Inside Corner Drawers
Pricing and practical considerations for drawers that fit the inside corner of a corner cabinet. February 11, 2010
Question
I have a customer who wants four drawers in the 36'' corner base cabinets (two of them in this kitchen). I have seen them built as diagonal, but these have the drawer built with the inside 90 degrees. Does anyone have a CAD drawing with a cutlist for this, or do I have to draw it and figure it out my old fashioned way?
I normally get $350 for an unfinished 36 base with Lazy Suzan or one shelf. For these 36'' corner bases with the drawer stack in them, is $600 each about right? Say 2 sheets of plywood and 4 sets of drawer slides. Glue and fasteners will run me $150; face frames and my own RP doors are white pine, so add 50 bucks for that. I know I will be okay at $600 each, but am I leaving money on the table, or will I find out halfway through the first unit that I should have charged more?
Forum Responses
(Cabinetmaking Forum)
From contributor M:
I haven't done any like this, but I think $600 sounds awfully low for all the goofy drawer boxes, fronts, and general screwing around - and I'm not the most expensive shop around. Blum has some info on their website that may be helpful. And personally, I think these are kind of a gimmick, since you lose two big 45 degree chunks of real estate on each side anyway.
From contributor B:
Just make a four drawer base 30" deep and put it in at a 45 degree angle. You don't need to make it full.
From contributor T:
I have seen this but can't remember where. I'm think it was in a
Blum catalog or spec book. $600 would be quite a bit too low. I'm in an area where the market isn't real high dollar and I am also small and not expensive, but even in unfinished paint grade one would go in the hole or just barely break even at that price. In a 36" corner situation, I charge for 4' of base (an average of say $170+/- depending on species, finish, etc.) then add a retail price for any necessary hardware, say $95 for a basic Lazy Susan set. Drawer hardware would be considerably more than that. Got to make something for the headache.
From the original questioner:
Thanks. Is my base price of $350.00 for a 36x36 corner base with 1 shelf, unfinished, cash and carry, way below average? I sure hope not, but that's the market I'm in. I talked with the customer again this morning, and asked him his plan for countertops. I assumed post formed was the reason for the inside corner base thingy he wants. Get this - he says "commercial grade hospital size solid core doors," and he doesn't care if the drawers are diagonal or inside corner style, just do whatever is easier for me. Just no Lazy Susan, so I think the 30'' deep 4 drawer stack turned on a 45 as suggested will do the trick.
What is the math formula for getting the width for the face frame sitting on a 45 with 24'' deep base cabs? It's probably faster and easier to measure 24'' each way off the corner of the work table and measure across to get the measurement, which is my dumb country boy way, but for the sake of my continuing education, what's the college boy way to get the length of the diagonal face frame? After I cut the first one I'll turn it into a jig.
From contributor B:
For a 36" corner
36 - side wall (24) = 12
(12 x 12 = 144) x 2 = 288
Square root of 288 = 16.97"
From contributor T:
And we all said we'd never use that algebra! The Pythagorean theory is a very useful formula in cabinetmaking. A squared X B squared = C squared.
From contributor S:
I built one and was very frustrated. The cab and face frame were easy. I made a ladder frame box with 1x2 and pocket screwed for the slides to run separate from the cab and then squared it up in the cab and screwed it down. Two side frames for the slides to run on and connect them together, then attach in cab top and bottom. The kicker is the drawer and the drawer front. It is critical to have the front of the drawer where you miter it be perfect and the front middle. Be precise on the drawers and you should be golden. Oh, and charge at least $1000.
From contributor B:
Show your clients the Korner King.
From contributor K:
The Korner King is an interesting alternative. Personally, I would keep the sides circular, though. Easy sell in my opinion, as the center drawer can hold pots, and the sides the lids, or Tupperware bowls/containers in the center and lids on the sides. It's basically the same as a Susan, with the exception that each section is sequestered through segments. I guess the same could be accomplished, at a more efficient cost, by segmenting a Susan, and you wouldn't lose as much storage space by adding a drawer to it.
I never saw any pricing on their website, so it is hard to evaluate if this is a good option, but it got my juices going on some additional ideas for the corner cab...
From contributor Z:
We've done the
Blum corner cabinets on two kitchens now and I like them. While it's true that you do lose some space on the sides, the ease of access to the rest of the space is the best selling point. And the drawers are huge - 31" long as I recall. But this cabinet is expensive. You can do the carcass with one sheet of ply and the face frame is minimal, but... We outsource the drawers and dovetailed maple drawers, and 27"
Blum undermount, full-extension slides really run up the cost. I believe we had about $700 or $800 in just parts and pieces in this cabinet. It is a lot of very accessible space in a somewhat unique cabinet. Plans are on the
Blum web site (or used to be).
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From contributor K:
You can make the same thing for around $300.
From contributor B:
The single drawer module is $109 from Korner King.
From contributor J:
We have made these drawers in our shop. Unique use of the corner, but in my experience it is always awkward to put the handle on. In a frameless kitchen it is also difficult to maintain tight reveals and keep both sides aligned. Pricing? In my city from my shop, cabinet and drawers only $1000 + fronts and finish.
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