You want a cabinet or two? Sure, let’s get the 24″ x 24″ x 90″ cabinets at IKEA for $1000 each…………Says no DIYer ever! Here’s a step-by-step DIY for cabinets that we placed into our mud/laundry room. We needed cabinets to keep laundry baskets and extra shelving, so we took the plunge and decided to make our own cabinets. We did this to not only save money but because we wanted unique cabinets that fit in our space and honestly those 24″ x 24″ x 90″ cabinets from IKEA wouldn’t have fit anyway. Our actual dimensions were 21″ x 19″ x 90″….ish. So, as you can imagine we had no choice in the matter…let the DIY begin…or in our case, continue!
Here are the supplies you will need for this:
Construction adhesive or Wood Glue
Two – 3/4-in x 49-in x 97-in PREMIUM Cabinet MDF
One – 1/2-in x 49-in x 97-in PREMIUM MDF
One – 1/4-in x 49-in x 97-in particle board (sanded/smooth)
Four -1-in x 2-in x 8-ft SELECT PINE BOARD
Two – 2-in x 4-in x 8-ft Whitewood Stud (Common)
Brad Nailer with 2 inch nails
Wood putty
Crown moulding (optional)
Step 1: Cut your 3/4-in Premium Cabinet MDF to the dimensions you like. This will be the outer box structure of the cabinets. You can use a circular saw with a guide or a table saw for this. Since we purchased our MDF at Lowes, they were able to cut ours in half for us. This also made it more manageable and easier to put in our vehicle.
Step 2: Cut your 2x4s into the width and length dimensions of your cabinet. We wanted our cabinet to have a long opening on the bottom and a shorter opening on the top. You’ll need four around the top, four around the bottom, and four around the middle (or in our case the top of the bottom opening). To save on wood, we used our table saw to cut one of the 2x4s in half and utilized the halves for the inner structure. We didn’t use the MDF for the back because we were building these into the wall and do not plan on moving them at all. Therefore, for the back structure we used the full 2×4 width to hold them in place and secure them to the wall. The picture below shows the pieces for one cabinet.
Step 3: Start gluing and brad nailing the support structure together. Be sure to square off the boards and keep them level on all sides.
Step 4: Attach the side of the cabinet MDF to the 2×4 structure. Then measure you 1-in x 2-in x 8-ft select pine for the trimming. For the transition portion of the cabinets and the top and bottom you’ll utilize your leftover MDF. If you don’t have leftover MDF, then you can use white wood board and cut it down to the correct size. We had leftover MDF which was perfect and already matched the outside portion of our cabinets.
Step 5: Make sure you are certain the cabinet fits in the room your putting it in! This probably should have been our first step…ahhh. We built one cabinet to the exact (well almost exact..within 3 inches) of the ceiling. Then we brought it in and didn’t have an angle to make it fit. Needless to say, we had to compromise and cut it in half (at the bottom of the top opening) and bring it in two pieces. Then we cut a section of the 1/4-in particle board to hide the potion we cut and reinforced the inside with extra MDF. We definitely didn’t make that mistake on the second one and built it in place!!!
Step 6: Use the remaining MDF and cut it into 1.5-in strips. Then utilize a table saw and drop the blade down so that it cuts out a 3/4-in slot into the strips.
Step 7: Measure your door opening and cut the 1/4-in particle board into the door dimensions. Then take the MDF strips from Step 6 and insert them into the slots. Be sure to add glue for extra support. You can also brad nail them together, but this is optional and will require a little wood putty to cover up the small holes.
Step 8: Paint the cabinets and sit back and admire your handy work.
Step 9: Put in the cabinet doors with hinges of your choice and add handles.
Step 10: Use the 1/2-in cabinet MDF and cut out shelves for the cabinets. Utilize a drill and make pocket holes for the shelves. Once complete, add base board and crown moulding if needed!
You’re done! We thoroughly enjoyed this DIY and definitely recommend it to anyone looking to save a few and learn something new!