How to Make a Cutting List for Kitchen Cabinets (Step by Step)

Every cabinet starts the same way. Before you touch the saw, you need a cutting list: every part, its size, and how many to cut.

Get it right and the cabinet goes together like it should. Get one number wrong and you've wasted a sheet. I've done it. Everyone who builds cabinets has done it.

So let's go through one together. We'll take a normal kitchen base cabinet and work out every part, step by step. I'll show you the maths. Once you've done one, the rest work the same way.

What you need first

You only need a few numbers to start:

• Width — 600 mm — sets the size of the bottom, shelf, and doors
• Height — 780 mm — sets the size of the sides and doors
• Depth — 560 mm — sets the size of the sides and bottom
• Board — 18 mm — you'll take this off some parts, more on that soon
• Back — 4 mm ply, in a groove — it needs its own line on the list

Let's build the list: a 600 × 780 base cabinet

We'll go part by part. Grab a pencil if you want to follow along.

1Sides (cut 2): 780 × 560

Easy one. The sides go the full height and the full depth, so you just use the cabinet's own sizes.

2Bottom (cut 1): 564 × 560

This is where people slip up. The bottom sits between the two sides, so you take off both sides' thickness: 600 − 18 − 18 = 564.

3Shelf (cut 1): 564 × 534

Same width as the bottom, for the same reason. Make it a touch shallower than the bottom though — 20 to 30 mm less is typical — so it sits back from the front and stays clear of anything mounted behind the door. We used 534 mm here, 26 mm less than the bottom.

4Doors (cut 2): 776 × 297

Doors are cut a bit smaller than the cabinet, so they open and close without rubbing. Height: 780 − 4 = 776. Width of each door: (600 − 6) ÷ 2 = 297.

Your list for the 18 mm board

• Side — 780 × 560 — cut 2
• Bottom — 564 × 560 — cut 1
• Shelf — 564 × 534 — cut 1
• Door — 776 × 297 — cut 2

The bits people forget

The board parts are only half the job. There are three more things to put on your list.

The back

If you're using 4 mm ply in a groove, give it its own line. Size it to fit inside the grooves, not to the outside of the cabinet. Too big and it won't go in. Too small and it rattles.

Edge banding

Mark which edges need banding with a short code. L means a long edge, W means a short edge, and the number says how many. So 1L is just one long edge, and 2L 2W is all four edges, like a door. Then add it up. One 776 × 297 door banded all round needs 2 × 776 + 2 × 297 = 2,146 mm — about 2.15 m. Do the same for every banded part, and now you know how much to buy.

Hardware

Write it down now, while the cabinet's fresh in your head. You'll thank yourself later:

• Hinges for each door
• Handles
• Shelf pins
• Legs
• Screws

Mistakes I see all the time

Most wasted sheets come from the same five slips. I've made every one of them at some point.

• Forgetting the board thickness — a bottom cut to 600 won't fit between the sides. Take off 18 mm for each side the part sits between.
• Forgetting the back groove — the back rattles, or won't go in at all. Size it to the grooves, not the outside.
• Turning a door to fit the sheet — the grain on one door runs the wrong way. Keep doors the same way up when you lay out the sheet.
• Guessing the edge banding — you run out halfway, or buy too much. Add it up from each part's edge code.
• Missing or doubling a part — one side short, or a door cut twice. Check every number on the list before you cut.

Or let the computer do the maths

One cabinet by hand is fine. A whole kitchen is a different story — that's dozens of parts, and every one needs the same care.

I got tired of doing it by hand, so I built Flasta Cut. Pick the cabinet, type in the width and height, and it gives you:

• Every part, with the board thickness already taken off
• Sheet layouts that fit your parts in tight, so you waste less board
• Grain-lock, so your doors never get turned the wrong way
• Your edge banding, added up for you
• A hardware list — hinges, handles, slides, screws, and the rest
• A PDF or CSV to take to the saw or send to the cutting shop

Got a list in a notebook, or a sketch from a site visit? Take a photo, and the AI scan turns it into a proper list.