Easy Way To Apply New Drawer Faces On Kitchen Cabinets

Here is an easy way to apply, fasten or install new cabinet drawer faces on old kitchen, vanity or laundry room cabinets. I think you will agree that this method of installing the new fronts is the fastest and easiest way to accomplish the task. Please take note this short cut only applies to drawers that have a front, sides, bottom and back. Some of the newer styles are manufactured with metal sides and the actual decorative face is screwed on with small mounting plates. This type of installation, that I am referring to in this article, will require that the roll out is an actual box having a front that you screw the face piece to.

Easy method of installing drawer faces on cabinetry

Here are the actual steps to my easy drawer front installation method. A note of caution, be extra careful to line up the front perfectly before applying it to the adhesive that I am going to suggest that you use.

Using a spacer
Make sure that all of your cabinetry doors are adjusted. Use something as a spacer to get the desired gap between the door and the drawer face.

Applying the adhesive
The adhesive that you will need is called double face mirror tape. It can be purchased at your local Home Depot, Ace Hardware, Lowes, or Walmart. The tape is actually about 1/8” thick. I usually stick two vertical pieces on a standard sized kitchen cabinet drawer front. Each piece of double face mounting tape gets applied a couple of inches in from the outside edge of the drawer.

• Tip: If you miss the mark, when sticking the front, use a stiff bladed putty knife or screw driver to pry the pieces apart from one another. Be careful to not drop the decorative piece.

Mounting the decorative drawer face
Place the spacer on top of the door below. Make sure to keep the new front tilted away from the adhesives surface. Carefully align the the drawer front where you want it to be. Now, push it into place while keeping a firm amount of pressure against the cabinet face. Open the door below, while keeping the pressure on the drawer front, being careful to not let it move from the aligned position. Reach all the way into the cabinet, behind the drawer and pull the drawer forward while still applying pressure to the new front.

Screwing the face onto the drawer
The next step is to use some type of clamp to hold the two pieces in place while you screw them together.

Don’t worry about the thickness of the tape when you are using this easy method of installing drawer faces onto the cabinet member. I have used this trick on literally hundreds of kitchen cabinets. The double face mounting tape basically disappears once the pressure is applied. If you are working with an actual stack of drawers, you will obviously need to start at the bottom and work your way upward as you apply each one. It is a good idea to screw the fronts into place as you go when you are working with a stack. Of course there are other ways to mount fronts, but in my experience, this is the easiest mounting system that you will find for fastening decorative faces.