Last week I talked about what makes a quality cabinet and why they are important for busy families. In case you missed it, you can find it here. When I was living the single life I really never gave quiet cabinets much thought. It was just me after all making noise in the house. Years later after being married to an early riser husband... like 5:00am early... I quickly began to realize the beauty of soft close cabinet doors and drawers. First it was the kitchen cabinets when coffee was started. Later it was the morning bathroom routine with doors and drawers opening and closing. And then we had our daughter who was into everything before we knew it. When she was a toddler we had to put safely locks on certain cabinets because like most kids she loved to play with pots, pans and tupperware. Our kitchen has soft self-close drawers but the cabinets were free range. When we remodeled our master bath last year (shown below), I used both soft self-close drawers and doors. All I can say is LIFE-CHANGING! Our new master bath is SOOO quiet. Worth every penny!
Most projects I have worked on over the years include soft close doors and drawers for the very reasons I learned about in my own home. Here are main 3 great reasons why busy moms love soft self-closing doors and drawers. If you a new mom or mom to be, you might want to think ahead on this one. Families, especially kids are hard on cabinets.
SAFETY- they protect fingers for the whole family, especially the little ones that easily get pinched
SANITY- they instantly lower the decimals of sound in a busy household including kitchens, bathrooms and mudrooms/laundry rooms
PRESERVATION- they preserve your cabinetry making them lost longer by alleviating stress on the hinges and general wear and tear of banging against the frame
Many cabinet manufacturers now include soft self-closing hardware as a standard in their line because it really has become an expected feature in a quality cabinet. However, here are a few tips if you want to retrofit existing cabinets or purchase your own hardware to install. Replacing hinges with the same brand you currently have will make the install much easier. According to This Old House, a recommended brand of hinges that can be ordered through most big box stores is Tec-Soft Closing Cabinet Hinges which run around $10 each. It typically takes 2 hinges to hang most doors unless the doors are extra large or heavy. You can buy the hinges in packs with larger quantities for cost savings. They also recommend Everbilt full extension, soft close drawer slides that cost around $20 for a pair. There are other brands on the market, some less expensive and some more expensive. It all depends on the quality you are looking for and the old budget of course.
Do you have soft close drawers and/or drawers? If so, I'd love to hear your thoughts. If you are in the market for cabinets because of a remodel or new construction project, download my FREE 10-step guide to learn how to design your dream kitchen the same way I do! Just head to the home page of this website and enter your email, easy peasy.
Also, join me in my new FB group Kitchen, Baths and Mudrooms by Design. Each week I will select one member's design challenge to solve for the whole group to see. In addition, members have exclusive access to the behind the scenes design work! See you there!!
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