Building a Drop-in Kitchen Cabinet

It's been a while, but we are working on the kitchen again.  This is what our cabinets look like now. I really love them and my honey did a fine job at modifying them to fit our needs.  He even built the corner cabinet that you can read about here.  We had one more cabinet to build just to the right of our stove.  Its the one below with no door.....the door is coming soon!

You can read about our cabinets here and here and here, but they've come a long way since we started.

This is what we moved in to.  The cabinets were in pretty good shape, but oh so stuck in the 80's!  See how we used to have a stove top and a separate oven?  That's the reason for all these cabinet modifications that my honey has done.

Of course you have to build your cabinet to the size you need.  Take your measurements and build the frame first.  Make sure your frame is square before screwing it together or its probably not going to fit.

After the base and sides were all put together, he checked for fit.  It fits.....perfectly!  Great job Baby!

He re-used the drawer frame, hardware and wood facing just to save on money. Those little drawer slides are spendy!  After he installed it into the new cabinet, he checked one more time for fit.  The drawer will get a new face and hardware to match the other new drawers.

Next we "puckied" the holes and got everything ready for sanding.  Another way we saved a bit of money is as you can see above, there is no right hand side wall.  That's because the pantry wall will act as the cabinet wall too.  Money saved!

Sanding everything smooth for painting is key to a nice finish.  We normally use 80 grit, then 120, then 220 for a very nice finish.  Next I painted the cabinet front.

Next up was the counter top.  We used the leftover end piece of when we installed our first counter top here.  Make sure you use painters tape and mark your cut line and cut with the tape on.  This helps the Formica top to cut smoothly.  It's worked for us every time!

Ah, it looks nice already!  It's awesome to have that cabinet there again.  I never notice how much I used that little space until it was missing.

Here it is new drawer font and a the first step in paint.  Excuse the mess, but do you see the unfinished cabinet to the right?  That's going to be our pantry. Its going to be so nice to have all the storage room this space offers.

Here she is with her new hardware on and the nice finishing touches of stain and sealer.  Ready for a door now!

 ***NOTE: I added this picture and details because I had so many questions about the paint color.
The base paint is Behr Premium Plus Ultra in Creamy Mushroom from Home Depot.  The glaze is called Asphaltium 98278 by Valspar from Lowes.  I sealed everything withe the Valspar Clear Protector also found at Lowes.

When we get the back splash installed this beauty of a kitchen will be almost complete.  It's coming soon!

It doesn't have to be done all at once.  It is a slow process in the works! C-ya next time!

I'm Linking to:
These lovely and FUN parties!
Between Naps on the Porch
DIY Home Sweet Home
We Call It Junkin