Dining room cabinet project

This is a project that I completed a while back. We had this ‘wasted’ space in the dining room and LOML needed some additional storage space so we decided to fill the space with some cabinetry. These cabinets were built to match the existing cabinets in the kitchen, with the exception of having raised panel doors instead of the flat panel doors on the existing cabinets. (more on that later)

The carcasses are 1/2” oak plywood with oak face frames. They are stained with Minwax Golden Oak and finished with Minwax satin Poly, again to match the existing cabinets.

I did not build the raised panel doors. My Sister-in-law’s neighbor was a cabinet maker and when he moved he gave us a bunch of cabinet doors. I have had these lying around in the shop for a couple of years. All of the cabinets were sized to make use of these doors. It worked out perfectly for the base cabinets, leaving just enough room for the wine (beer :-)) fridge.

After building the wall cabinets there was a 17” space left between the two. That space was used for the glassware cabinet. No door on that one since I had used up my stock of freebies.

We have Corian countertops in the kitchen but we decided to top this set of cabinets with an oak top to differentiate the kitchen and dining area. The top is a piece of 3/4” cdx topped with 1/4” oak plywood for a 1” thick top. The front edge is a 1-1/2” x 1-1/2” piece of solid oak. Back and side splashes are 1/2” x 3” solid oak.

You can also see some of my previous projects sitting on the top. A maple cutting board, a cookbook stand with a hinged glass front and a cookbook holder. The last 2 items from plans in Wood magazine.

The second picture shows what the space looked like before I started.

This really was a large project. In addition to building and installing the cabinets, I also had to move a couple of electric outlets. I also took out 7 feet of slant fin baseboard and replaced it with a kick space heater. The kick space heater puts out almost double the BTU’s.

Any comments and/or critiques are gladly accepted.

-- Mark