Bob: Here are some of our our new kitchen cabinets, flat-packed in boxes straight from China. All thirteen cabinets were purchased from The Cabinet Barn in Shelbyville, IN, and their prices definitely made all of this possible. Take a look if you are interested in renovating your kitchen. We took an afternoon and drove down there to pick ours up (about forty miles, one way.)
Nan: It was fun driving to Shelbyville. I hadn't been there since I was about nine
years old. I can't say it hasn't changed, but then, it looked like it had NEVER
changed. It was hard to imagine these white boxes would become our new kitchen cabinets.
Bob: I've unpacked the parts for the thirty-inch-by-fifteen-inch wall cabinet.
Nan: It was interesting to see exactly what was packed inside one of those white boxes.
We chose a small one. Better to start small and work up to big, right?
Bob: Clever yellow iron clasps hold these cabinets together. Note the Chinese knock-off European-style cabinet hinges. All of these cabinets came with the fronts/doors preassembled, and this is definitely where ninety percent of the manufacturer's attention was during their fabrication, finishing and packing.
Nan: Looks very simple, and it really is. Of course I didn't do any of the work.
Just supervised. :)
Bob: The cabinet back slides into grooves in the sides.
Nan: I think this cabinet went together easily.
Bob: Screws are used to secure the back to the sides. In addition, the screws that
mount the cabinet to the wall will secure the back to the top and bottom.
Bob: Here is the finished thirty-inch-by-fifteen-inch wall cabinet.
Nan: If it had been on the wall, I'd have filled it!
Bob: Here is a thirty-inch-by-thirty-inch wall cabinet, as flat-packed. Clever Chinese checkers get all these parts into one boxes. ;-}~
Nan: This ended up being the wall cabinet over the Baking Center. It sure looks neat
here in the box, but even nicer on the wall.
Bob: These big cabinets have a lot of wood.
Nan: This was not the largest cabinet we built. The sink cabinet was thirtythree
inches wide and twentyfour inches deep.
Bob: The first step involves assembling the front, top and two sides. The pre-installed metal clasps provide alignment and maintain the assemblage.
Nan: One by one, they go together quickly.
Bob: Next, the bottom is added, and all clasps to this point tightened. An additional screw is added to each clasp.
Nan: Another step in the process. It will soon be a cabinet.
Bob: Again, after inserting the back, the sides get additional screws.
Bob: And here it is, fully assembled. Isn't that beautiful?
Nan: Plenty of beauty here, and plenty of storage too. I'll fill it with my KitchenAid
bowls, beaters, and other baking items.
Bob: The Baking Center base cabinet started out shorter (thirty inches) than the rest of the base cabinets (thirty-six inches), and then required further modification to fit, by cutting it to a depth of thirteen inches (from eighteen). Here, you see one clasp already moved on the left side panel. The right clasp nearest the bottom of the picture has been moved away from the rear edge of the panel.
Nan: This is the last cabinet to be assembled, and is normally a bathroom vanity. I
needed a shorter cabinet in the kitchen, and it seemed prudent to alter the smallest
cabinet we could. Since this one is thirty inches tall, and that's what I needed, we
only had to cut five inches off the sides and the bottom shelf. We didn't have to cut
any drawers back, or change the doors to accommodate a shorter height, and we ended
up with a toe kick that matches the rest of the cabinets, so it looks integral.
Bob: After transferring the clasps, the side panels and bottom shelf got cut down. These waste pieces came in extremely handy in creating filler strips, and in particular, the turn at the chimney corner for the wall cabinets.
Nan: I'm sure glad I didn't have to figure this one out. You all know me and my algebra. :)
Bob: This vanity was made with no back, only two back slaps. Also, it had no middle shelf or drawers. Apparently, vanities don't get shelves or drawers because they spend their lives supporting sinks. I made a shelf and a back for this one. Here, you see two small support pieces screwed to the far side panel. The vertical one is a shelf support. The horizontal one is for attaching the back. Go to the Kitchen Build Up page to see how this cabinet turned out as the base cabinet for our Baking Center.
Nan: It really was amazing to watch Bob turn this into a useful kitchen cabinet. Even
though it is small when compared to a full-sized kitchen cabinet, it will hold everything I
need at the Baking Center.