How to Use Woodworking Ideas in Kitchen Cabinet Making

Slab doors without trim.

You can upgrade the look of your kitchen cabinets without pulling out the entire set of cabinets, especially if they are still in good working condition. Making your own doors is not as hard as it seems. Be prepared to spend some time, however, if you have a lot of doors to replace. You will want to make sure that all the doors have a consistent appearance. Redo your drawer facings as well so they match or complement the cabinet doors. Here is a very simple way to make a slab door.

Things You'll Need

• Slab piece of plywood
• Outside molding or trim
• Wood glue
• Decorative trim
• Hinges and screws
• 4-8 clamps
• Phillip screwdriver
• Door handles or pulls
• Hand saw with miter box

Instructions

How to Create a Simple Kitchen Cabinet Slab Door

1. 

   Slab door with edge trim and a center stile added on.

   Measure a current door, width by height (w x h). Then measure the opening of the cabinet inside the frame. Cut your first slab to match the size of the current door. The cut piece should cover the door opening in the frame the same as constructed in the original cabinet. Sand the wood to prepare for a stain finish or paint job. Put the slab to the side.

2. 

   Wood clamp. Money not included.

   Cut your edge trim, creating a miter-cut edge at each corner. Use a hand saw with a miter box to make your cuts. Each piece should match up to the right angle piece of the next trim on all four sides. Add strips of wood glue inside the trim and place the trim back onto the slab. Add a clamp on each trim to lock in place and dry. Don't over-tighten the clamp on the molding or you will damage the wood.

3. Hold the door up to the original door on the cabinet. If making a double-door cabinet, make sure the edges are the same and there is no overlapping in the center. If the size is correct, lay the door back down and get ready to add the decoration.

4. Design a square shape with your decorative trim. Miter cut each piece and place on the center of the slab. Get measurements from the slab's edges to make sure you can reproduce the same placement on all the other slabs. Glue the backs of the trim and then gently place onto the slab while matching up the miter ends. Press down gently to lock the design in place with the glue. Give it a day to dry thoroughly.

5. 

   Sample staining.

   Hold up the door once again to review the door appearance. If it looks great, then finish out all the other doors using the exact same measurements. Decide what to do with the exteriors of the existing cabinets. Do you want to strip off the old finish or do you want to reproduce the same color finish onto the new doors. It is often hard to do it this way but is certainly worth a try.

6. Take one of the original doors to a home improvement store and ask if the associate can help with matching the original stain with a new one. Tell them what kind of wood the new door will be constructed of (e.g., plywood, oak, maple), as stain affects each wood type a bit differently. After matching the stain color, see if you can buy a small sample bottle of the stain to take home and try out on the new door. If the stain matches, you are in business. Otherwise, consider stripping all the cabinets and refinish in a similar or new stain and finish. Alternatively, you can paint the cabinets a fun color.

Tips & Warnings

• Use gloves when sawing wood.

• Always use shatterproof eyeglasses when sawing, hammering or drilling.

• Use rubber dish-washing plastic gloves when staining or painting wood.

References

• This Old House: Painting Kitchen Cabinets
• Raised Panel Router Bits: Build Your Own Cabinet Doors

Resources

• Big Book of Home How-To; Better Homes & Garden; 2003