The Procedures to Make Cabinets

Planning and Measuring

• Building your own cabinets gives you the opportunity to produce customized pieces that fit your home perfectly and fulfill your specific storage needs. This requires planning and measuring. If you want to fill a kitchen wall with cabinets, you'll need to measure the wall and draw up a diagram that shows the number of cabinets and the exact dimensions of each one. Besides measuring the overall length, width and height of each cabinet, you'll also have to decide on the number and sizes of shelves, as well as any decorative molding or trim, which impacts the overall size of the cabinets.

Materials Selection

• Once you know the dimensions of your cabinets, you must select the construction material. Each type of wood has its own natural grain and color characteristics. Oak is a common hardwood option, whereas pine is a more lightweight, softer choice. Some homeowners choose more expensive woods, such as mahogany and rosewood, for cabinets. Fiberboard with an artificial wood veneer is a low-cost option for a limited budget.

Cutting of Materials

• Cutting wood for cabinets requires familiarity with wood working tools, from table and jigsaws to miter boxes. If you don't have access to the right tools or are not confident in your wood working skills, you may be better off selecting prefabricated cabinets that you can assemble and install yourself. If you do have a table saw, you can save time by producing similar elements together, such as all of the door panels, followed by all the sides, backing panels and then trim components.

Installation

• While some cabinets are freestanding pieces of furniture, others hang from walls or are installed below counter tops for convenient storage that doesn't reduce the floor space in a room. Cabinet wall installation involves drilling and screwing cabinet backings at stud locations. You may need to use wood shims to ensure that the cabinets are flush and level, especially if you plan to install additional cabinets along the wall.