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Sample Kitchen Plan
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Assembled Kitchens Only - A quick guide
What happens when your cabinets have arrived and they're sitting in the garage waiting to be installed.
What are the first steps? You'll see, it's quite easy, and when you're done you'll have the satisfaction
of knowing you did it yourself.
As you know, diykitchen cabinets arrive pre-assembled, so you don't have to waste time assembling flat-packs,
and you know they are square and rigid.
At this point all your building work, damp-proofing, plastering, electrical and plumbing work should be
complete, and your floor should be as you want it.
Some measurements
We provide below a set of diagrams showing the cabinet dimensions and standard heights.
Fitting your floor units
The first step is to install the base units.
This bit's really easy. Put the legs on the cabinets, put them in place in your kitchen, then
fasten them together and to the wall.
How high should your wall cabinets be?
Worktops are generally mounted to form a surface 910mm from the floor. Your wall-mounted units and shelves
should be 465mm higher than the work surface, or they begin to obscure your view of the rear of the worktop.
Obviously over a cooker hob everything needs to be higher, but it's usual to fit an extractor hood there to
remove steam and cooking smells.
At the other extreme the highest shelf over a worktop that an adult can reach is typically 1.05m above the
worktop. If not over a worktop the highest shelf is 1.8m to 2m from the floor. Ideally the top shelves of
your cabinets shouldn't be higher than this.
The optimum height for a shelf above a worktop is 900mm. Here's where frequently used objects should be
stored. Eye level is usually 1.5m to 1.7m from the floor. This is the height for things that you might
frequently scan, such as books or CDs.
Install base units first, then wall units, the worktops and finally the doors.
Of course, these are just guidelines. If everyone in the house is unusually tall or short, or you have lots
to store, little room, and are willing to use a stepping stool, then maybe these rules may be broken. Bear
in mind how that will affect the value of your kitchen when you come to sell it and always keep health and
safety in mind .. no leaning over cooker hobs, nothing too close to hot surfaces, nothing just out of reach.
Fit your wall units
Once you've decided where your wall units will go and at what height, installation is simple. Use a spirit
level and pencil to draw a level line on the wall at the right height so the units will hang where you
want them.
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