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I’ve seen a few other creators (such as Laura from @TheAveryCottage and Corey from @Sawdust2Stitches) add cabinet feet to their kitchen cabinets lately, and every single time I see it, I’m obsessed. It adds so much charm and instantly makes the cabinets feel more custom and high-end.
Once I realized how much of a difference this one detail makes, I knew I had to do it in my own kitchen. After all the work I’ve already put into these cabinets, adding feet felt like the perfect finishing touch to really take them to the next level.
I was honestly way more excited about this DIY than I expected, it’s such a simple update, but the transformation is huge. And the best part? It’s totally doable as a DIY, even if you’re not a pro!
Seeing how Laura and Corey’s turned out really sealed the deal for me. It’s one of those details that feels subtle at first, but once you notice it, you can’t unsee how much it elevates the whole space.
The first thing I did was take measurements everywhere I planned to add cabinet feet. I wanted them to fit nice and tight once installed, so this step was key.
One thing I noticed pretty quickly is that my floor tiles aren’t perfectly flush with each other (real life, right?), so the distance between the bottom of the cabinet face frame and the floor actually varied a bit from spot to spot. Because of that, I measured each section individually instead of assuming they’d all be the same, and I’m really glad I did.
Next, I cut my 1×6 primed pine down to size with my miter saw, both the height and the width. I kept the width right around 6 inches, which worked perfectly for the scale of my cabinets and the size of the feet I was using.
This step is pretty straightforward, but taking the time to cut everything accurately makes the final install look clean and intentional instead of bulky or uneven.
Once I had a few pieces cut, I brought them back inside to double-check that the height was going to work before committing to cutting all of them. This saved me from having to redo anything if adjustments were needed.
Once I knew the height was right, I labeled the back of each piece so I knew exactly where it would go. Since not every spot was the same, this made installation way easier later and kept everything fitting nice and snug.
To help figure out the shape for the cabinet feet, I grabbed one of my wooden spoons and used it as a template to trace the curve. I tested it out in one spot first, then ended up moving the spoon a little closer to the edge to try a slightly different shape.
This part was definitely a bit of trial and error, but it was an easy way to play around with the look before committing. Don’t overthink it, once you find a curve you like, just stick with it and repeat it on the rest of the pieces.
Once I landed on a shape I liked, I took that piece back outside and clamped it to the edge of my miter saw table to keep it steady. Then I used my jigsaw to carefully cut out the curve.
This piece would basically became my “template” for the rest, so I took my time here. A slow, steady cut makes a big difference and keeps the curve looking smooth instead of choppy.
After that, I unclamped it and gave the cut edge a quick sand to smooth everything out. This step doesn’t take long, but it really helps clean up the curve and makes it look more finished.
Once it was sanded, I added small “block” pieces to the back of the test foot. These act as a backing so that once everything’s installed, crumbs and dirt can’t sneak behind them.
This also makes installation a lot easier because the blocks give you something solid to push the foot up against, instead of trying to line everything up perfectly on the fly.
I installed the blocks using wood glue and a few brad nails. The glue does most of the work, and the brad nails just hold everything in place while it sets.
Then it was time for a test fit, always my favorite part.
…but the second I stepped back, I knew…I hated them.
I was actually going for more of a furniture-style look, like the ones in this Pinterest screenshot. Softer curves, a little more elegant, and something that felt intentional instead of chunky or too DIY-looking.
Seeing them in place made it clear that what I had just wasn’t matching the vision in my head, so back to the drawing board.
I did end up sharing it on my Instagram Stories, and one of my followers actually messaged me with a SketchUp rendering of a different foot design. How cool is that?!
This is exactly why I love my community so much, everyone is always so helpful, creative, and genuinely invested in the projects I’m working on. Seeing that rendering helped everything click, and I finally felt confident about the direction I wanted to go.
So I went back and cut out another test foot to see what it would look like, and I’m so glad I did. It ended up being way closer to the look I was going for, and it just felt right once I saw it in place.
I’m also really glad I didn’t force myself to stick with the original design just because I already had a few pieces made. Sometimes stepping back and redoing something is exactly what takes a project from “okay” to really good. The softer curve made all the difference!
Once I was happy with the new design, I got to work cutting the rest of them down, 12 cabinet feet in total. It wasn’t hard, it was just tedious.
Since I had shot brad nails through the front of the feet to attach the blocks on the back, I needed to fill those nail holes before painting. I used a little spackle to smooth everything out so the fronts would look clean and seamless once painted.
Side note: always be mindful of where your fingers are when using a brad nailer. I know I say this all the time, but it’s honestly worth repeating.
You can actually see in the photo below that a brad nail went straight through the side of the block, and I didn’t even realize it happened until later when I was filling the nail holes. It’s a good reminder that these tools are no joke, even when you’ve used them a million times.
Once the spackle was dry and sanded, I got them painted and could not wait to test fit them again. And let me tell you, the paint made ALL the difference. This color is Pewter Green by SW, by the way. That is one of the most common questions I get on social media.
Suddenly they looked finished, intentional, and way more in line with the original vision. It’s wild how much paint alone can completely change how a piece feels.
Before official installation, I made sure I cleaned the bottom of my cabinets really well.
Once I knew they fit well and looked amazing, I installed them using just wood glue, wedging each one into place. The fit was nice and tight, so there was no need for nails at this stage, the glue did the job perfectly. Plus there wasn’t really a way to install them with a brad nail anyways.
And OMG… I love them!! Here’s a little sneak peek 😍
If you can tell in the photo below, I intentionally measured and cut the “blocks” on the back of the feet a little short. This leaves a small lip, about 1/16 of an inch, between the foot and the cabinet face frame.
That tiny reveal helps the feet look more intentional and furniture-like.
I was pretty strategic with what parts of the feet I painted. I didn’t have a ton of paint left, so I focused only on the areas that would actually be visible once everything was installed.
For example, next to the dishwasher, I made sure to paint the outside of that foot since that’s the part you’ll see. Anything tucked back or hidden didn’t need paint, no sense wasting it.
For the feet under the sink and the section to the right of the countertop, I attached those together using pocket holes. Since there’s nothing separating those two feet, this made them act like one solid piece and kept everything lined up and secure.
For the cabinet next to my pantry, I had to remove the baseboard so I could install the foot tight against the wall. Doing it this way kept the doors centered over the feet and prevented everything from looking uneven or off-balance.
Then I got the baseboard put back on… and I’ll be honest, it took me maybe three months to finally come back and caulk it and touch up the paint. One of those 95% done projects that somehow takes forever to actually finish 😅
But it’s officially done now, and that’s all that matters!
But then I ran into a problem that I seriously debated not fixing. Remember how I mentioned wanting the feet to line up evenly with the cabinet doors? Well… the corner cabinets threw a wrench in that plan.
The face frame in the corner is actually wider than the rest, and I didn’t account for that when I installed the feet. So once everything was in place and I stepped back to look at it from across the room, it was obvious, they weren’t even.
But I couldn’t leave it like that. I just knew it would drive me crazy in the long run, so I figured I might as well fix it while the glue was still wet. I’m really trying to get better about not leaving projects almost right and calling it good, if I’m going to do it, I want to do it the right way.
So I pulled off the corner piece and added more blocks to the inside of the feet, this time matching the actual width of the face frame. Once everything lined up the way it should, I used pocket holes to attach it all together and reinstalled it.
The two corner feet were also attached together, similar to the ones under the sink. I did another test fit here to make sure everything lined up correctly, then painted the new trim pieces that were added.
It fit perfectly! So once the paint was dry, I added more wood glue and installed everything in place for good. The random dumbbell was there because I used it to hold the corner feet in the exact spot they needed to be as they dried. That’s what you use dumbbells for right?!
And that’s a wrap on this little kitchen update! I’m leaving you with some before and after photos so you can really see the difference this small detail made.
What do you think, was it worth it?
I just love this little detail so much. And even though social media always seems to worry that people walk really close to their cabinets and might stub their toes on the feet, I’ve honestly never even come close. Tyler hasn’t either, and he has way bigger feet than I do 😅
For us, this detail has been purely a win with zero downsides. And it only takes maybe 30 more seconds to vacuum despite social media opinions again that this will make it 100X harder to clean…
Anyways, next up, I’m taking a break from painting kitchen cabinets for a little while and we are going to be working in the garage workshop for a bit!
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