How much navy is enough? Counting the fronts on Galaxy Indigo 3 drawer base cabinets
Reviewed September 2026 · Captivating Cabinets
Prices quoted in this article were read off the grid on the review date; the live price grid on this page governs.
In most kitchens, drawer banks make up the bulk of the base run, which makes them the main decision about how much colour the room gets. Galaxy Indigo 3 drawer base cabinets come in nine widths from 12″ to 36″, each with a shallow drawer over two deep ones. Rather than asking which width, this page asks how many square feet of navy you are buying, and whether your room can carry that much.
Front area by width: what each bank adds to the room
A base box is 34½″ high, and after the 4½″ toe kick about 30″ of that is drawer front. Multiply by the width and you have the painted area each cabinet brings. These figures are approximate, but they make it easy to compare one plan against another.
| Width | SKU | Price | Navy front, approx. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12″ | GI DB12 | $617.50 | 2.5 sq ft |
| 15″ | GI DB15 | $627.25 | 3.1 sq ft |
| 18″ | GI DB18 | $646.75 | 3.8 sq ft |
| 21″ | GI DB21 | $672.75 | 4.4 sq ft |
| 24″ | GI DB24 | $705.25 | 5.0 sq ft |
| 27″ | GI DB27 | $773.50 | 5.6 sq ft |
| 30″ | GI DB30 | $845.00 | 6.3 sq ft |
| 33″ | GI DB33 | $955.50 | 6.9 sq ft |
| 36″ | GI DB36 | $1,030.25 | 7.5 sq ft |
A mid-sized kitchen has somewhere around 25 to 50 square feet of base fronts, and the drawer banks account for most of it. So the colour question really comes down to how many of these boxes you order, and on which walls.
Island only, perimeter only, or both: three plans priced
Here is one kitchen priced three ways: an eight-foot island and a perimeter lower run of 150″ of cabinetry between a 30″ range and a 24″ dishwasher. Only the drawer banks and the sink base are counted. Counter, appliances, uppers and panels are extra.
| Plan | What is navy | Boxes | Navy fronts | Indigo cabinets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accent island | Island working face only | GI DB36 · GI DB24 · GI DB36 | about 20 sq ft | $2,765.75 |
| Navy perimeter | All perimeter lowers; island in a white or wood finish | GI DB21 · GI SB36 · GI DB30 · GI DB30 · GI DB33 | about 31 sq ft | $3,809.00 |
| Navy below the counter | Island and perimeter lowers; only the uppers are light | Both of the above | about 51 sq ft | $6,574.75 |
The totals are not the part that matters, because the same boxes in Frost cost the same. What matters is the jump in colour. Going from the accent island to navy below the counter more than doubles the amount of navy the room has to carry, and if the seating side of the island gets an Indigo back panel as well (GI REP3096, a 30″ × 96″ refacing panel at $341.25), that adds another 20 square feet.
The colour-split rule of thumb gives about 60% of a room to the dominant colour, 30% to the secondary and 10% to accents. Navy fits comfortably as the 30 (a whole lower run) or the 10 (an island). It rarely works as the 60, which is why an all-Indigo kitchen, uppers included, is a much bigger commitment than the price suggests.
Do navy cabinets make a kitchen look smaller?
Below the counter, not much. Lower cabinets sit in the band of the room that is already in shadow, under the counter overhang, so a navy base run reads as a solid footing rather than a heavy wall. The room looks smaller when dark colour climbs above counter height, or when too little light reaches the fronts for the blue to show at all.
That gives a working rule for choosing between the three plans:
- A small or galley kitchen with one window: the accent island, or a perimeter run under light uppers with a white counter. Keep navy off the walls.
- A north-facing room or one lit mainly by artificial light: navy perimeter at most, 3000–3500K under-cabinet strips, and a pale floor. A room short on daylight is where the violet shows and the blue goes muddy.
- A large open plan with two or more windows: navy below the counter, island included, is comfortable.
- Any room with a dark floor: one plan lighter than the room would otherwise take. Navy on a dark floor loses the bottom edge of the cabinets.
Where the colour block ends
A navy run looks deliberate when it stops somewhere on purpose and looks accidental when it just runs out. Four places decide it.
The tall column
A pantry or fridge surround at the end of a navy lower run is the biggest single call in the plan. In Indigo, a tall column carries the colour up to the ceiling and moves the kitchen into the "navy is the 60" category. In the upper finish, it closes the run neatly. We usually draw the tall units light and let the navy stop at the counter line.
Exposed ends
Where a run ends in the open, finish the side in the same navy: a GI SK BASE end skin at $62.40, or a GI BEP base end panel at $149.50 when the side needs the heavier panelled look. An unfinished side, or one in the wrong white, is the first thing people notice.
The toe kick
A navy kick (GI TK8, $55.90 per 8 ft) makes the run look like it sits on the floor. A black or dark kick would disappear under a navy box anyway. A white kick under navy draws a stripe along the floor and is almost never what anyone wants.
Fillers
A navy run with a white filler looks like a mistake. Order fillers in Indigo (GI BF3 at $26.00, GI BF6 at $43.55) against the wall and beside the range. Then make sure the sink base and any single-door boxes are on the same Indigo order.
Fewer, wider boxes read better in a painted run
Every place where two cabinets meet shows as a double stile and a thin shadow line. On a pale finish that seam goes almost unnoticed. On a flat navy with no grain it shows as a dark vertical rule, and a run of narrow boxes starts to look like a row of lockers.
Wider boxes help, and they cost less. One GI DB30 is $845.00; two GI DB15 filling the same 30″ are $1,254.50, which is $409.50 more for an extra seam and six narrow drawers instead of three wide ones. Where the wall allows, choose the 27″, 30″, 33″ or 36″ bank, and keep the narrow widths for gaps that actually need them.
Writing the order once the dose is settled
Once you have picked a plan, the order almost writes itself. Put the sink base in first, then the range flanks, then the island working face, and close each run with the widest box that fits. Order the ends, kick and fillers in Indigo, and the uppers and tall column in the finish you chose to go above. For a pot drawer at the cooktop, the two-drawer bank goes in the same order.
Galaxy ships pre-assembled in about 2 weeks. Contractors buying for a client can ask about Captivating Pro trade pricing. The design service draws the plan from your measurements, and the full list of boxes is on the base cabinet page or the Galaxy Indigo collection.
Common questions
- Should I paint my lower cabinets navy and the uppers white?
- That is the most forgiving way to use navy. The lower run sits in shadow under the counter and holds the colour well, while light uppers keep the walls bright. Order the tall pantry or fridge column in the upper finish so the navy stops cleanly at the counter line.
- Navy island or navy perimeter: which is better?
- An island alone is the smaller commitment, about 20 square feet of navy on an eight-foot working face. A navy perimeter is about half as much again, and doing both comes to roughly two and a half times the island alone. Small or dim rooms suit the island; open, bright rooms can take navy below the counter everywhere.
- Do navy blue cabinets make a small kitchen look smaller?
- Not when they stay below the counter and the room has light walls and uppers. Dark colour shrinks a room when it climbs the walls or when too little light reaches it. In a small or north-facing kitchen, keep the navy on the island or lowers and use 3000–3500K lighting.
- What colour toe kick goes under navy cabinets?
- Navy, in the same paint: GI TK8 is $55.90 per 8-foot length. A black kick disappears under a navy box, which is fine, but a white kick draws a pale stripe along the floor.
- How much do navy three-drawer base cabinets cost?
- From $617.50 for the 12″ GI DB12 to $1,030.25 for the 36″ GI DB36, with seven widths in between. Galaxy prices are the same across the painted finishes, so a navy run costs the same as a white one. The product grid above has current prices.
- Are wider drawer bases better in a dark painted kitchen?
- Usually. Every joint between two cabinets shows as a dark seam on a flat navy, so fewer, wider boxes look calmer, and they cost less: one 30″ bank is $409.50 less than two 15″ banks.
Keep reading
The guides behind the numbers on this page.
- How to Match Kitchen Cabinets With Countertops, Backsplash and Flooring
The 60-30-10 split, and where navy sits in it.
- 27 Kitchen Cabinet Ideas for Every Style and Budget
Two-tone layouts to compare against the three plans above.
- How Free 3D Kitchen Design Works
Seeing the same kitchen rendered with each amount of navy.
- Cabinet End Panels, Scribe Molding and Fillers Explained
The parts that decide where a colour block ends.
- Kitchen Layouts Explained, Single-Wall to G-Shaped
How many feet of base run each layout gives you to paint.
- Types of Base Cabinets: Sizes and Standard Dimensions
The sink, corner and specialty boxes that share the run with these banks.
- Fabuwood Cabinets Price List (2026)
Pricing a different split of navy and white box by box.
