Cabinet Furniture

In most cases, the focal point of a kitchen is its cabinets. Not only do they take up most of the wall space in the kitchen, but they can also set the style and mood of the space through choice of color, style and material. Changing your cabinet doors is one of the easiest ways to completely change the look of your kitchen. Unfortunately, for some this can be an expensive venture.

However building cabinet doors is a fantastic way to change the look of your kitchen in an affordable way. While accuracy and precision are necessary, basic cabinet-making is a skill that can be easily learned and performed in the comfort of your own home workshop.

First, decide what you want the finished product to look like. Aside from the general layout, the material used can drastically affect the look of the doors, so it is important to know what type of wood you will be using. Wood comes in an incredibly wide variety, with colors, grain value and quality changing from type to type. While no wood is necessarily unsuitable for the job, be sure to find lumber that is not only durable but has a relatively straight grain.  If you are trying to save money, MDF cabinet doors are the most inexpensive you can get, but also of the lowest quality.  Each door will consist of a basic frame using 3/4″ wood of your desired width. A router will be used to create a cope on the inside of each, so that 1/4″ plywood will be able to fill in the gap between the frame pieces.

Once you have chosen your wood, there is some preparation that must be done prior to construction. With a wood planer, finish the surface of your wood. If you do not own such equipment, many lumber yards and woodworking businesses will be able to do it for you. Once the wood is finished, measure the current dimensions of your existing cabinet doors. From there, build a frame that can fit within the given dimensions. Once assembled, use a router (preferably with a router table) with a coping bit to create a cope on the underside of the frame, towards the inside gap. It should be about 1/4″ deep for the plywood, and the width should be about half that of the frame width. From there, you can easily cut the plywood to size, and then insert it using wood glue and shallow nails.

After this, stain the wood to your desired color and use a polyurethane gloss to give it a good shine. Once dried, you can install handles and hinges.

Building cabinet doors is a great way to save money on kitchen remodeling. While styles may vary, the process can be relatively simple and affordable.