built in cabinetry
built in cabinetry
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A client contacted me after purchasing a new home to create cabinetry that would occupy a nook in their new guest bathroom. The space wasn't that large overall, but it was over 10' tall. They wanted amazing looking grain with a clean modern look to the cabinets. There were also some special needs that had to be addressed such as giving access to an electrical outlet in the nook and create a way to access a secret room on the other side of the nook through the cabinet while making the cabinet appear as though there was nothing at all behind it.
After consulting with them on the design considerations, wood choices, and possible finishes they decided they wanted this cabinetry built out of cherry and finished with hard wax oil. I selected the boards I ultimately used to craft the doors and other parts for their grain. The clean modern look was achieved in the upper cabinet by using concealed hinges and push to open mechanisms which removed the need for door pulls. Due to the base cabinet being so close to the toilet, doors that swing open would not have had enough space to open fully, so I designed a set of sliding doors that can be removed when full access to the base cabinet is needed. I achieved access to the secret room by carefully designing and crafting removable panels that blend in with the cabinet.
Upper cabinet. The doors are multiple pieces of cherry I grain matched and joined together. Note a couple of things about these doors. Firstly, the doors are what are referred to as overlay doors. They sit on the outer edge of the cabinet. Also, there are no door pulls as these doors operate on push to open mechanisms. Lastly, the hinges are not visible. Concealed hinges were selected for this piece and they are installed inside the cabinet and mounted to the inside of each door.
Base cabinet and paneling. Like the upper cabinet doors, the lower cabinet doors and the counter top of the base cabinet are multiple pieces of cherry I grain matched and joined together. The base cabinet doors slide left and right to give access to the interior of the cabinet. These doors are also removable.
The paneling and trim are all cherry I milled to the requested profiles.
Left side interior of the base cabinet with an adjustable shelf installed. The special metal inserts I use for shelf pin holes provide a couple of benefits beyond the normal adjustable shelf pin holes. Typically shelf pin holes are just holes drilled into the cabinet sides. These holes are usually a tight fit for the shelf pins and require some force and twisting to install and remove a shelf pin. The inserts I use are easier to remove and place in a different location to size shelf spacing as needed. Also, typical shelf pin holes will wear over the life of the cabinet and over time can become enlarged, causing a sloppy shelf pin fit that can cause shelves to sit awkwardly or not be able to be installed at all. The metal shelf pin inserts I use are much more durable and provide a longer life.
Base cabinet and paneling. The door pulls chosen for this cabinet are a sleek modern design, yet they are installed in a way that minimizes their visual effect on the cabinet doors while still providing the ability to open and close the doors.
This photo also shows the track installed in the bottom of the cabinet that the doors sit and slide in. A channel could have been routed instead of using this track, but wood channels used for sliding doors will wear over time. As the finish wears off, the now bare section on the bottom edge of the wood door comes into contact with the wood channel, causing friction and drag when opening and closing the door. The tracks I use for sliding doors remove this potential problem.
A view of the paneled area between the upper and base cabinets. An electrical outlet was installed in the nook. During installation of this built in, I cut a hole in the paneling so the electrical outlet could be pulled through and mounted flush to the surface of the paneling. I crafted the electrical outlet cover out of cherry during the build process.
The above video is a demonstration of the functions I built into the base cabinet per the client's request. This base cabinet goes way beyond a basic storage space. The sliding doors and the back panel can be removed to provide access to a secret room behind the location this cabinet is installed. The bottom panel of the cabinet can be removed as well to reveal a small place to hide items in addition to providing extra space to access the secret room. The back panel was crafted to it's exact size to provide a friction fit in the back of the cabinet. A magnetic catch was installed in a strategic location to help hold the panel in place. I built a key into the bottom of the removable back panel that in addition to helping hold the panel in place, also provides a way to easily reinstall the panel by "popping" into place.
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