🗃️ Cabinets to Drawers

Convert Cabinets to Drawers

A base cabinet with a door and a fixed shelf hides most of what it holds. We convert it to a bank of drawers, so everything comes out to you. Part of our storage upgrades.

🗃️ Door-and-shelf cabinets become drawer banks
🌳 Solid maple, dovetailed drawer boxes
🤫 Full-extension, undermount soft-close slides
🎨 New fronts matched to your kitchen
White kitchen with new cabinet fronts and drawer banks by Homestead Cabinet Design
The Problem

Doors and shelves bury the good stuff

In a door-and-shelf base cabinet you open the door, crouch, and dig. Drawers fix that: pull one out and you can see everything in it from above.

🔦

The pots you use most are stacked on a shelf at the back.

🧍

Bending and reaching into the lower cabinets gets harder every year.

🫙

You buy things you already own because you can't see what's in there.

🪟

You like your cabinets, you just want the lower ones to work like drawers.

A good candidate if…
✓ It's a base cabinet with a door and a shelf behind it
✓ The cabinet box is sound, with no rot or water damage
✓ You're happy with the layout and want better access
✓ You're open to new fronts that match the rest of the kitchen
Probably not the right fit if…
The cabinet box is failing. Drawers need a solid box, and in that case new cabinets or refacing may be the better path.
You only want a shelf that slides. A single pull-out shelf keeps the door and costs less.
It's a corner cabinet. Those need their own solution, see corner cabinet solutions.
Our Drawers

Maple drawers in real cabinets

Solid maple, dovetailed corners, full-extension soft-close slides.

Solid maple dovetailed drawers on soft-close slides in a white base cabinet
Dovetailed maple drawers
Two maple drawer boxes in a blue base cabinet
Two drawers, blue base cabinet
Deep dovetailed maple drawer box holding pots
Deep drawer for pots
What You Get

What a conversion includes

The same drawer boxes we build for our drawer box work, plus new fronts so the cabinet reads as drawers from the outside.

🌳
Solid Maple Drawer Boxes

Dovetailed, with plywood bottoms set in grooves. Built in Massachusetts, clear-coated or unfinished.

🤫
Full-Extension Slides

Undermount, soft-close slides, so the drawer opens all the way and closes quietly.

🚪
New Drawer Fronts

Slab (one piece) or 5-piece (frame with a recessed panel), made to order by local Western Massachusetts shops in any paint color or stain.

🎨
A Finish That Matches

Raymond matches the new fronts to your existing finish. See color matching for how close we get.

📏
Measured to Your Cabinet

Every opening is measured in your home, so the drawer banks are built to fit what you have.

🗂️
Inserts Inside

Add cutlery trays, spice inserts, knife blocks or pan dividers from our organizers to finish the job.

Straight Answers

Drawers vs. door and shelf

What changes when a base cabinet becomes a drawer bank.

Factor
Drawer bank
Door and shelf
Reaching the back
The whole drawer comes out to you
You reach in after it
Seeing what you own
Look straight down into each drawer
Front row only
Heavy pots and pans
Slide out, lift straight up
Bend, reach and twist
Tall or awkward items
Limited by drawer height
One open space
The front of the cabinet
New fronts made to match
Existing door
The Process

From first call to a cabinet that opens up

Raymond handles it himself, from the first visit through the final inspection. If you're also changing doors, ask about doing it all in one project with new doors and drawer fronts.

1
First call
Tell Us Which Cabinets

Usually there are one or two cabinets you wish were drawers. Start with those.

2
In your kitchen
Measure and Match

Raymond measures each opening, checks the cabinet box, and takes a look at your finish for the new fronts.

3
Your quote
Written and Free

A written proposal with the scope and options. Drawers are priced per drawer.

4
Deposit
Reserve Your Spot

A $500 deposit generally gets you on the schedule and the materials ordered. The usual lead time is 3–6 months.

5
Install
Fitted and Checked

The drawers and fronts are installed, aligned and tested with you before we go.

Lead time
3–6
months, typically
Drawer boxes
Maple
dovetailed, built in Massachusetts
Estimate
Free
written, no pressure
FAQ

Questions about converting to drawers

Yes. Door-and-shelf base cabinets can be converted to drawer banks. Raymond measures the opening and confirms what will fit. The cabinet needs new fronts, so the drawers look right with the rest of the kitchen, and the cabinet box itself has to be sound.

A cabinet that had one door becomes a bank of drawers, so the front is a different shape than the door it replaces. New fronts are made to order by local Western Massachusetts shops and finished to match your existing cabinets.

Solid maple, dovetailed drawer boxes with plywood bottoms set in grooves, on full-extension, undermount, soft-close slides. They are built in Massachusetts and can be clear-coated or left unfinished.

Yes. Many people convert only the cabinets they reach into most, such as the pots-and-pans cabinet. Drawers are priced per drawer, and every job starts with a free estimate.

As with most cabinet work that needs new fronts or drawers, the usual lead time is 3 to 6 months from accepting the quote. Raymond confirms the actual timing for your job.

Not sure which cabinets to convert?

Raymond will look at your kitchen and tell you which ones will change your day, and which won't.

Request a Free Estimate →
Resources

Helpful articles for your kitchen project

Turn your base cabinets into drawers

Part of our storage upgrades. Free estimate and an honest opinion on which cabinets are worth converting.