If you’ve dreamed of building a kitchen full of cabinets, stop dreaming and start building. Here’s what you need to know to get custom results for half what stock cabinets cost.
For many home woodworkers,outfitting a kitchen with handcrafted cabinets is the dream project. Who hasn’t looked at stock cabinets built with particleboard, hotmelt glue and staples and thought, “I could build something a whole lot better than this for half the money.”
And they’re right. By building your own cabinets, you can upgrade materials and construction methods. You’re also not locked into “stock” sizes. The style, look, finish, and features are completely up to you. If you think about it, cabinets are just a bunch of boxes. The only real challenge is the size of such a project. And that’s manageable as long as you know where to get started and how to proceed.
On this site, we’ll walk you through how we built these cabinets and how they compare with stock cabinets purchased from a home center. And hopefully inspire you to consider building your own.
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Obviously, you can’t just start building kitchen cabinets without extensive planning. While we don’t have room to address those issues here, we can steer you in the right direction. Some of the best information on kitchen layout and design that I found was published by kitchen cabinet manufacturers. The free brochures at home centers contain checklists of what to consider: appliance sizes, utility locations, and the types of activities and features that are important to you. They provide grids for laying out the kitchen and are excellent sources for ideas on cabinet styles and layouts. Read More on Building Kitchen Cabinets |
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Unless you’re independently wealthy, there’s a limit on how much you can spend for store-bought (stock) cabinets. The typical approach is to pick out what you like, then whittle away at the extras to stay within budget.
But suppose you could spend that same amount on materials. By discounting the labor (after all, this is time spent in the shop), you can keep some of those extras and upgrade the materials and improve the quality. I found this out first-hand with this kitchen project. |
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Some people with creativity choose to build kitchen cabinets themselves. It is a good way to save thousands of dollars for your cabinets. It also helps you design the cabinet the way you want it to look without relying on professionals who may or may not design it according to your taste. Maybe it is time consuming, but the output of the project will surely keep you satisfied.
There are several factors that you would have to keep in mind when thinking on how to build kitchen cabinets. For instance, find sets that can be assembled using screw drivers rather than the ones that would require you to drill, saw or hammer. Make sure you choose the right kit that has comprehensive instructions on the method of installation. Very important thing you would have to consider is the durability of the hinges. The hinges should be able to withstand the rough usage of the cabinet. Ensure that the instructions describe everything right from the descriptions of every item to the definitions of every tool that would be used in the construction. Decide on the finish that you would like the kitchen cabinet to have. You can also hire a professional painter to paint the cabinets. Thoroughly supervise the painter so that you have the output you desire, since the painter would blindly follow your instructions. |
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Building Kitchen Cabinets
