When ordering pullouts such as trash pullouts, organizers, or baskets for your cabinets, it’s very important to understand the true dimensions of your cabinets and those dimensions indicate what size pullout to purchase for your needs.
For example, an 18” Wide Base Cabinet may only have a 15” W Cabinet opening.
To understand the measurements better, please see the illustrations below of Face Frame (left) and Frameless (right) cabinets:
Note: When measuring your cabinet opening, be sure to take into account any obstruction such as cabinet door hinges and plumbing or wiring that may project out from a wall of the cabinet.
Width
An 18” Base cabinet indicates the overall size of the cabinet but, when measuring for pullouts and organizers, your true dimensions are your internal cabinet dimensions and the opening space.
The illustrations above show a face frame cabinet. The face frame itself is 1-1/2” wide all around. That face frame reduces your opening size by 1-1/2” on each side. Therefore, an 18” wide cabinet is reduced by 3” overall on the width leaving a 15” wide opening.
When shopping for a pullout to fit into this cabinet, the width of the pullout can be no more than 15”.
Height
The same rules apply for the Height. The face frame on the top and bottom of the opening restrict your available height.
Depth
Measure the depth of the cabinet on the inside of the cabinet to determine the available space you actually have for your pullout system.
Download How to Measure Cabinets for Pullouts or Organizers (opens in new window) document (PDF).
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