Creating a Kitchen Island


Reference Number: KB-01022
Last Modified: October 10, 2023

The information in this article applies to:

Home Designer Professional or Home Designer Architectural or Home Designer Suite



QUESTION

I would like to create a kitchen island in my plan. How can I accomplish this in Home Designer?

Kitchen island with a bar


ANSWER

Cabinets can be placed and customized to produce a wide variety of kitchen island configurations, including one that meets your needs. In this article, we will discuss the following topics:

 

To create a kitchen island

  1. Select Build> Cabinet> Base Cabinet  and click in your plan to place a single base cabinet.


  2. Continue placing cabinets until you have the right number of cabinets that will make up your island. Keep in mind that you can always add additional cabinets later, or delete extra cabinets, if necessary.

Once you have placed the cabinets in your plan, you can now select them to edit them.


To edit cabinets

  1. Using the Select Objects  tool, select a cabinet and notice the edit handles that display for editing the cabinet in our 2D floor plan view.

    Edit handles on a base cabinet


  2. Click on the triangular Rotate edit handle, and rotate a cabinet, and then use it's middle square Move edit handle to drag the cabinet into place.


  3. Notice that if you place a base cabinet, and then select it and rotate it, the program will automatically fill in the space between the two cabinets.

    If you're experiencing difficulty precisely positioning your cabinets, hold down the Control/Command key on your keyboard to allow for unrestricted movement while you fine tune the adjustment of the cabinets.

    Additionally, if you experience a size limitation when resizing cabinets, you may need to adjust the Minimum Cabinet Width value located in the General Cabinet Defaults. This can be accessed by navigating to Edit> Default Settings, expanding the Cabinet category, and editing the General Cabinet subcategory.


    Kitchen island with different sized cabinets


  4. Use the Resize  edit handles to change the size of your cabinet, or you can adjust this later on the General panel of the Base Cabinet Specification dialog.


To create a bank of drawers

  1. Use the Select Objects  tool to select a cabinet, and then click on the Open Object  edit button.


  2. On the General panel of the Base Cabinet Specification dialog that appears, you can change the cabinet's Width, Height, and Depth values, as well as additional features such as the Countertop and Backsplash.

    General panel of the Base cabinet specification dialog


  3. In the 3D preview of the cabinet that displays on the right side of the dialog, click on the door to highlight it, which will take you to the Front panel of the Base Cabinet Specification dialog, then change the Item Type to Drawer.

    Changing a cabinet door into a drawer


  4. Change the Item Height to 6".

    Changing the cabinet's face item height


  5. Select the Add New button and in the New Cabinet Face Item dialog, choose the Drawer option using the Item Type drop-down, specify the Item Height to be 6", then click OK to create another 6" high drawer. 

    New Cabinet Face Item dialog


  6. Repeat this process once more to create a bank of four drawers, then click OK.

Next, create a 9" wide cabinet with an opening and no shelves. 


To create an opening with no shelves 

  1. Use the Select Objects  tool to select the cabinet that you want to modify, then click the Open Object  edit button.


  2. On the General panel, specify a Width of 9".


  3. Click on the drawer in the 3D preview to return to the Front panel and Delete the existing selected drawer.


  4. Next, select the remaining Door, use the Item Type drop-down menu to change it to an Opening, and uncheck the Include Shelves box.

    In Home Designer Pro, a Specify button is available next to the Shelves option, allowing you to further customize shelving properties. See the "Modifying Cabinet Shelving" resource in the Related Articles section to learn more.

You also have the ability to change the shape of the cabinets. In this example, change a base cabinet to a Radius End cabinet.


To create a special shaped cabinet 

  1. To change a cabinet to have a radius end, use the Select Objects  tool to select the cabinet that you want to edit, then click the Open Object  edit button. 


  2. On the General panel, click the Type drop-down menu to choose the cabinet shape that you want.

    In this example, Right Radius End is selected.


To change cabinet materials

There are several ways to change the materials on the cabinets in your plan, such as:

  • Accessing the Materials panel within the Base Cabinet Specification dialog, selecting the component that you want to change, then clicking on the Select Material button. A Select Material dialog will appear where you can choose the material of your choice.

  • Using the Material Painter  tool in a camera view. This is located on your toolbar when a 3D camera view is active, but it can also be accessed by navigating to 3D> Material Painter> Material Painter . When this tool is selected, a Select Material dialog will appear where a material can be chosen. Once a desired material is selected, click OK, then click on the component that you want to apply the material to.

  • Using dynamic material defaults. You can quickly change all of the materials of a particular cabinet type by navigating to Edit> Default Settings , expanding the Cabinet category, and editing your preferred cabinet type. Once the Defaults dialog for your preferred cabinet type is open to specification, access the Materials panel, and adjust the desired components using the Select Material button.

    Note: If a cabinet's materials have been changed using one one of the first two methods mentioned here, dynamic material defaults may no longer apply to the cabinet that has been edited.

Return To Top