DIY guide · Cabinets & sideboards
Every cabinet is a box with doors, drawers or both. How to build the box, hang the doors, fit the drawers and choose a base, with plans made to your wall.
IllustrationWhere to start
A weekend
A bench or sideboard carcass held with screws, open bays or simple doors, standing on a plinth that hides an uneven floor.
Two weekends
Doors on concealed hinges, drawers on full-extension runners, and shelves on pins you can move.
Two to three weekends
Cupboards fitted into alcoves with shelves above, or units hung on the wall, scribed to the room and painted in.
Types of cabinets & sideboards
IllustrationLong and low, with doors and drawers for the dining room. The cabinet everyone wants and nobody finds in the right size.
See the plan
IllustrationA bench with shoe drawers and hooks above it. The first thing you see when you come home, finally tidy.
See the plan
IllustrationTall doors on glasses and bottles, with a pull-out shelf to pour on.
Design yours
IllustrationA cabinet around a stacked washer and dryer, with a tall cupboard and a folding shelf. The utility room in one wall.
Design yours
IllustrationWall-hung, with drawers shaped around the waste pipe and a top for the basin. Sealed against the steam.
Design yours
IllustrationFloor to ceiling, with shelves you can move and racks inside the doors. Food you can see is food you use.
Design yours
IllustrationLow cubbies with boxes in them and a cushion on top for reading. Built at a height children can reach.
Design yours
IllustrationCube shelving on its side, on a plinth, under a cushion. A reading seat with storage below.
See the planPlans
Each one becomes a 3D model, a cut list, drilling maps and step-by-step instructions, at the size you need.
Doors either side of a drawer stack, on a low leg frame.
A seat to pull boots on, hooks above and a cubby for each person.
Two pine cabinets joined on a leg frame, with a wrapped top and new fronts.
A unit on its side, wrapped in a solid top and plinth, with drawers where the cubes were.
Before you design
Books are heavy. Set the span, the material and what goes on it, and see how far the shelf bends.
A rule of thumb for a shelf 280 mm deep resting on two supports, not an engineering check. Caminu checks every shelf in your plan.
Before you design
Every cabinet is a box: two sides, a top, a bottom and a back. Get the box square and the doors and drawers follow. 18 mm sheet for the box and a thinner back panel is the standard recipe.
Doors are simpler to build and cheaper in hardware. Drawers hold more of what you actually reach for, because nothing hides at the back. A mix usually wins: drawers at hand height, doors below.
A plinth is the easiest base and hides an uneven floor. Legs lighten the look and make cleaning easier. Wall-hung cabinets need a solid wall and the right fixings for it.
Plywood holds screws well and its edges can be left on show. MDF is flatter and takes paint better, but needs its edges sealed.
Hardware
Get these four right and any cabinet follows.
A cup in the back of the door and a plate on the side. They adjust three ways, so the gaps around every door end up even.
35 mm hinge-cup bit and a guide
Side-mounted runners are the easy start. Undermount runners hide under the drawer and close softly.
Runners and a fitting jig
A recessed base under the carcass. Level it once with packers and every door above hangs true.
Saw, packers, spirit level
A row of holes and small pins for the shelves to rest on. Move a shelf when what you store changes.
Shelf-pin jig, 5 mm bit
Materials
| Material | Cost | Stiffness | Edges | Finish | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birch plywood | €€€ | Layered edge: show it off or band it | Oil, lacquer or paint | Carcasses, shelves and drawer boxes | |
| MDF | €€€ | Smooth, paints well once sealed | Paint | Painted doors and drawer fronts | |
| Oak or walnut veneer | €€€ | Band with matching veneer | Hardwax oil or lacquer | Sideboards you will look at every day | |
| Melamine chipboard | €€€ | Needs edge banding | Ready finished | Insides of utility cupboards | |
| Moisture-resistant MDF | €€€ | Seal every cut edge | Paint | Bathrooms and utility rooms |
Tools
Enough for every first-build plan here.
No saw? Most timber merchants cut sheets to a list. Take the cut list from your plan and pick the panels up ready to drill.
Each one opens up a new kind of build.
Safety
A tall cupboard can tip when a door is pulled, and a wall unit carries everything inside it. Every plan ends with the fixing for that piece. Here is what holds in which wall.
Something else in mind?
Say it the way you would to a carpenter. Caminu draws it, checks the spans and writes the guide.
Questions
Plywood holds screws well and its edges can be left on show. MDF is flatter and takes paint better, but its edges need sealing. You can swap between them and the plan updates.
Knock-down connectors and screws that you fit with a drill. Every hole position, diameter and depth is on the drilling sheets.
Yes. The cut list groups panels by material and size, so a timber yard or panel-cutting service can work from it.
Yes. Have the panels cut to your cut list where you buy the sheets, or cut them with a track saw. A drill-driver and a hinge-cup bit do the rest.
A plinth: a recessed box under the carcass. Level it once with packers and the doors above hang true on any floor.
From the blog
Keep going
Show Caminu your room and describe the piece. You get the 3D model, the cut list and the assembly guide.
