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How to measure

How to measure your kitchen
cabinets in linear feet

Linear feet is how cabinets are counted: the length of each run of cabinets along the wall, added up. You only need a tape measure and ten minutes. A rough number is fine: it helps you describe your kitchen when you send the form, and at the visit we measure everything ourselves.

By Da Vinci Woodwork · Last updated

What you need

A steel tape measure, a pencil and paper (or your phone), and the kitchen as it is today, or your plan for the new one.

The rules, in order

  1. Measure base cabinets and wall cabinets separately. Base cabinets sit on the floor; wall cabinets hang above the counter. Write down two totals.
  2. Measure each run end to end, in inches. A run is a straight line of cabinets along one wall.
  3. Leave out the appliances. Skip the openings for the range, the dishwasher and the refrigerator, and on the wall-cabinet run, the space over the range for the hood. If an appliance gets a cabinet door panel to match, note it separately.
  4. Count a corner once. In an L or U kitchen, the second run starts where the first run ends, so the corner cabinet is not counted twice.
  5. Measure the island on its own. If the island has cabinets on one side, measure that side. If it has cabinets on both sides, measure each side.
  6. Count a tall cabinet at three times its width. A pantry or oven cabinet that runs floor to ceiling counts as three cabinets stacked: a tall cabinet 24 inches wide counts as 72 inches.
  7. Add the inches and divide by 12. That's your linear feet.
Diagram of an L-shaped kitchen: run 1 along the top wall includes the corner cabinet, run 2 starts below the corner Run 1: 120 in C Run 2: 96 in, starts where the corner ends C = corner cabinet, counted once (in run 1) 120 + 96 = 216 in
Diagram: an L-shaped kitchen (rule 4). The corner cabinet belongs to run 1, and run 2 is measured from the end of the corner.
Diagram of a tall pantry cabinet 24 inches wide, drawn as three stacked 24 inch blocks that count as 72 inches 1 2 3 24 in wide Floor to ceiling: 3 × 24 in = 72 in = 6 ft
Diagram: a tall pantry 24 inches wide (rule 6). Three stacked blocks of 24 inches each count as 72 inches.

A worked example

An L-shaped kitchen with an island:

  • Base cabinets: 120 inches on the sink wall, plus 96 inches on the side wall measured from the end of the corner = 216 inches.
  • Leave out the 30-inch range and the 24-inch dishwasher if they sit inside those runs: 216 − 54 = 162 inches of base cabinets, which is 13.5 feet.
  • Wall cabinets: 108 inches, minus the 30-inch hood space = 78 inches, which is 6.5 feet.
  • Island, cabinets on one side: 72 inches = 6 feet.
  • One tall pantry, 24 inches wide: 24 × 3 = 72 inches = 6 feet.
  • Total: 13.5 + 6.5 + 6 + 6 = 32 feet.
Diagram of the worked example: an L-shaped kitchen with an island and a tall pantry Sink wall: 120 in R D Side wall: 96 in Tall pantry: 24 in Island: 72 in R = range 30 in, D = dishwasher 24 in (hatched, left out of the count) Base 216 − 54 = 162 in = 13.5 ft · Wall 78 in = 6.5 ft Island 6 ft · Pantry 24 × 3 = 72 in = 6 ft Total: 13.5 + 6.5 + 6 + 6 = 32 ft
Diagram: the worked example, drawn from above, not to scale.

Now you have a number to put on the form. For what happens next, see every step from visit to install, and for the choices inside the cabinets, how we build cabinets. Our kitchens page shows the work.

Common questions about measuring

Do I measure to the wall or to the end of the cabinet?

To the end of the cabinets, or to the wall where the cabinets run all the way to it.

What about a peninsula?

Measure it like an island: the side or sides that have cabinets.

Does ceiling height matter?

Yes. Note your ceiling height next to your linear feet; it decides how tall the wall cabinets can go.

I don't want to measure. Is that a problem?

No. We measure everything at the visit anyway.

Is my linear-foot number a price?

No. You get an initial price at the visit, after we measure, and the final price comes from the drawings.

More answers on the FAQ page

Next step

Tell us about the kitchen

Send the form with your rough number, or none at all. Homeowners start here; general contractors can send drawings and a bid date.

Start a home project Start a bid inquiry