How to Customize Cabinets with Decorative Feet and Legs
- May 15, 2020
- 2 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
You're not the only one who looks great all dressed up, your cabinets do to! Adding decorative feet and legs is an easy way to upgrade your entire kitchen creating a custom look and feel. Most stock kitchen lines only have a few options in this department which is why I recommend working with a semi-custom cabinet maker if budget allows. We all know the devil is in the details.
There are many types of decorative feet that can be used as accents under the main sink cabinet or other feature areas to create a furniture like look. Here are a few of the many common styles with their names below:
1. Cove Foot
2. Bun Foot
3. Reeded Tulip Foot
4. Turned or Spool Foot
5. Mission Foot
6. Tapered Wedge Foot
Pro Tip- If you are working with a limited stock cabinet maker or simply repainting existing cabinets on a budget, try checking out a local hardware store to see what types of feet they have. Both Home Depot and Lowe's carry plenty and even have curtain finials that could be cut to the correct height, painted and installed under your cabinets for a custom look.
In addition to cabinet feet, decorative legs are often used to highlight feature areas like the cooktop / range or kitchen island. Sometimes only half of the leg is applied to a cabinet as a molding detail. The style of leg you select for your kitchen should reinforce the design theme you are going for. Here a few legs from the many styles available:
1. Turned Post
2. Bamboo Post
3. Baroque Post
4. Tapered Mission
5. Reeded Post
6. Large Turned
The ends of an island are great places to add posts or legs. There are many size widths available but usually they are around 4-5" square at the top. You will want to make sure you have enough room to include them and space for the number of seats you need. Your cabinet designer can work with you on this if you are ordering new cabinets or if you have an existing island you might can just add them yourself.
Here are some design inspiration pics starting with our former beach house, a rental property. I added "half" legs to the pull out spice racks on either side of the cooktop which helped balance out the large hood design above.
The kitchen below is a great example of an island with legs incorporated into the design creating space for bookshelves.
One last image, this gorgeous kitchen below is a great example of an island with legs for a cozy furniture like feel. Yes please!
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