Comprehensive Look at Soft Close Hinges for Cabinets

We live in a noisy world—that can’t be denied. And most families have at least one person who’s louder than the norm. You know the type: yanks things open, slams them shut. Now, however, at least part of the noise those living-loud types create can be abated. In today’s contemporary “open” house plans, where living, dining, and entertaining are integrated into one large space, eliminating the clunky “slams” of cabinet doors opening and closing is a priceless plus. The good news is it can happen for a very modest investment.

But what if you’ve recently remodeled your house and you can’t renovate it again? Not to worry: you don’t have to tear everything out and start over to get the benefits of soft-closing doors. A home remodeling professional can retrofit guides to drawers and install soft-close mechanisms on your already existing cabinetry without disruption of the design or your life.

Benefits of Soft-Close Drawers and Doors

Of course, if you’re building a brand-new house with new cabinetry, this is even better news: the drawers and doors can start out noise-free and easy-to-close from the very beginning. What makes these even better is that their improvements go beyond noise abatement to additional features and convenience you may not have thought of.

• More Usable Space:

  Customers who use new soft-close drawers rave about the increase in usable space they have in each drawer. The drawer opens fully rather than just three-quarters as in a more conventional drawer, which leads to better access to the contents.

• Less Wear and Tear:

  There’s also less wear and tear on the cabinet in general; on a normal drawer, the repeated “slamming” effect of firmly closing it, combined with the weight of the contents, can damage the drawer heads over time, causing splits and cracks.

• No More Pinched Fingers:

  For homes with small children, the soft-close aspects of drawers are a godsend. Closely-spaced doors and drawers can catch fingers if slammed fast, something both painful and dangerous, but a soft-close drawer or cabinet door eliminates that potential hazard—a big plus for safety.

If you’re looking for new cabinets or installation, we can help. Diamond Kitchen and Bath can help you find the perfect, noise-free cabinetry that will fit your budget. Contact us for professional advice and service.

Choose Your Speed

The flip side of these automatic closers, of course, is that one speed doesn’t always fit all. In some cases, it can be a challenge to get used to the speed—or lack of —in a soft-close mechanism. These doors take their own deliberate pace, which can be frustrating to a person used to moving quickly from cabinet to cabinet without doors in the way. Fortunately, you can easily disable the soft close on those doors alone, again without disturbing the rest of the system.

Can I DIY Soft Close Hinges for My Kitchen Cabinets?

With a little study of some online resources, you can quickly learn what hardware, attachments, and parts you’ll need to make your cabinets soft close and whisper-quiet. Some cabinet mechanisms attach immediately next to a hinge; some are hidden deep within the cabinets so you hardly know they’re there.

Some of the more popular mechanisms are sold under the Blumotion brand for the retrofit enthusiast, while many major kitchen cabinet manufacturers produce their own custom-made parts. Many customers have been able to transform their cabinetry for little more than the cost of a good meal and an evening out, so do some comparison shopping and you could be pleasantly surprised how easy, and relatively inexpensive, this particular DIY project can be!

Soft-Close Hinges for Cabinets

Try soft-closing on for size at Diamond Kitchen and Bath, and you just might find yourself pleasantly “spoiled” along with them.