Your cabinets can be as tall or as wide as you wish.
Dining room cabinets are excellent places to store crockery, tablecloths and other items that are not often used, such as the best silverware that comes out only for special occasions. Cabinets can be expensive to have custom made to fit your rooms but you can save a lot of money by designing and building your own cabinets. With DIY dining room built-in cabinets you can personalize your room without breaking the bank.
Instructions
Building the Cabinet Frame
1. Decide on the position of the cabinets on the wall, either resting on the floor or hanging on the wall. Measure the area in which the cabinets are to be built, using a tape measure. Note the width of the area and the height to which you wish the cabinets to come up, on a piece of paper. Measure the distance into the room that the cabinets can take up and note this as the depth of the cabinets.
2. Decide how many cabinets you want, such as three long cabinets with double doors, or five smaller cabinets with a single door each. Divide the width measurement by this amount to find the width of your individual cabinets. This article will show you build three long cabinets with double doors. The method can be easily modified to accommodate the size and number of cabinets you require.
3. Cut two pieces of 3/4-inch-thick hardwood to a rectangle equal to the required depth and height, using the circular saw. Cut six pieces of 3/4-inch-thick hardwood to rectangles of width equal to the noted depth and of length equal to noted height minus 3 1/2 inches.
4. Cut a 3/4-inch-thick piece out of the six shorter pieces you just cut. Cut the line so the pieces are still as wide as the depth measurement you noted. Measure 3/4 of an inch down one of the two longer pieces you cut and glue one of the short pieces to this longer piece. Leave a 3/4-inch gap, then glue on a second short piece, to form the side panel. Repeat for the other longer piece.
5. Cut two 3/4-inch-thick pieces of hardwood to width equal to the depth you noted and length equal to the required width minus 1 1/2 inches. Cut one piece of 3/4-inch-thick hardwood to a width of 2 inches and to a length equal to the noted width minus 1 1/2 inches.
6. Glue the ends of the two longest depth measurement-wide pieces. Stick the first glued piece to the thin part at the top of one side panel, to form the top of your cabinet. Stick the second glued piece to the thin part at the bottom of the side panel, to form the bottom shelf and cabinet base.
7. Glue the pieces you cut in half earlier together in pairs, using the wood glue, so they form two pieces of wood 1 1/2 inches thick. Cut three pieces of 3/4-inch thick hardwood to a length equal to the width of your cabinets and to a width equal to the depth of your cabinets. Slide one of these shelf pieces into the cabinet in the 3/4-inch gap in the side panel.
8. Glue the ends of two of the 1 1/2-inch-thick glued pieces. Slide the first piece into the cabinet below the shelf so the last 3/4 of an inch of the shelf is supported. Slide the other piece in above the shelf in the same place. Slide the next shelf into position in the 3/4-inch gap left in the support pieces. Glue and fix the other two support pieces in the same way.
9. Slide the final shelf into position in the 3/4-inch gap left in the support piece and the side piece. Glue one long edge and both 2-inch-wide edges of the final wooden piece. Slide it between the side panels, below the bottom shelf, as a fronting beam. Cut a piece of plywood as long as the width you noted and as tall as the height you noted. Nail it to the back of the cabinet.
Mounting and Doors
10. Screw the side panels into the top and bottom pieces of the cabinet using two long screws per horizontal piece. This will reinforce the cabinet frame. Use countersunk screws to maintain smooth sides. Lie the cabinet on its back on the floor.
11. Place one mounting bracket into the top-left corner above the top-left shelf of the cabinet. Mark where the screw hole is on the plywood back panel using a pencil. Remove the bracket. Drill a hole through the back panel where the screw will go. Repeat for the top-right corner of the rightmost cabinet, the bottom-left of the leftmost cabinet, and the bottom-right of the rightmost cabinet.
12. Skip this step if standing the cabinet on the floor. Fasten the mounting brackets into the cabinet so the holes in the backing board line up with the screw holes in the brackets. Use long screws to fasten the brackets to the side panels, for extra support. Place the cabinet in position on the wall. Mark where the screw holes need to be drilled in the wall, using a pencil.
13. Skip this step if standing the cabinet on the floor. Remove the cabinet from the wall. Drill holes in the wall where the pencil marks are, using a hammer drill and masonry drill bit. Plug the holes with Rawlplugs. Lift the cabinet back onto the wall so the holes in the mounting brackets line up with the holes in the wall. Fix the cabinet to the wall using long screws through the mounting brackets.
14. Cut six pieces of 3/4-inch-thick hardwood into rectangles the height of the cabinets minus 3 1/2 inches and half the width of the shelves. Place two closed hinges on each piece, lined up with one of the long edges and 3 inches in from the top and bottom edges. Mark the position of the hinges with a pencil.
15. Cut a notch in the wood pieces where you marked the hinge positions, using a chisel, so the hinges will lie flush with the surface of the wood. Screw the hinges onto the wooden pieces to form the cabinet doors. Hold the first door up to the cabinet so it lines up with the inner piece of the side panel on the leftmost side. Mark the position of the hinges on the cabinet.
16. Cut notches in the cabinet using the chisel. Screw the door in place so the hinges fit into the notches. Repeat the marking, notching and screwing in place for the other doors. Screw handles on each cabinet door. The handles should be screwed on the opposite edge of the door to the hinges, for ease of opening.
Tags: side panel, 4-inch-thick hardwood, length equal, minus inches, equal noted, into cabinet