Built-in Cabinets

[legenddc]

The next project that's going to happen in our house is some built-in cabinets in our office. It's a room we've struggled with since we've moved in. We've always had a desk in it but the rest seems like wasted space or ends up with stuff everywhere. We've had a desk on 3 different walls and even in the middle of the room for a brief period. We walk through it to get from our kitchen to the front door.

Here you can see the wall with the desk, just behind it is the front door.

After visiting a friend a couple of years ago we were struck with some inspiration that we needed to find a way to make this room multi-purpose but weren't quite sure what to do with it until recently. The original idea was to make the whole wall a built-in cabinet with a bench in the middle. Rough plans were drawn, discussions over Ikea "hacks" vs building from scratch happened, etc.

And then I had a different idea. Let's make another kitchen table area where the kids can do homework, play games, draw, read, or whatever that will allow us to not have to clear off the real kitchen table to eat.

Here is the wall now that's opposite the desk.

We found a L-shaped banquette and picked up a used Ikea tulip pedestal table because we weren't sure what size table to get. The top will eventually be replaced with a walnut top finished in Rubio if the bench holds up. The design isn't finalized yet but it will fill the gap between the wall and bench (roughly 64") and should be drawers roughly to countertop height, a small setback and then cabinets with doors on top. We're thinking now that the top will have doors as well. That cabinet might have to be a bit shallower to allow us to hide the air return vent behind it. It will be painted along with the wall next to it in the same color.

I'm always open to suggestions, tips, pitfalls, or any other sort of feedback anyone may have.

[Mark J]

16 hours ago, legenddc said:

That cabinet might have to be a bit shallower to allow us to hide the air return vent behind it.

Are you blocking off the air return?

[legenddc]

On 4/15/2025 at 8:25 AM, Mark J said:

Are you blocking off the air return?

No, my current plan is to have the air return run the width of the cabinet and have a vent or slots on the right end panel. I'll have to make that top cabinet a little shallower but that's hard to access anyway.

Originally we were thinking of having top doors have some sort of perforated panel but we're not crazy about that.

[legenddc]

Office Built-in Cabinets Part I

Not a whole lot of progress to report but I have made some headway. Here's my drawing of what we've decided to make. Some of those dimensions have changed slightly, but close enough.

I picked up all the materials last Friday. 
 

I generally try not to joint and plane boards after the kids go to bed (around 8:30) and stop all noise making activity at 10:00. I did spend a couple of lunch breaks in the shop to mill up some boards for the lower cabinet face frame. My daughter joined me in the shop one evening to drill some pocket holes and helped me attach some of the pieces together. Since my table saw is the most flat surface in my shop I've been using it to clamp everything down before driving the pocket screws and making sure everything stays square.

Had to bring it upstairs to see how it looked in the room. Too much clutter in there now to get a picture, but it fits with a little room to spare. I haven't attached the face frame on the right side yet but the parts are made.

The hardware arrived on Wednesday this week. I was able to find handles that match our kitchen ones so it should tie in well. With the hardware on hand I've now been able to confirm the height lost for the Blum undermount slides. I believe I can make the lowest drawer an inch shorter and give some more space to the middle one. Will likely need to make a mock drawer to confirm how deep the cabinet needs to be with the inset drawers.

Using a scrap door stile test piece from a previous project and a small cutoff from the face frame, I tested the fit of the hinges. It appears I ordered the correct hinges and plates and have the correct face frame offset.

Hopefully I can get some milling done tomorrow but errands and Mother's Day will likely take up the majority of my weekend.

Edited May 9, 2025 by legenddc
Added pics

[legenddc]

Office Built-in Cabinets Part II

I've been pretty horrible at taking pictures over the last few weeks of working on these cabinets. I finished the upper face frame shortly after my last post. I tried my best to take my time and make sure everything was clamped square before I installed the pocket hole screws.

Somehow I neglected to take a picture when I finished the upper frame but you can sort of make it out here in the hallway to our laundry room.

Also if you look closely you can see a decent bit of the maple boards have been cut to rough size and milled up some. I'm definitely not working on this in the most efficient way possible but instead trying to balance when things are worked on based on noise or my attention span. There are a lot of parts in this project and I don't want to lose track of what I've done. So far I've rough milled 32 of the 56 parts needed for the doors and drawers, starting with the longest and working my way down.

At this point I got tired of surfacing lumber and decided to work on the cases. Having the other half of my basement unusable, storing plywood also helped guide that choice. My dad was kind enough to print this square for his track saw. It works okay to get you close but not perfect.
 

In case you're curious how one breaks down 4'x8' sheets of plywood in a 12'x14' shop, the answer is carefully and without much wiggle room.

The base cabinets and toe kick are assembled and went together fairly smoothly. There seems to be no shortage of ways to assemble cabinets as shown in the 8 million YouTube videos. I've been using narrow crown staples to assemble it all and then coming back to pre-drill the holes and then drive some screws. Been using my stash of 1 3/4" screws that don't fit in my storage cases hoping to get rid of the box. For the lower cabinets I'm using all 3/4" unfinished plywood as you'll never see it and I'm not sure how I'm attaching the drawer slides yet.

This week I've spent my time breaking down the pre-finished plywood for the middle and upper cabinets. I've cut everything to size, first rough size with the track saw and then final with the table saw. Also made the grooves for the 1/4" pre-finished back, drilled the pocket holes to attach the face frame to the cabinet and finally, tonight I spent about an hour drilling shelf pin holes.

Thankfully this week it's been uncharacteristically cool so I've been able to keep the window in the shop open with a box fan to help clear dust out while I'm working. 

At some point I also need to sand the face frames and get them ready for paint. The upper will need to be sanded outside as it's too big to easily move around my shop.

[wtnhighlander]

Can't wait to see some photos. My shop space is similar, and I struggle with larger projects lije that.

[legenddc]

On 6/3/2025 at 11:48 AM, wtnhighlander said:

Can't wait to see some photos. My shop space is similar, and I struggle with larger projects lije that.

I'm pretty tired of working on large projects in my small shop. Anything coffee table size and below seems to be more enjoyable. Using pre-finished plywood where I can helps a lot when I have larger projects.

For this project I actually pushed the bandsaw into a cabinet and set up the miter saw. I need to think through the remainder of the project and I might be able to put the miter saw away and gain a little more space back.

[Coop]

Looking darn good! 

[Mark J]

21 hours ago, legenddc said:

 

And what's that "woodworking tool" behind the drill?  Busted! 

[RichardA]

On 6/4/2025 at 8:36 AM, Mark J said:

And what's that "woodworking tool" behind the drill?  Busted! 

In my younger days that was called "necessary relax" before you screw up!

[legenddc]

There are very few woodworking activities that allow you to drink a beer. Typically my respirator is on the entire time I'm in the shop and I prefer to have nothing clouding my judgement when there are spinning blades that can cause injuries.

[curlyoak]

Required for finish work...

[fcschoenthal]

On 6/8/2025 at 4:32 PM, curlyoak said:

Required for finish work...

I at least have a covered glass when sanding or finishing. Nothing like getting an extra head layer to remind you.

[legenddc]

Office Built-in Cabinets Part III

Was able to get some work done on Sunday and Monday on these cabinets. Started with a stack of parts:

And started assembling.

Smarter people than I will realize the top stretcher shouldn't be all the way at the top but instead 3/4" down. Since it was stapled in I ended up using a jigsaw to cut that stretcher down some.

Not pretty but it worked

By the time Monday evening rolled around I was left with this temporarily set up in my basement just outside of the shop.

It's very clear that I will never become a professional cabinet maker. The amount of times I put the stretchers in the wrong place or the top/side parts the opposite way had me questioning my mental acuity. I should have cleaned up my shop more and moved the table saw out so I could have set a cabinet up in advance of assembling it. At least I managed to get the side parts correct so the shelf-pin holes are all aligned.

With school ending and a vacation or work trip scheduled every-other week from now until mid-July, work on this cabinet will slow down after next week. I'm not sure if I should work on the drawer boxes or doors/drawer fronts first. Something to think about while I sand the face frame. I don't think I need to sand too high as it's getting painted.

I've been super pleased with my Milwaukee M12 installation drill. All on the same 2.0 ah battery I drilled 200 shelf pin holes and over 200 1 3/4" or 1 1/4" pocket screws in pre-drilled holes and it still has one bar left.

[fcschoenthal]

On 6/10/2025 at 7:52 AM, legenddc said:

I've been super pleased with my Milwaukee M12 installation drill.

After getting a drill/driver combo and a couple of batteries free, I got the installation drill. I really like it too and am surprised at how many times I reach for it because of all of the different heads. It's really a handy tool.

On another note, it's been discussed in other threads, but how are you attaching the face frames to the carcasses?

[legenddc]

On 6/10/2025 at 10:55 AM, fcschoenthal said:

After getting a drill/driver combo and a couple of batteries free, I got the installation drill. I really like it too and am surprised at how many times I reach for it because of all of the different heads. It's really a handy tool.

On another note, it's been discussed in other threads, but how are you attaching the face frames to the carcasses?

The other thing I really like about it is the magnetic spot on the front you can keep different bits in. Makes it easy to carry what you need right on the drill.

My plan to connect the face frame at the moment is pocket holes so I can one day take it apart, if needed. The issue I haven't solved yet is where the two cabinets meet in the middle. with the drawers I can easily hide some pocket holes. The upper cabinets that's not possible. I have the pocket holes drilled on the outside of all the cabinets so I can at least attached one cabinet in the middle before screwing the cabinets together. I might make some slots for dominos to help keep things aligned.

My worst case scenario would be to put a couple of brad nails through the frame into a cabinet. I will adjust as necessary when I finally get to install it.

[Von]

Apologies for the off-topic question, but your picture spurs me to ask: are you happy with your cordless DeWalt jigsaw?

[fcschoenthal]

On 6/12/2025 at 7:36 AM, Von said:

Apologies for the off-topic question, but your picture spurs me to ask: are you happy with your cordless DeWalt jigsaw?

Don't mean to answer out of turn, but I have the same jigsaw and love it. The DeWalt saws are one of the best. The thing to watch out for is that they come in two "flavors", the D handle and barrel handle. The handle shape is one of personal preference and suggest going to a store and getting hands on with both. One will feel right and one won't. The rest of the saw is the same between the two.

[legenddc]

On 6/12/2025 at 8:36 AM, Von said:

Apologies for the off-topic question, but your picture spurs me to ask: are you happy with your cordless DeWalt jigsaw?

No apologies necessary. Any and all off-topic questions are welcome.

I'm very happy with the cordless Dewalt jigsaw. I bought it when I sold my old truck to be able to breakdown boards if they're too long for my wife's SUV. When I first got it I couldn't believe how much better it was than my Craftsman corded jigsaw. I gave the old one away the same week I got the Dewalt.

As @fcschoenthal mentioned, there are two different handles. I'd like to try the barrel grip one but that one doesn't seem to go on sale near as often as the D handle one. You can usually find the D handle one around $100 or included "free" with batteries.

[BillyJack]

You do not have to be fast when you are making things for yourself, you only need to be fast to make money in a cabinet shop.

I had to make a similar cabinet for my grand daughter , but painted it instead.

 

[legenddc]

On 6/13/2025 at 12:00 PM, BillyJack said:

You do not have to be fast when you are making things for yourself, you only need to be fast to make money in a cabinet shop.

I had to make a similar cabinet for my grand daughter , but painted it instead.

 

The outside will get painted. 

Excellent point about being fast. I've been so busy with work and family activities I haven't been in the shop since June 2nd. Likely won't make it down there this month at all. If I do get any time I will try to sand the face frame so that can start getting coats of primer and paint when I have time.

What grit did you typically sand to for painted cabinets?

[BillyJack]

I haven’t been in the shop in over a year..

[legenddc]

Office Built-in Cabinets Part IV

Back in the shop and working on the cabinets again. I was looking back at pictures and notes, I started milling up boards back in May for this, hoping I would be able to get them finished before the summer hiatus. The longer parts were the first priority. Once I had them laid out I would start working down to the smaller pieces.

Here is where I ended up. Hopefully I've managed to get everything correct. I also should have some extra pieces in case something gets screwed up along the way. Some parts ended up not wide enough but they've been excellent setup parts.

Last week I finished getting the drawer front frames cut to the right dimension and run through the router.

I did pre-paint the MDF panel material before any cuts were made. Despite testing to make sure the panels would fit, they ended up being too tight. I sanded away the paint/primer on the backs of the drawer fronts until I was able to get everything to go together easily.

From there it was time to glue up the drawer fronts. All but one piece went together really easily. The one that was a pain worked out okay after a bit of finessing.

Yesterday I spent some time sanding all 6 drawer fronts to 80 grit on all sides. Hoping to get through 120 and 150 soon and pass these over to my wife to prime them. I do still need to figure out what primer and go get it.

I wish I had more space in my shop that I could have run these boards through everything to end up with the final thickness and width without having to break them down but I don't. I did buy the maple as a bundle, sight unseen for this as it was cheaper, so I would have been cutting around knots anyway.

[Ron Swanson Jr.]

Nice work all around, but especially nice job milling everything so nice and uniform! 

Milling is not a lot of fun, at least to me, but I'm convinced that's where most projects are either made or broken. 

[legenddc]

Office Built-in Cabinets Part V

It appears when my phone ran out of space I deleted a lot of the cabinet pictures so some imagination is required. I finished sanding all of the lower doors. I filled in any larger holes or gaps with Durham's Rock Hard, sanded it smooth, and then sent it off to the paint shop.

Of course the paint shop is just our dining room. My wife volunteered to paint as her job was slowing up. She did a coat of primer and then I brought them back to my shop to sand and fill in any small holes with 3M glazing putty. Then back up to be primed and painted. Since my wife had time to paint, I hoped right onto the upper cabinet doors and she painted them as well.

Now my basement is filled up with cabinets, face frames, and 14 painted drawer/door fronts. I have been working on milling the lumber for the drawer boxes. It takes a lot of time to go from 4/4 rough wood down to 5/8" boards. Add in more time to glue up boards for the wider drawers. Last Thursday I went down to try and get the bottom drawers to final thickness but my planer was acting up. It's been randomly slowing down on wider boards, resulting in them having to be pushed/pulled through. Not a very safe or fun activity.

I could try cleaning the rollers again but that didn't last very long the last time I did it. The fix is new roller but they cost over $100. Option 3 is what I chose.

Mostly I went this route as it would be here this past Sunday in time for me to have a week off of work.

And then the shipment was delayed until Tuesday. I borrowed my dad's planer to keep moving Sunday/Monday. Monday morning I realized his planer blades aren't aligned properly and were planning the boards on an angle. Fortunately, I realized this before anything was too thin.

It was then I walked out of the shop and noticed the floor was wet. Long story short, the water heater pressure relief valve went off. Apparently they can go bad as they get older. After 27 years ours has had enough. In case you're bad at math, it was manufactured around the time the Chicago Bulls won their final championship.

Back to our scheduled programing, with the new planer in hand, I was able to get some drawers made. I used the Rockler dovetail jig for these because my dad has one and it's free to borrow.

I'm happy the dovetails are done on all of the drawers. The jig works well, but it's a lot of trial and error to set up. I bought some poplar and milled it up so I wasn't messing up the actual pieces. Initial tweaking of the setup was almost 2 hours. Once that was done changing the jig to the different box sizes was very quick.

After the first box was made I cut the plywood bottom, made grooves in the box and installed it. Had to make sure the measurements were correct before I finished the other 6.