my own kitchen

[Ajcoholic]

I think I forgot to post something about this earlier...

I started working on a replacement kitchen for my own home last summer. I actually started making the cabinets and did some framing last July & August (a year ago) but work was so busy, and after hours shop time almost non-existant, I had to put it off and just do a bit here and there.

A few months ago I made a push to get this done. I had everything pretty much done except for the doors and finishing panels (we have an Island - which I turned into a peninsula that needed the backs of the cabinets finished).

With summer work being too busy to lose too much more time, I opted to make all my doors, drawer fronts and panels from 3/4" MDF, and just run a 90 degree V bit around to simulate a RP door.

SImple, but the sample I did for my wife passed the test.

Here are the finished cabinets - I opted for inset doors in a face framed cabinet for a classic style that wont get "old" so to speak. Our home is far from modern, and the Benjamin Moore "cloud white" I got the post cat lacquer mixed to should offer a very good service life over the years. I used a high solids white primer on the MDF which seals the edges and routered portions quickly.

I told my wife back in 2007 (when we just got married) I wanted to do the kitchen. We had a low end white melamine/white thermoformed door kitchen the previous owners put in. It was really low end - tape peeling, doors delaminating, etc. No pull outs. It only took me 7 years to get to it, but after living with the new kitchen for almost two months now its great.

Good thing Im not a shoe maker. Or my son would be running around bare foot...

I ended up spending 1/2 day to cut out all the panels, do the files in Aspire and V groove everything on the Buddy. Saved me about 3 days over going with a 5 pc door. And I used 2 full 5x10 sheets of mdf (my cost under $100) VS 3X that for a hard maple door, which is what I typically use for paint grade.

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j307/ajcoholic/IMG_2054_zps21afbc30.jpg (http://s83.photobucket.com/user/ajcoholic/media/IMG_2054_zps21afbc30.jpg.html)

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j307/ajcoholic/IMG_2044_zps755469d8.jpg (http://s83.photobucket.com/user/ajcoholic/media/IMG_2044_zps755469d8.jpg.html)

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j307/ajcoholic/IMG_2043_zps853a3c62.jpg (http://s83.photobucket.com/user/ajcoholic/media/IMG_2043_zps853a3c62.jpg.html)

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j307/ajcoholic/IMG_2052_zpse8fbc625.jpg (http://s83.photobucket.com/user/ajcoholic/media/IMG_2052_zpse8fbc625.jpg.html)

[scottp55]

Glad it's your house Andrew:) Take me about 10 minutes to put wheelchair scratches and bootmarks on the bottom foot of those and Tung oil fingerprints from 2 to 5 feet!
If woodworkers were their own customers, we would fire ourselves over delivery dates:)

[POPS 64]

Very nice work Andrew , they look great . I really like the idea of the one piece doors . We bought our retirement house a year ago this week and theres only a couple of indoor things to do. And kitchen cabinet doors is the biggest one on the list. the guy that built our place built the cabinets in place and luckily the wife love's the cabinets and the layout and they did a good job. I think with your pictures you just saved me a lot of money and work. Throw in a couple accent carvings really make her think she's getting the works. Great job. Jeff:D

[chiloquinruss]

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE - can you folks not use the words KITCHEN or HOUSE, or . . in your descriptors! My wife see's those and then looks at your great looking projects and I'm back in the dog house once again! :) Great job as always, looks very nice. Russ

[Ajcoholic]

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE - can you folks not use the words KITCHEN or HOUSE, or . . in your descriptors! My wife see's those and then looks at your great looking projects and I'm back in the dog house once again! :) Great job as always, looks very nice. Russ

Um, tell her they are parts for my train? ;)

I actually bought another insert carbide V bit with a shallower angle (I believe 120 degree) but havent yet had the chance to try and cut some sample doors. I think the shallow V will have a great look also. And, I want to eventually try some faux RP doors with a different angle on the outer and interior bevels (to more realistically simulate a true 5 pc raised panel door.

I think a nicely lacquered MDF door is a better door than most of the vinyl/thermo form doors on the market. They all look, well, plastic like to me. A lacquered door looks warmer and feels better. Plus, you can do these for much less (assuming your set up for spraying finishes).

[Simops]

Hi Andrew......your usual excellent standard....wouldn't expect anything less;)

You know what...I haven't seen face frames used in kitchen / bathroom cabinets since we went from imperial to metric measurement in this country. Maybe face frames is a Northern American thing?

So I met up with a cabinet maker friend today over a cold one at the pub and showed him the pics above on my iPad. He was gobsmacked.....he said he hadn't seen face frames used in kitchens since his apprentice days back in the seventies!

Maybe on high-end (expensive) kitchens but all I have ever seen is frameless with euro hardware.....face frames I think would be to expensive for the general market here! I suppose?

Cheers

[khalid]

Good sign...Someone, somewhere making something for his home..

[kevin]

I like the inlay doors the web site will help a lot
The inlay doors are my next step i know how tricky they can be be

[Ajcoholic]

Well, firstly I have to admit, when I do stuff for myself or for our home, it usually is a compromise. Quality in terms of utility and function is there but I tend to give up some creative and artistic (which means more time) aspects in order to save time. With my shop, I just can't afford doing work that doesnt bring in any income. At least not too much of it.

That being said, I dislike (my own personal tastes) Euro style cabinetry in a kitchen, especially in older homes like ours. I prefer a traditional face framed cabinet, and although overlay is more common - my wife really liked the inset style so thats the route I went.

With Blum inset face frame plates, you still get the function of a soft close top of the line hinge, and an easy to install and adjust door.

Here is the hinge.. no build outs required as the plate gets screwed to the rear of the face frame directly.

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j307/ajcoholic/IMG_2048_zpse787d285.jpg (http://s83.photobucket.com/user/ajcoholic/media/IMG_2048_zpse787d285.jpg.html)

Also, with the newer Blum Movento undermount slides, adjusting inset doors is very quick and easy. Plus the slides are awesome. Very smooth and the soft self-close works really well.

Michael, in North America, the face frame style cabinet was always the way thigns were done, until the European frameless style of cabinet started to take root in the 80's. At least that is when it became popular here. I remember my father starting to do frameless melamine cabinetry in my teenage years (mid 80's).

Knock down Euro style cabinetry lends itself to easy flat pack shipping. Face frames, well, not so much. And of course, edge taping a panel is much quicker than making, applying and finishing a wooden face frame.

But, the look of a framed cabinet (with either inlay, or partial overlay doors and fronts) is still something you wont get in a full overlay style cabinet.

The Euro style of cabinetry, the 32mm system etc was all established after WWII, so Europe's rebuilding could be done quickly. Everything flat, non-sided, standardized, etc. VS the very time consuming and more expensive route of framing everything.

It is a relatively new thing here in NA, really only taking hold in the past 30 years. But, since the majority of cabinetry (at least here) is shipped and resold from the producers either over seas (China) or at least in larger centers, Euro style is far more common today.

[Ajcoholic]

... the web site will help a lot
...

Keen eye, Kevin :)

The website just went live two days ago. It was something I would have never had done at full price, but the Provincial Government had a progrtam here where established businesses without any web presence could apply for up to 3/4 of the price of a website reimbursed. I was accepted and went for it.

Should be interesting to see how it goes...

[phil_o]

Looks great. How about some whole kitchen shots.

Phil

[Ajcoholic]

Looks great. How about some whole kitchen shots.

Phil

Its very hard to take a decent shot as the house is made up of small rooms. The pantry cabinet are directly inside the side entrance (the main one we use) and I incorporated a seating section as we had enough cabinets for our dry goods.

There are hooks to hang some coats and hats on the back panel. I finally have a place to sit down to put my shoes & boots on!

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j307/ajcoholic/IMG_2075_zpsfcd2d0bf.jpg (http://s83.photobucket.com/user/ajcoholic/media/IMG_2075_zpsfcd2d0bf.jpg.html)

The main kitchen is just inside the side entrance - which is open to our fairly large dining area on one side and the living room off to the right of the fridge.

The counters are Formica solid surfacing (used to be called Surell) which is a great upgrade from our previous HPL. I especially like having an undermount sink.

There was a hole in the wall where the previous owners had a television, off to the left of the oven. I put a cabinet there as we have no use for a tv in the kitchen.

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j307/ajcoholic/IMG_2074_zpsf3abff54.jpg (http://s83.photobucket.com/user/ajcoholic/media/IMG_2074_zpsf3abff54.jpg.html)

Seating can be off the end of the "island" or where the dog dishes and food are... but we have always had the dog stuff in that area and I dont want to mess up Gibson's routine now.

Its a simple kitchen, simple design and layout but it suits us fine. The only way to get a better layout was to renovate/move walls and we dont plan to live here for too many more years. So investing that kind of $$ wasnt a really good option IMO.

[Ajcoholic]

Also, the end of the Island closest to my son is our dishwasher. The the sink unit, and then the blind corner. I used a Magic Corner II - very slick pc of hardware. The door opens, then you pull our a set of wire basket/trays that in turn pulls out a second set from the blind area of the corner. They can also slide out on full extension slides.

Its one of the neatest (but more pricey) pcs of hardware for corner base units today. But it is very slick.

Takes a little tweaking to use with inset doors but you can make it happen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0VanYBkimI

[genek]

Andrew: supper nice Web. I think that will help boost your company's sales.
Beautiful work, I'm jealous, wish I could do that quality of work.

[gene]

Andrew,
I think that its only fair that the Gov. pays 3/4 of the setup cost of your website. After all they will tax you 3/4 of what you make.......

Very nice work.

[Simops]

Michael, in North America, the face frame style cabinet was always the way thigns were done, until the European frameless style of cabinet started to take root in the 80's. At least that is when it became popular here. I remember my father starting to do frameless melamine cabinetry in my teenage years (mid 80's).

Yep agree with what you say.....face frame is more elegant and what I would do for myself. As my cabinet maker buddy said, customers in the main (general public mind you not the wealthy) here won't pay any more than they have to and so the euro style with overlayed doors and drawers have become entrenched.....he churns out melamine frameless cabinets continuously.....it's were the money is.....for him anyway.

I remember pulling out a kitchen from an old sixties house I was renovating and the cabinets had face frames....interestingly the measurements were in imperial. Australia metricated mid sixties and I think with that the Euro style of cabinetry!!!

Cheers