Okay, here we go - directions and pics on the toe kick drawer mod.
First, a before pic. This was installed under a 36" drawer base:
Parts Required: - 2 x 000.489.26 (this is the white part number) These are 2 of the dividers used in the 36" base cabinet to divide the top shallow drawer section into two 18" drawers
- 1 x the Rationel shallow drawer of your choice. In this project, we used the 24" wide shallow drawer
Photo of parts:
Choosing the drawer size:
You need to get under your cabinet and determine how much horizontal space you have before you run into any part of the legs. For the way my cabinet was set up, I had about 27 inches of space between legs under my 36" base cabinet. Once you know how much space you have, you can choose your drawer size. NOTE: when you choose the drawer to use, you need the dimension on the drawer plus 1.5". So for a 24" drawer, you need 25" of space. This is because the dividers that you will use on the side are 1.5" wide each instead of the 3/4" of regular cabinet walls.
Cutting down the dividers:
First, you will need to cut down the dividers to the required height and depth. Cut away the unfinished sides. The height and depth will vary, depending on how your cabinets are installed. NOTE: When we did the depth, we cut them down to exactly the length of the installed drawer rail, knowing that that was the absolute shallowest we could go. Then, if necessary, you can move them forward in the cabinet to the right place.
Photo of cut down dividers:
Installing the rails:
You will install the rails on the dividers with the finished edges forward and down. If you are lucky, you can install the rails in the bottom hole in the divider. We were not so lucky. Our cabinets were too low in the back to allow the drawer to sit that high. Therefore, we drilled new holes to install the rails so that they were almost flush with the bottom of the divider which will sit on the floor. If you need to drill new holes, an 11/64 drill bit works well.
Once you have the rails installed, insert the drawer onto the rails. This tells you how to get the spacing correct. You'll probably need another person to help you keep it steady.
Pic of rails and drawer installed:
Securing the drawer to the cabinet:
Move the entire assembly under the cabinet and position it in the place you want it.
Using a T-Square, draw a line inside the cabinet that indicates the position of the dividers. While holding the dividers to make sure they are straight up and down and not tilting inwards, secure the dividers to the cabinet with two screws each. Note: My floor was not level, but I wanted the drawer riding the floor, so I had to insert some shims between the dividers and the cabinet. See photos below:
Installing the drawer front/Toekick:
Cut your toekick in the appropriate places to create a drawer front that will overlap the dividers by 3/4" on each side. Position the drawer front piece of toekick centered on the drawer. I placed the little drawer caps (that say "IKEA" on them underneath the drawer front to lift it off the floor slightly as I don't want it to scrape.
Now you have to figure out where to drill the holes to install the drawer front connectors to the piece of toekick. I don't have any pics of this, but I'll try describe the process. Most of it was done by eye as measurements are tough since each person's toekick height is slightly different.
The strategy was to find the location of the center of the connector piece, then drill the holes based on that. To find the center, first mark where the center of each rail falls on the drawerfront. Extend this line down the back of the drawerfront. This is the vertical line on which both holes will be drilled. Next look at a drawer you have put together already somewhere else in your kitchen. You will notice that the center of the connector piece (the large gray screw) lines up with the top of the little bump out of the hole in the drawer rail. See pic:
Mark on your drawer front where the top of the bumpout in the hole lines up. A horizontal line through this mark will intersect your previously drawn vertical lines indicating the center of the connector pieces. Manually center the pieces on the marks and drill your holes (again, an 11/64 drill bit works here). Screw on your connector pieces and attach your drawer front.
Add a handle (we used a knob) and viola, you have a toekick drawer. Since we had to cut down our toekick, we still have to put edgebanding on the top. In addition, we'll edgeband the sides of the drawerfront and the sides of the toekick where it meets the drawer.
Photos of the finished product:
Good luck and enjoy!
Kristen
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And thanks for the wonderful step-by-step photos and instructions.
