Many people would like to be more comfortable measuring for replacement cabinet doors. They worry about getting the dimensions wrong, ordering custom-cut doors, and ending up with something that does not fit. Take it from the experts—measuring your cabinet doors is much easier than expected.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through our most frequently asked questions and concerns so you can prepare to measure cabinet doors for your next home renovation project. Here’s everything you need to know before you get started:
Have The Right Tools and Materials
To measure cabinet doors, you don’t need any special tools or materials. All you need is a standard tape measure to get an accurate measurement. Make sure you also have a pen and paper to write down each of your measurements.
We recommend drawing a diagram of each cabinet and the doors you want to replace. That way, it’s easy to ensure you’re measuring everything and getting the correct measurement for the corresponding door.
Remove the Current Cabinets
The easiest way to get the dimensions for replacement cabinet doors would be to measure the existing doors. It’s generally easier to get accurate measurements when you don’t have to work around the existing doors. Removing doors is typically as easy as pressing a mechanism on the hinge.
Once the door is off, take your measurements before immediately rehanging the door. Doing this one by one helps keep the doors organized and tends to be easier than rehanging all the doors at once.
Measure the Cabinet Door Opening
Instead of measuring your old cabinet doors, we always advise measuring the inside opening of your cabinet, determining what overlay you’d like to do, and finding a hinge that will work for you! This method involves a little more math, but it leads to accurate dimensions.
For more information explore our additional resources: How to Meausre Cabinet Openings, Add Overlays, Install Hinges and Align Cabinet Doors.
Working With Hinges
Want to replace your current hinges? Unfortunately, this can cause a few issues. If you plan on replacing your hinges, they may not have the same overlay as your existing hinges, which can create sizing issues.
Also, depending on the age and condition of the existing doors, they may have warped or shrunk so much that measuring them will not provide accurate dimensions.
Understanding Cabinet Overlays
The size of the doors you order will be a little larger than the measurements you take. Typically, they will be the size of the opening plus the overlay. This might sound a bit confusing if you’ve never measured cabinet doors before.
Let’s review some frequently asked questions about overlays:
What is a Cabinet Overlay?
Most cabinet doors are not the same size as the cabinet opening they cover. They are actually a little bit bigger. They “lay over” the edge of the opening and cover part - or more - of the cabinet’s face frame. The amount they cover beyond the opening is the size of the overlay. You’ll want an overlay so the doors are all uniform and flush with one another instead of being inset into the frame.
Can You Change a Cabinet Overlay?
It depends on the cabinets. If the edges of the existing doors don’t touch, you can increase the overlay size. Some people want to go bigger to make their new cabinet doors a more prominent feature of the kitchen or bathroom. Other people already have oversized doors and want to make the overlay smaller. Typically, shrinking the overlay is fine because you don’t need to worry about doors crowding each other out.
What Does an Overlay Mean for Hinges?
The size of the overlay you want determines the type of hinge you need. To think about it in the opposite way, the type of hinges you use gives you the size of your overlay.
Here’s an example: We offer Blum hinges that all have a ½-inch overlay. So, if you use these hinges, your overlay will be ½-inch. A ½-inch is considered the industry standard for an overlay, but larger and smaller sizes are also available with different hinge types. All you need to do is find out how large the overlay is for those hinges and factor that into the formulas below.
How Do You Measure a Cabinet Door Overlay?
It helps to know the overlay of your existing cabinet doors. That way, you can either match it or contrast it. Follow these steps to get an accurate measurement:
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Close the cabinet door you want to measure.
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Make a pencil mark along the outside edge of the door on the hinge side.
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Remove the cabinet door.
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Measure the distance between the pencil mark and the adjacent inside edge.
It will likely be ½ inch, but 1 inch and 3/8 inch are also not unusual. Whatever the figure is, it represents the overlay of your existing doors.
For more information, explore our additional resources: How to Measue for New Cabinet Doors Using a ½” Overlay.
How to Get an Accurate Measurement
You will want to record all your measurements to the nearest 1/16th of an inch. A standard tape measure has the inches marked with long lines, quarter inches marked with shorter lines, and 1/16 inches marked with minor hash marks in between.
Remember that fractions of an inch can be expressed in multiple ways.
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1/2 = 8/16
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1/4 = 4/16
Fractions can also be expressed as decimal points.
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1/2 = .5
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4/16 = .25
When measuring replacement cabinet doors, correct sizing ensures your replacement doors look, feel, and perform exactly as you expect. Even a deviation of 1/16th inch can cause sizing problems. For this reason, take as much time needed to confirm all your measurements are correct.
What Happens if the Measurements Are Wrong?
We strongly encourage everyone to double-check their measurements before ordering. If the wrong measurements are submitted and the doors are cut to those specifications, we cannot offer a refund if the doors don’t fit. Rather than risk having doors that are too wide or not tall enough, recheck your measurements before ordering.
Measuring For Single Cabinet Doors
Now that we have the basics out of the way, it’s time to measure your kitchen cabinet doors. Follow these steps to get the initial measurements for each individual door and drawer front.
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Remove the door you want to measure
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Measure the opening from top to bottom and then left to right, then write down the exact width and height of the opening.
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Then add in your overlay.
Here’s an example of a 1/2" overlay:
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If your opening is 14"w X 26"h, you would add 1" to the width and 1” to the height, so the door size you would need to order would be 15”w X 27”h to accommodate a 1/2" overlay all the way around the opening.
You can follow the same instructions for drawer fronts, but you want to give yourself enough room above and below the drawer front.
For example, if there’s a countertop above it and another drawer front below it, you might not have enough room to add in the entire 1/2" all the way around, it might be slightly less. We suggest leaving at least ⅛” between all drawer fronts/doors so the wood has room to expand and contract without rubbing.
If you use hinges with a larger or smaller overlay, you simply need to double the overlay and add that sum to the width and height of your opening measurements.
Measuring For Double Cabinet Doors
It’s not uncommon for one cabinet opening to be covered by double doors. When replacing double doors, the formula for determining the width is slightly different since you have to accommodate a 1/8" gap between the two doors.
To calculate the width of each door, begin by adding your overlay to the width of the opening. Next, subtract 1/8th of an inch from the width, then divide that number by 2. This will be the width of each door you would need to order to accommodate an ⅛” gap between the doors.
Here’s how this would work with a 1/2" overlay.
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If your opening is 14"w X 26"h, you would add 1" to the width and 1" to the height, which becomes 15 X 27. You would then subtract 1/8th of an inch from the width and divide that by 2. This will give you the width of each door you need to order.
To cover the one cabinet opening, you would need to order two doors that both have the dimensions 7 7/16 of an inch wide X 27 inches high.
It's much easier to measure single or double doors accurately if you can watch how the pros do it first. For an in-depth tutorial, check out this video we produced.
Tips for Measuring Cabinet Doors
After more than 30 years in business, we know the kinds of mistakes people make when measuring for replacement doors. Use these tips to make measuring easier and more accurate.
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Measure Twice – Even the experts sometimes get their measurements wrong. We advise you to take all your measurements, work out all the math, and then repeat the process from the start. It never hurts to double-check that all your numbers are correct before submitting your order.
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Use a Good Tape Measure – Accurate measurements to the nearest 1/16 inch are much easier with a quality tape measure. Using whatever you have on hand may be more convenient – a yardstick or fabric tape, for example – but a standard tape measure that indicates 1/16 will always be more reliable.
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Enlist an Assistant – It’s not hard to take kitchen cabinet door measurements on your own, but it’s even easier with an assistant. Ask someone to write down the measurements as you call them out. To play it safe, ask that person to check your math before ordering.
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Use logic – Review your numbers to verify they make sense. For instance, few cabinet doors are wider than they are tall. If one of the dimensions you have worked out suggests otherwise, it’s worth it to recheck your math.
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Make a Diagram – The concept of overlays can get complicated. If it helps, make a drawing showing the size of the cabinet opening, then draw the overlay around it. Some people find a visual reference helpful, especially if multiple doors have varying widths to account for.
Ordering Custom Cabinet Doors
If you're measuring replacement cabinet doors, you'll want to purchase from a trusted reseller to ensure a consistent and accurate fit. At CabientDoors.com, all our cabinet doors are custom-made and made to order. We have various wood species, colors, and door styles to get an elevated finish in your space. We also strive to provide a seamless online ordering process. To get started:
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Find a door style you like
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Select a wood type or paint color
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Provide the width and height needed
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Explore boring and hinge options
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Pick out new drawer fronts, glass-ready cabinets, and cabinet door hardware
Once you place your order, our team will get to work. If you have any questions or concerns about our production or ordering process, call us at 1-800-342-1010 or email us at sales@cabinetdoors.com.
Cabinetdoors.com – Your Source For Custom-Cut Cabinet Doors
The advantage of ordering custom-cut doors is that you know they will fit perfectly. Instead of trying to make do with what you can find at a big-box store, you get exactly what you need to upgrade your kitchen, bathroom, office or other cabinetry.
Cabinetdoors.com has made custom-cut doors using premium hardwoods and advanced woodworking techniques for over thirty years. After fabricating millions of individual doors, we know how to produce a superior product. That expertise extends to customer service as well. Expect the ordering process to be simple and straightforward.
Explore our collection of cabinet doors today to get started.