Standard Kitchen Drawer Cabinet Dimensions

By Kevin Sorby | Kitchen Designer & Cabinetmaker

Kitchen drawer dimensions typically vary in width, height, and depth, depending on what will be stored inside. This customization offers great flexibility in both storage and functionality.

Standard Drawer Cabinet Widths

In standard cabinetry, drawer cabinet widths are generally produced in 50 mm increments, reaching a practical maximum of 900 mm. 

Common drawer cabinet widths include: 400 mm (40 cm), 450 mm (45 cm), 500 mm (50 cm), 600 mm (60 cm), 700 mm (70 cm), 800 mm (80 cm) and 900 mm (90 cm).

Pro-Tip: Kitchen drawers wider than 900mm—typically ranging from 1000mm to 1200mm—are entirely possible, but they require careful hardware selection to prevent operational issues. Larger drawers hold more, therefore weight becomes an issue. Drawer runners need to be upgraded to match the weight. Also, one side of the drawer may carry more weight than the other, causing 'racking'. This can be alleviated by installing a lateral stabilizer system.

Standard Drawer Depths

Drawer depth is determined by the internal dimensions of the base cabinet. A standard kitchen base cabinet has a depth of 560 mm (56 cm), with an internal depth of 544 mm (54.4 cm) if cabinet is made with a 16 mm thick back panel. Therefore, the maximum drawer depth is typically 500 mm (50 cm).

Common drawer depths include: 250 mm (25 cm), 300 mm (30 cm), 350 mm (35 cm), 400 mm (40 cm), 450 mm (45 cm), and 500 mm (50 cm), with these measurements influenced by the sizes of drawer runner lengths from different manufacturers.

Standard Drawer Front Heights

Common drawer front heights include: 141 mm (14.1 cm), 177 mm (17.7 cm), 237 mm (23.7 cm), 285 mm (28.5 cm) and 357 mm (35.7 cm).

How Are Drawer Front Heights Determined?

There are plenty of combinations derived from this simple formula:

Standard kitchen cabinet height / number of drawers (then subtract door / drawer gap from the result)

For example:

• 2 equal drawer heights = 720/2 = 360 - 3 = 357 mm high drawer front
• 3 equal drawer heights = 720/3 = 240 - 3 = 237 mm high drawer front
• 4 equal drawer heights = 720/4 = 180 - 3 = 177 mm high drawer front
• 5 equal drawer heights = 720/5 = 144 - 3 = 141 mm high drawer front

📍 Looking for other technical kitchen information? Go back to our master checklist of standard Australian kitchen dimensions to learn more.