Kitchen kick plate drawers?

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I'm putting in a rather small kitchen, so thinking about extra storage and Kick Plate drawers.
Perfect for things like tea towels and stuff you don't general use that often.

There's not much on the Internet, but they seem simple in theory (as everything does)

I would most likely follow this method http://10kkitchenremodel.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Kick-plate Drawers and build a frame which the units sit on, as the feet seem rather close together to have affective drawers.

What are people's thoughts on this?
Are there mechanisms I can fit to activate a pop out drawer by pushing it wit my foot?
What size wood would I have to use to make it strong enough for units, load, tops, and kids sat on worktops etc.?

Thanks

 

[foxhole]

Seems a lot of effort for little reward, cleaning the floor means the draws are likely to be damaged by mop or broom, not something the draw fronts are designed to cope with.The units are sat on feet to allow leveling for out of level floors , remove this and every draw fitted below will have to be leveled accurately before you can fit base units on top.

 

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Good point about the leveling, I didn't think about that.

I think the damage done by a mop to a drawer front would be little to no difference to the damaged done by a mop to a kick plate.
Both made of wood / laminate, though with drawers setup there are more edges.
(also I don't mop or sweep up that aggressively)

 

[foxhole]

A lot of plinths are plastic and stand up well to mop, also you will have draw handles to catch your toes on and snag the mop.

 

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Ah right, I though the kick plates were made similar to the cabinet doors for color matching etc.

I wasn't looking to put handles on them, hence the question
"Are there mechanisms I can fit to activate a pop out drawer by pushing it wit my foot?"
have large handles or knobs would be a little strange.

 

[foxhole]

Touch latch could be used but means every time you touch it accidentally you create a trip hazard.[or forget to close it correctly.]

 

[compact]

hmm could you slightly angle the runners so it always closes?


I've not planned any space for all the junk you collect in kitchen drawers such as towels, place mats, etc.

 

[BigRobCanUFixIt]

have you tried here

 

[Deleted member 174758]

There's not much on the Internet, but they seem simple in theory (as everything does)

I've had the "joy" of making and fitting these a couple of times and there are a number of issues to be aware of. Firstly, as foxhole says they can be a pig to level (especially if the floor runs out to the worktop - a common occurrence). If you are installing new then they are a lot less problematic as the drawers can be hung from beneath the bottom of the carcass before you fit it. I'm not sure I'd want to attampt this job in pre-installed cabinetry - certainly not as a paying job. The difficulty of making and retro fitting such a frame these days is that a lot of kitchens have either tiled/granite or laminate flooring installed which makes levelling up even more awkward.

Are there mechanisms I can fit to activate a pop out drawer by pushing it wit my foot?

As foxhole says, touch latches, but every time you accidentally bump a drawer it will spring open, just like he says......

Ah right, I though the kick plates were made similar to the cabinet doors for color matching etc.

Nope. Doors are often either vinyl wrapped MDF, painted MDF or solid wood (plain black or dark brown are popular because they hide muck, scuffs, etc). Plinths are best made from MFC (melamine faced chipboard), although they can be covered with fancy aluminium plate (patterned or stainless steel effect)

hmm could you slightly angle the runners so it always closes?

The touch latches probably won't work if you do that and the drawer is full. They aren't that powerful - really only designed to spring-open doors rather than heavily laden drawers......

What size wood would I have to use to make it strong enough for units, load, tops, and kids sat on worktops

Sorry, but I think you've got the wrong end of the stick here. The drawers could be standard drawers (110mm) - something like Blum Metabox drawers which are top hung. A frame or better a 3-sided "box" to support them (without top or bottom) could be made-up from 18mm MFC and would hang from the underside of the cabinet bottom panel (screwed through) - not resting on the floor - although aligning them will be a royal pain. As all the weight bearing down on the cabinet is transmitted into the floor through the feet there should be no need to worry about kids on worktops, etc

BTW the blog you used to describe this technique shows a build from scratch which doesn't seem to allow for levelling the units - great if you have the time to level the floor before installing kitchen units but a waste of time on about 75% of the kitchens I've installed where the floors are anything but flat and level!