Cabinets

[grabeb]

Thinking of running with 'kitchen' cabinets in my garage. I know some say they don't belong there.....I have my reasons. Mainly the customization aspect.

Curious what others have done. Any pics?

Currently debating between maple in-stock Lowes/other big box painted cabinets. I really think I want black, I might have to spray myself. Or a building supply place has some unfinished, very well made, oak cabinets. I just worry they'll look like **** if painted.

 

[ItsNemo]

I built my own simple cabinets out of 3/4" plywood and 1 side good sanded plywood for the fronts....painted with just regular exterior latex paint, they look and function perfectly fine, here's a snip out of my garage tour video after they've been on the walls for ~6 years or so:



Full vid if you want to see more:

 

[rayra]

Why the hell would you buy maple if you plan to paint them?


I built the cabinet boxes on the left out of plywood and faced them with melamine-coated particle board. The unfinished cabinets on the right are kitchen cabs from Home Depot. They're all hanging on a pair of french cleat rails. It isn't difficult if you have the workspace and tools, and it costs a lot less than the Lista fad.

 

[grabeb]

Because maple is strong. They come painted white from factory. I don't want white, so I'd likely paint black.

I can easily make cabinets, but I don't have the time to do this. I just want to wrap the project up and get stuff put away.

Well not use particle board in my garage. I hate the stuff. It has uses but I don't like it.

 

[isb cornbinder]

Thinking of running with 'kitchen' cabinets in my garage. I know some say they don't belong there.....I have my reasons. Mainly the customization aspect.

Curious what others have done. Any pics?

Currently debating between maple in-stock Lowes/other big box painted cabinets. I really think I want black, I might have to spray myself. Or a building supply place has some unfinished, very well made, oak cabinets. I just worry they'll look like **** if painted.

You wrote, I might have to spray myself. I am reminded of the long ago time after we had our Doberman female fixed. My daughter was telling her grandmother, "we had the dog sprayed today." Grandmother did not have a perfect grip on English and she replied, "I liked the color the dog was."

 

[SBAG]

Why the hell would you buy maple if you plan to paint them?

Lots of painted cabinets are made with pre finished maple ply…specifically for the interior.

 

[Chris705]

OP you maybe able to find a local on-line auction site that auctions new building materials including kitchen cabinets. I have a few around me in the finger lakes area of NY that offer greatly discounted auction sales. I think you may even find a run or two of black cabinets.

 

[LopezBart]

A good source of discounted building materials are places like Seattle "Second Use" that sell salvaged materials from remodels, demolitions, etc. https://www.seconduse.com/

 

[tarmy]

As others mentioned. 3/4 ply carcass and these have doors ordered from Rockler. Everything after these I just build my own doors out of 3/4 MDF, route the detail and paint.

 

[Jgaz]

Build exactly what you want, go as fancy or basic as you want.
I built most of my set up during the Pandemic. My wife called them COVID Cabinets.

 

[RoninB4]

Won't comment about the cabinets but will comment about kitchen counter tops. Wood is great, so is metal but kitchen counter tops make a great surface for tear-down and assembly of messy assemblies. Grease, oil, and grunge wipe off with no soaking into a wood top and don't mar delicate components like a metal burr can. Often a discarded countertop from a kitchen remodel project can be had for the asking. They're fairly durable and easy to keep clean. As for the cabinets....sure why not?

 

[rocksnstumps]

Think kitchen cabinets/French cleat design make a lot of sense in a house garage shop. Typically space is premium and up off the floor allows other stuff to go underneath and a lot of that could have casters if it's heavy and a space sucker. The design naturally goes with countertops.

Now if your house garage is like 1200+ sq ft (yeah right) all those lista and other heavy cabinets are sweet. If you have the floor space plus the extra couple feet to fully open drawers. Of course my viewpoint is from living up north. I wouldn't want to park my stuff outside during a winter snowstorm just to get some room to do projects.

Disclaimer: My shop is in a pole barn but that has other issues as I didn't build it Damn hard to rodent proof but have room to store stuff out of the weather and still have work area.

 

[rayra]

Because maple is strong. They come painted white from factory. I don't want white, so I'd likely paint black.

I can easily make cabinets, but I don't have the time to do this. I just want to wrap the project up and get stuff put away.

Well not use particle board in my garage. I hate the stuff. It has uses but I don't like it.

Those are obviously all your choices to make. But you waste people's time and efforts by not mentioning those limitations up front.

/Enjoy your quest

 

[Stuart in MN]

It's always worth checking Craigslist/Facebook/Nextdoor/other local classified ad sources for used kitchen cabinets - people are remodeling their kitchens all the time, and you may be able to find something suitable for little or no money.

 

[CraigStu]

I used 30x30 unfinished cabinets from HD. Painted them grey w/ solid color deck stain. I put 4 low on a wall but high enough that the rubbermaid grey 16gal tubs fit underneath. I put another row above so there was a 6 " gap between upper and lower. That made a nice area to store some long items. Of course I didn't fill them w/ paint cans or similar heavy stuff so they were still just fine 12yrs later when we sold the house.

 

[jives]

As others have suggested, check FBM and CL or whatever the online marketplace is in your area. In the past couple of weeks in my area, both CL and FBM have had low cost and free upper and lower cabinets from houses and businesses. Some metal, some wood.

 

[Imatk]

I got some of these guys and a couple of singles

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D334PXH/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[Wreckster23]

I did it in my old garage. A couple pre-fab cabinets from lowes or such, built a sturdy top and that was that. I would do it again, but I want to treat myself to some decent garage cabinets this time around.

 

[grabeb]

I got some of these guys and a couple of singles

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D334PXH/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Those actually look pretty doable. How well are they holding up? Not crazy about the material, but....

 

[grabeb]

Won't comment about the cabinets but will comment about kitchen counter tops. Wood is great, so is metal but kitchen counter tops make a great surface for tear-down and assembly of messy assemblies. Grease, oil, and grunge wipe off with no soaking into a wood top and don't mar delicate components like a metal burr can. Often a discarded countertop from a kitchen remodel project can be had for the asking. They're fairly durable and easy to keep clean. As for the cabinets....sure why not?

Very true! I actually picked up a stainless steel shelf, like a restaurant would use for that.

 

[jar944]

Why the hell would you buy maple if you plan to paint them?

I wouldn't buy new cabinets for a garage but maple *is* the most common paint grade wood for cabinets.

Op go check out a re-store or similar. You should be able to get a full set of cabinets for 5-10% of new costs.

 

[acer66]

Man you guys are organized!

My cabinets are all leftovers in different designs, some office but mainly kitchen remodel leftovers in various colors stacked like a lost tetris game.

 

[grabeb]

My old garage is all mis-matched and it drives me crazy. Trying to get my new garage looking sharp! I have a loft and the cabinets from our kitchen remodel years ago will be going up there. They are pretty much cheap junk, but not in bad shape. They'll fit the bill for a loft!

I am still debating 2 other spots in my garage, but I went ahead and looked at HD again today and pulled the trigger on 4 Husky wall cabinets and 2 of their nicer all drawer base cabinets, they had a nice sale and should have the walls delivered to my house tomorrow and the base(s) to the store in about a week. I'll likely make a butcher block top and then use some cedar posts (or get some steel) to make legs to go over the bases to create a nice bench area in that spot. I want to mount an old cog style drill press in that area I believe. It currently lives on a metal table in my old garage, can't get to it and need to get a piece re-welded once I get a spot for it to go.

 

[Cjb1979]

You could always buy the oak cabinets and stain them black. Achieves the same result and doesn’t look like oak that you tried to paint black

 

[nadogail]

My Home Depot Mills Pride Cabinets in my workshop have been serving me well for about 30 years. They still look great and work fine.

The 1988 cabinets in my wife’s garage came from a Kitchen Remodel about 25 years ago. They too look and work fine.

 

[cgrutt]

Because maple is strong. They come painted white from factory. I don't want white, so I'd likely paint black.

I can easily make cabinets, but I don't have the time to do this. I just want to wrap the project up and get stuff put away.

Well not use particle board in my garage. I hate the stuff. It has uses but I don't like it.

Do your homework before you buy many of the big box in stock cabinets are not solid hardwood. Even on higher priced cabinets the box construction is probably plywood with only thin veneer of actual maple. Not saying this is a bad thing but if you're buying for maple's strength you may not actually be getting (solid) maple. Face frames and doors may or may not be solid maple and if they are they're going to be expensive. Good luck.

 

[Norcal]

Might check a ReStore some get some decent cabinets in.

 

[grabeb]

Man you guys are organized!

My cabinets are all leftovers in different designs, some office but mainly kitchen remodel leftovers in various colors stacked like a lost tetris game.

I'm trying my best to get there. New build and figure if I don't do it now I'll never get it there!

 

[hobie18]

When mom finally replaced the metal home cabinets, they were still in perfect condition. Over 50 years old. Maybe some will make it to a habitat place

 

[PhantomEB]

Best thing you can do is add cabinets high up down at least one side. i kinda wish I did both sides but Nahh I still need room for tall floor toolage.

 

[Imatk]

Those actually look pretty doable. How well are they holding up? Not crazy about the material, but....

I've had them for maybe 5 years now? Work absolutely great and still look great.