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Learn · Designers and builders · Lesson 4 of 11

Add a bench run of joinery

You willBuild a run of base cabinets with drawers, doors and handles on a wall, then check it on the elevation and in 3D, shown open.
Time5 min
Why it mattersA cabinet maker and a client read joinery from the elevation and the 3D view: drawer sizes, handles and how it opens.

Try it in Plotlay → Opens an example project with this lesson beside it. Nothing to install.

A three-drawer cabinet and a two-door cabinet are added side by side in the Showroom laundry, then shown open in the 3D view.

Steps

  1. In the Building workspace, select the room, such as the Laundry and mudroom in the Showroom (click a clear part of its floor). In its panel choose Add fit-out….
  2. Under What, choose Base cabinet. Pick the Wall, type where it starts in Along from its start (2750) and its Width in millimetres (600).
  3. Type how many Drawers (3) and pick the Handles finish. More settings has the benchtop, kick, sink and door style. Choose Add.
    Add fit-out for the Laundry and mudroom: Base cabinet chosen, on wall 4, 2750 mm along, 600 mm wide, with 3 drawers and matte black handles.
  4. Add the next cabinet the same way, starting where the last one ends (2750 + 600 = 3350), 700 wide, this time with Doors (2). Carry on to the end of the run.
  5. Choose Elevations, then Rooms (inside) and the room: the run is drawn on its wall with every drawer front, door and handle.
    The laundry’s plan and four inside elevations: on elevation B the new run beside the door: a three-drawer cabinet and a two-door cabinet.
  6. Select a cabinet to set its Drawer pulls and Door pulls, and tick Shown open (drawers out, doors swung) to draw it open.
  7. Choose 3D to see it built. A click on a drawer or door opens it while you look; Shown open keeps it open in 3D pictures, room packs and elevations.
    The laundry run in 3D, shown open: the three drawers pulled out and the two cupboard doors swung open beside them.

Tips

  • Real runs are made of cabinets 300 to 900 mm wide. One very wide cabinet gets one very wide drawer, so build the run from several.
  • Add Overhead cabinet and Tall cabinet the same way, above and beside the run, to finish the wall.
  • Finish schedule in the room’s panel lists the joinery finish, benchtop and handles for the cabinet maker.
  • A room pack of the room gives the cabinet maker every wall with the run drawn to scale.

Common mistakes

  • Measuring along from the wrong corner: Along from its start counts from the wall’s first corner, as the room was drawn. The Wall list says which way each wall faces.
  • Expecting a drawer clicked open in 3D to stay open in a picture: a click lasts only while you look. Tick Shown open on the cabinet for pictures.
  • Drawers that hit a door swing or the next cabinet: tick Shown open and look in 3D before you issue the drawings.
  • Leaving Shown open ticked for construction drawings: the elevations draw the doors swung open too. Untick it before you issue them.
Check yourself

You want a render of the laundry with its drawers pulled out. What do you do?

Words in this lesson

Workspace
Site, Building, Capture or Documents in the top bar. A workspace changes which tools come first; it never hides anything in the project.
Fit-out
The fixed things that go into a room: vanities, toilets, kitchen runs, appliances, lights and joinery. Fit-out is placed against a wall and built in 3D.
Joinery (bench run)
Built-in cabinetry along a wall, such as a kitchen or laundry bench with base cupboards, drawers and handles. Plotlay draws it on plans, elevations and in 3D.
Room pack
A PDF about chosen rooms: each plan at scale, every wall, views inside and the finish and fit-out schedules. Can show before and after side by side.

Related lessons

Choose finishes and add fit-out to a roomSet a room’s floor tile and paint, and place a fitting such as a towel rail against a wall to the millimetre.5 minMake elevations and sectionsGet scaled outside elevations, sections and inside wall views from the plan, and download them as a PDF.4 minMake a room packMake a PDF about chosen rooms: plans at scale, every wall, views inside and the finish and fit-out schedules.4 min

Steps checked in the app on 14 October 2026.