A replacement kitchen or bedroom door can look simple on paper, but a difference of only a few millimetres can affect the finished result. Knowing how to measure for replacement doors properly means your new fronts will sit evenly, open freely and give existing cabinets a smart new lease of life – without the cost and disruption of replacing the whole room.
This guide is for cabinet doors and drawer fronts on fitted kitchens, bedrooms, bathrooms and home offices, rather than external or internal house doors. Take your time, measure each door individually and write every figure down as you go. Even a well-made cabinet run may include small variations at the end of a wall, beside an appliance or around a corner.
Before measuring replacement doors
Start by deciding what is actually being replaced. Are you ordering doors only, or will you also need drawer fronts, end panels, plinths, cornice, pelmet or new handles? A complete list helps ensure the new look is consistent and avoids discovering later that an old panel no longer matches your chosen door finish.
Use a steel tape measure marked in millimetres, a pencil and a simple sketch of the room or each cabinet run. A metal rule can be useful for checking smaller details such as hinge positions. Avoid relying on a flexible dressmaking tape or measurements taken from a photograph.
Open every door and look closely at the cabinet condition before you begin. Replacement doors can transform sound cabinets, but loose hinges, damaged carcasses, swollen panels or doors that have dropped because the cabinet is out of level may need attention first. A new door will not correct a cabinet that has moved or deteriorated.
How to measure for replacement doors accurately
In most cases, measure the existing door itself rather than the cabinet opening behind it. This is the most dependable approach because it preserves the original overlay – the amount by which the door covers the cabinet carcass.
Take three measurements for every door: height, width and thickness. Measure height and width in millimetres, checking at more than one point if the door is old or appears warped. Use the largest measurement if there is a difference, then make a clear note that the door is not square. Thickness matters because it can affect hinge choice, handle fixings and the overall appearance alongside neighbouring fronts.
Do not assume that two doors which look identical are the same size. A pair of doors either side of a cooker, sink or corner cabinet may differ slightly. Label each one on your sketch, such as Base 1, Base 2 or Tall Unit Left, then record its dimensions alongside that label.
Measure height and width in millimetres
Remove the door where possible and lay it on a clean, flat surface. Measure the full height from top to bottom edge, then the full width from side to side edge. Record the dimensions as height x width – for example, 715 mm x 397 mm.
If you are measuring a door while it remains fitted, keep the tape straight and measure the visible door edge, not the gap between doors. Do not round figures up or down to the nearest centimetre. A 396 mm door is not the same as a 400 mm door.
For a door that has been trimmed previously or has visible water damage, measure both the door and the cabinet opening. This gives a supplier or designer the information needed to establish whether matching the existing size is sensible or whether a different approach is required.
Check the gaps between doors and drawers
The small gaps around cabinet fronts are called reveals. They allow doors and drawers to operate without rubbing. Measure the gaps at the top, bottom and sides of a representative cabinet, particularly where doors meet one another.
For replacement fronts, the goal is generally to retain a balanced reveal across the run. If the original gaps are uneven, do not automatically copy them. The issue may be caused by an adjustment needed to the hinge, a cabinet that is not level or a door that has warped over time. This is where an experienced survey can save costly guesswork.
Understand overlay, inset and lay-on doors
The way a door sits on the cabinet is as important as its overall size.
Most modern fitted kitchens and bedrooms use lay-on doors, also known as overlay doors. These sit in front of the cabinet carcass and cover part of its edge. The door size, combined with hinge position, creates the required overlay.
Inset doors sit within the cabinet opening, with the carcass edges visible around them. They need much tighter and more precise allowance for clearance, so always state clearly if your doors are inset. A door measured as an overlay front cannot simply be used as an inset replacement.
Some older furniture uses face-frame cabinets, where doors are fixed over a frame at the front of the unit. These need a separate check of the frame width and the existing overlay. If you are uncertain which construction you have, take clear notes and retain one original door as a reference rather than ordering on assumptions.
Measure hinges before ordering
Hinges are a common source of avoidable errors. Many cabinet doors use concealed cup hinges, with a circular hole drilled into the back of the door. Measure the cup diameter, the distance from the top edge of the door to the centre of the top hinge cup, and the distance from the bottom edge to the centre of the bottom hinge cup.
Also measure the distance from the side edge of the door to the centre of each hinge cup. This is known as the cup setback. Record the number of hinges on each door, as tall or heavy doors may use three, four or more.
A typical concealed hinge cup is often 35 mm, but never assume this applies to every door. Older furniture, specialist hinges and compact hinges can vary. Take a photograph for your own reference, but measurements should remain the basis of the order.
If you are changing the door style, thickness or hinge type, existing drillings may not be suitable. New hinge holes can be drilled during manufacture when the full specification is confirmed. What matters is being clear about whether you intend to reuse the hinges or replace them.
Do not forget drawer fronts and special units
Drawer fronts should be measured in exactly the same way as doors: height, width and thickness. Measure each one separately, including drawers that appear to be part of a matching stack. The top drawer above an oven or below a hob, for example, is often a different height.
Pay close attention to special cabinets. Corner units, curved doors, appliance housings, bi-fold doors, integrated fridge doors and pull-out larders may need additional measurements or specialist hardware. A curved or angled front cannot be specified accurately from a straight-line width alone.
For integrated appliances, check whether the door is fixed directly to the appliance or uses a sliding connection. The fixing positions and weight limits matter. Replacing an appliance door front without checking the appliance manufacturer’s requirements can lead to poor alignment or strain on the mechanism.
Common measuring mistakes to avoid
The most frequent mistake is measuring the cabinet opening rather than the existing front. The opening may be useful supporting information, but it does not tell you the door overlay or reveal.
Another is ordering all fronts to a standard size because that is what the brochure shows. Standard sizes are useful references, not proof of what is fitted in your home. Bespoke rooms, older installations and cabinets altered around pipes or walls often fall outside those dimensions.
It is also worth checking handed doors. A left-hinged door opens from the left, while a right-hinged door opens from the right when viewed from the front. Although many concealed hinges can be repositioned, recording handing prevents confusion, especially on angled, profiled or handleless designs.
Finally, measure twice before placing an order. Compare your written schedule against the room, count every door and drawer front, and make sure the dimensions are recorded consistently in millimetres.
When a professional measure is the better choice
A careful DIY measurement can work well for a straightforward supply-only replacement project, especially where existing door sizes and hinges are being matched exactly. However, a professional measure is worthwhile where cabinets are old, layouts are unusual, doors are being changed from inset to overlay, or new worktops, panels and appliance housings are part of the project.
At Hale & Murray, replacement doors can be made to suit the cabinet sizes, layout and finish you want, with the reassurance of a local team that can check the practical details before manufacture. For homeowners across Poole, Bournemouth and the surrounding Dorset area, a home visit can remove uncertainty around awkward corners, hinge positions and finishing pieces.
A fresh set of doors should feel like a considered improvement, not a compromise forced by old cabinetry. A measured approach at the start gives you the confidence to choose a finish and style that will look right in your home for years to come.