What is
a filler panel?
A filler panel is the strip that covers the gap between the last cabinet and the wall. In a catalogue kitchen it is unavoidable. In a kitchen cut to your room it is usually a choice.
The short answer
A filler panel is a piece of matching board fitted between a cabinet and a wall, or between two cabinets, to close a gap that the cabinets do not fill. Catalogue kitchens come in fixed widths, so any wall that is not an exact multiple of those widths leaves a gap, and a filler covers it. Cut-to-size cabinetry sizes the cabinets to the wall instead, so fillers are used deliberately @EM@ for door clearance in a corner, for example @EM@ rather than to hide arithmetic.
Why catalogue kitchens need them
A cabinet range in 150mm steps cannot fill a 3140mm wall exactly. The run adds to 3000mm and a 140mm filler does the rest. That 140mm is space you paid for and cannot use, and on a kitchen with two such walls it adds up to most of a drawer bank.
When a filler is the right answer anyway
In an internal corner, a filler gives the door or drawer clearance to open past the cabinet next to it. Against an out-of-square wall, a scribed filler absorbs the taper so the cabinet run stays straight. Beside a fridge, a filler keeps the door swing clear. All of those are deliberate, not waste.
Scribing
A filler against a wall is usually scribed @EM@ cut to follow the wall’s actual line rather than assuming it is straight. Walls rarely are. Our guide to scribe pieces covers how that is done and why it matters more in older houses.
What we do
Cabinets are cut to your measured wall, so fillers appear where they earn their place and not where the catalogue ran out of sizes. Every filler is shown on the drawing before anything is cut, with its width, so you can see exactly what it is doing.
Kitchen & cabinetry glossary
More in this series: Shadowline · Return panels · Bulkheads · What is a cabinet carcass? · What is a kickboard? · What is a scribe piece? · What is edge banding? · What is a full-extension runner? · Soft-close hinges explained · What is a handleless kitchen? · What is a waterfall benchtop edge? · What is a mitred join? · What is a kitchen splashback? · What is a service drawing? · What does "supply only" mean? · What is a tall pantry unit? · What is a corner carousel? · What is a blind corner cabinet? · Push-to-open hardware explained · What is moisture-resistant board? · What is an overhead cabinet?.
Frequently asked
Common questions
If your question is not here, call the studio. We would rather talk it through than have you guess.
Ask us directly →What is a filler panel?
A strip of matching board that closes the gap between a cabinet and a wall, or between two cabinets.
Can I avoid filler panels?
Mostly, if the cabinets are cut to your room rather than picked from fixed widths. Some fillers are still worth having, particularly in corners where a door needs clearance.
Do filler panels look bad?
Not if they are the same finish and sized deliberately. What looks bad is a wide filler in the middle of a run, which is the sign of a catalogue kitchen forced onto a wall that did not suit it.
What is a scribed filler?
One cut to follow the actual line of the wall rather than assuming it is straight, so the cabinet run stays square even when the wall is not.
Delivered assembled
The assembly is done
before it arrives.
Carcasses built square on a bench, Blum hardware fitted, doors hung and adjusted to even gaps. On site you are fixing finished cabinets to a wall, not building them on the floor. Our own team fits it in Central Queensland; your installer fits it anywhere else in Australia. Prefer to build it yourself? The same kitchen ships flat pack.
Kitchen into dining, one palette
New build, kitchen fitted at fit-off
Full-height joinery, fitted in days
Specification
The same three answers,
on every quote.
Board thickness and moisture rating, edging method, hardware brand. Ours are printed on the quote so you can hold them against anything else you are offered.