Renovation guides

How to install kitchen cabinets yourself: step by step

Find the studs. Level matters more than anything — the countertop is templated on what you install.

Difficulty 3 of 5 · 2 weekends · careful

Photo of your room, the look you pick, then this guide with the materials counted for your room.

Step by step

1. Step 1 of 20

   Empty the room and confirm the floor is done

   Cabinets go on top of the finished floor in most layouts — check your plan before you start. Clear a staging area in the next room for boxes and doors.

   Before you open a box

   • Walls are painted (you will not get behind the cabinets again)
   • Flooring is finished, or your plan calls for cabinets on the subfloor
   • Electrical and plumbing rough-in is done and inspected if it was permitted
   • You have a helper for the uppers

2. Step 2 of 20

   Unbox and check every cabinet against the layout

   Lay the plan on the counter and match each box to its position. Check for shipping damage and missing hardware now — a replacement door is weeks, not days.

3. Step 3 of 20

   Take the doors and drawers off

   Number each door on a piece of tape inside the hinge cup and stack them flat in another room. A cabinet without doors is far lighter and far easier to hold level.

4. Step 4 of 20

   Find and mark every stud on the cabinet walls

   Run the stud finder along the wall and mark both edges of each stud with a vertical pencil line from the floor to above the upper line. Confirm one with a small finish nail — if it goes in soft, you found drywall, not a stud.

5. Step 5 of 20

   Find the high point of the floor

   Set the level on the floor along the whole cabinet run and mark the spot where the floor is highest. Every line you draw from here is measured up from that point, not from the floor under each cabinet.

6. Step 6 of 20

   Draw the base line at 34 1/2" above the high point

   34 1/2" is the standard base cabinet height that puts the finished counter at 36" with a 1 1/2" top — but confirm the number per your cabinet spec. Snap a level line the full length of the run.

7. Step 7 of 20

   Draw the upper line at 54" above the high point

   54" puts the bottom of the uppers about 18" above a 36" counter — the standard backsplash gap. Check it against your cabinet spec and your hood requirement, then snap a second level line.

8. Step 8 of 20

   Mark each cabinet's position and cut the backs

   Draw a vertical line at every cabinet edge along both level lines and write the cabinet number between them. Where a box lands over an outlet, a supply line, or the disposal drain, mark the hole on the cabinet back and cut it with a jigsaw or hole saw while the box is still on the floor.

   Ready to hang?

   • Every stud is marked with a line that runs above the upper cabinet line
   • Base line at 34 1/2" and upper line at 54" are snapped from the floor's high point and read level end to end
   • Every cabinet position is drawn on the wall and labeled
   • Cutouts for plumbing and outlets are cut in the cabinet backs
   • Doors and drawers are off and stored flat

9. Step 9 of 20

   Screw a ledger board on the upper line

   Screw a straight 1x4 to the wall with its top edge exactly on the 54" line, into studs. The cabinets rest on it while you fasten them, so both your hands are free.

10. Step 10 of 20

    Start with the corner cabinet

    Set the corner upper on the ledger, push it tight to the wall, and check plumb on the face frame in both directions. Everything else in the run lines up off this box, so get it right before you drive a screw.

11. Step 11 of 20

    Screw through the hanging rail into the studs

    Drill a pilot hole through the thick rail at the top of the cabinet back and drive a 2 1/2" cabinet screw into each stud it crosses, then repeat at the bottom rail. Two screws per stud, minimum two studs per cabinet — snug, not crushed.

12. Step 12 of 20

    Clamp the next cabinet to the first, then screw the frames

    Lift the next box onto the ledger, clamp the two face frames flush at the top and the bottom, check the fronts are dead flush with a fingertip, then drill and drive two connector screws through the stile.

13. Step 13 of 20

    Work out to the ends of the run

    Clamp, check flush, screw to the neighbor, then screw to the studs — same order every time. Shim behind any screw point where the wall dips so the box does not get pulled out of square.

14. Step 14 of 20

    Fit the fillers and pull the ledger

    Scribe and cut a filler strip at each wall end, clamp and screw it to the face frame. Then unscrew the ledger board and fill its holes — they will be behind the backsplash anyway.

15. Step 15 of 20

    Set the corner base on the high point and shim it level

    Slide the corner base into place, put the level on the top edge front-to-back and side-to-side, and shim under the box until both read level with the 34 1/2" line. Shim at the back wall too, behind each screw point.

16. Step 16 of 20

    Screw the base into the studs through the back rail

    Drive 2 1/2" screws through the rail at the top of the cabinet back into each stud, with a shim behind the rail at every screw so nothing is pulled backward. Re-check level after tightening — it moves.

17. Step 17 of 20

    Clamp and join each base to the one before it

    Level the next box to the line first, then clamp the face frames flush and drive connector screws. Level to the line, never to the neighbor's top edge, or errors add up across the run.

18. Step 18 of 20

    Straightedge the whole run for the countertop

    Lay the 6 ft straightedge across the tops of the finished bases in several places and check the level end to end. This surface is what the fabricator templates on — fix it now, because after the stone is cut nothing can be adjusted.

19. Step 19 of 20

    Cut the shims, add the toe kick and scribe molding

    Snap or knife the shims flush with the cabinet face, then cut the toe kick to length and nail it on. Scribe molding closes the gap where a wavy wall or ceiling meets the cabinet.

20. Step 20 of 20

    Rehang the doors and adjust the hinges

    Put each numbered door back on its own cabinet and adjust the hinge screws until the gaps between doors are even and the doors sit in the same plane. Then install the pulls with a hardware template so every hole matches.

    Quality check

    • Every cabinet has at least two screws into at least two studs
    • The top of the base run reads level end to end under a 6 ft straightedge
    • Face frame seams are flush — you cannot feel a lip with a fingertip
    • Doors and drawers close fully, with even gaps and no rubbing
    • Fillers, toe kick, and scribe molding are cut and fastened
    • You pulled hard on each upper cabinet and nothing moved

Draft guide written from standard practice, not yet reviewed by a licensed pro. Follow product labels where they differ.

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