).

In the dropdown box, select Colors, then in the colors, select Antique (or some other light, warm color). Set the Doors/Drawers to the same color. Now, let's consider what countertop we want.

I scrolled through all the countertops, and I think I like "Countertop Blue" as well as any. You can pick any countertop (or even experiment with picking a Stone Slab or Tile type). So, we set the countertop and the backsplash to this mottled blue. Well, we also want to set the molding to this same blue countertop material.

Finally, let's look at the Label tab. I haven't (honestly) found much need to change anything on this tab. So, assuming we like the values we've set, click OK to close this massive dialog box.

Below is the Default Wall Cabinet dialog box, and note that I have unchecked the Backsplash to Base Below checkbox. But, before we go on, let's consider how tall we want our kitchen cabinets to be.

Cost is a major motivating factor. Kitchen cabinets are expensive, and smaller cabinets are less expensive that bigger ones. Makes sense, doesn't it? (Like, duh!) Measure your kitchen's cabinets and note how far they are from the floor. 54" is pretty standard, though sometimes I set them to 60" (even though I am no giant). 30" tall are rather tiny cabinets, making them (overall) not much higher than the doors in the house. Of course, that leaves quite a bit of unused space overhead that you may want to do something with.

I prefer to work with 42" cabinets, which with an 8' high ceiling means they go right to the ceiling. My own abode has 9' ceilings, so there is some empty space above the cabinets. A soffit above the cabinets is a nice way to finish off the kitchen. We haven't set the ceiling heights in our plan, just yet, but I know the default is 97 1/8". This is 1 1/8" over 8'. That seems odd, but I'm sure there's an explanation. (Probably if you take a standard 8' stud, 1 1/2" base plate, 1 1/2" header, and subtract 5/8" drywall ceiling, 3/4" subflooring and 1/2" floor, you get 97 1/8".) Anyway, let's not worry too much right now about that 1 1/8" left over after we set our wall cabinets to 42"

Now, change the materials to match those you picked for the base cabinets (remember the Antique color?). I won't show that page, but trust me, it's similar to the other Materials page. Click OK.

Now, click on Full Height Cabinet and change its height to 96", so it's the same height as our wall cabinets. Also change its materials to match, and I think we're done.

It's about time, too!

So, let's proceed to outfitting the master bathroom.

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