🖼️
The project:
My partner and I bought our little townhouse over a year ago and have been slowly figuring out what to do with all of awkwardly sized nooks (there are a lot). Wanting more storage without losing the character of our space, we decided to build a deep, floor-to-ceiling cabinet to house all our bits and bobs in the study. It was the biggest project we'd taken on together so far, and we've learned so much from the amazing DIY community and it's given us the confidence to tackle more complex builds - we're looking at the kitchen next.
- Materials:
- Tools:
- Step 1:
Research, planning and preparation
We first measured up the awkwardly sized nook in our study drew up a plan for the cabinet. We took inspiration from several built-in wardrobes from our favourite furniture stores and makers. After 3D modelling in Onshape, we decided on the final deseign and created a cut-sheet to help map all the parts and determine how much plywood we needed, breaking down 2400mm x 1200mm sheets.
We watched lots of YouTube tutorials and read many Bunnings Workshop Community posts to help us prepare for everything ahead of us. One great tip was to invest in a plunging track saw! See tips below.
- Step 2:
Cutting the parts
Once we had planned how many sheets of birch plywood we needed, we used our newly-acquired plunge saw to break-down the sheets, cutting larger parts directly and using our mitre saw for the smaller ones (drawer sides etc). Another tip we found was to use XPS foam insulation boards underneath the plywood as a sacrificial layer for cutting, and use masking tape to organise the parts as we went.
For the back of the cabinet, we decided to use much thinner 3mm pine plywood, installed into a thin groove cut on the side panels. This was easy to do by setting the height of the plunge saw to make a shallow cut and then we could simply slide the plywood backing into the groove for a seamless look.
- Step 3:
Preparing for assembly
We built a box frame to sit underneath the cabinet as a toe-kick, and assembled the cabinet using pocket hole screws. This was super easy with a jig and clamps.
We sanded all our parts (a lot) and finished with two coats of water-based satin polyurethane, sanding again between the coats. This made a huge difference in the final finish and look.
- Step 4:
Assembling the cabinet
Our combination square and spirit level never left our side in this phase! We assembled our cabinet frame using pocket hole screws.
- Step 5:
Fitting the shelves
We marked out the location of our shelves and drilled where our shelf pins would go using a shelf hole jig we 3D printed to save us some measuring. It was finally looking like our drawings!
- Step 6:
Attaching the doors
After marking out the location for our door hinges, we used the 35mm hole cutter to fit the hinge onto our doors first. We then marked out the respective locations on the side panels and screwed them in.
We then adjusted the door heights and angles using a manual screwdriver.
- Step 7:
Filling our cabinet and lessons learned
This project took us about 4 weekends to complete, but we could probably do it much faster next time. We have some experience with DIY and home-improvement projects making coffee tables and re-flooring, but this was our first attempt at a large-scale cabinet-making project. We learned a lot along the way:
- The plunge saw was an incredibly valuable investment for this project and we can't recommend it enough if you plan on making cabinetry. It made cutting a breeze, with almost zero tear-out, which dramatically speeds up the finishing process. Make sure you have some knee pads on hand if you're working on the floor!
- A trim-router makes doors and shelves look stunning, rounding over edges super fast.
The cabinets are super deep, but this has completely solved all of our storage problems. Dog for scale.
Tools used
