Kitchen Cabinets In the Garage

[Spudland_Dave]

During the 5 years of planning It was always my plan to install some kitchen cabinets as a workbench of sorts...the more time goes on, I'm thinking that may not be the best of ideas...at the very least, not a full wall's worth. 2 years ago I would have installed 22' worth of cabinets & worksurface. My number one question is how handy are kitchen type drawers/cabinets in a garage setting?

Right now I'm thinking at the minimum, a wall cabinet on each side of the window on my shop end, and matching that with base cabinets and formica surface...I'm thinking 96" wide. Place to put my PC/Laptop, service manuals, shop radio, etc.

What really got me to 2nd guessing myself is I had gotten a wall cabinet on clearance from Lowes, mounted it in the basement workshop and I'm really not thinking its as useful as I thought it would be.

 

[FJ 432]

When I first bought my house I was given some old wood kitchen cabinets that I used to support a solid core door for a work bench and I used 4 wall cabinets above the area. It worked for a while and obviously it was cheap.

I now have some 1960's metal kitchen wall cabinets that I painted with Rustoleum that I like better mainly becuse the wood cabinets were dark 1970's wood. My work bench is now butcher block on a metal work station frame.

I believe kitchen cabinets can be functional it just depends on what you have to store.

 

[gearhead9056]

I think I have fallen into the same thought as you lately. I always intended to install base cabinets with a butcher block top but lately I've decided that the best for me anyways would be a steel framed bench with tool boxes or file cabinets or such underneath for storage, something similar to steevo's design is what I am planing, with some used kitchen wall cabinets covering part of the wall.

 

[Ad13]

We have kitchen cabinets as wall cabinets for the garage and let me tell you, they are extremely strong.

 

[spotco2]

The only bad thing about having a wall full of base cabinets is they are hard to sit at and work because there is nowhere to put your legs. Every now and then you need sections of workbench that has nothing more than a shelf under it so you can sit down and work without your legs getting in the way.

I've got base cabinets in my part of my shop. I used multiple small sets with about 4' between them with a solid top for an actual bench. The rest is just counter top.

One trick I have came up with over the years is to just open a couple of drawers next to each other and lay a 18" wide piece of 1/2" plywood across them. That gives me a work surface that I can slide a stool up to and sit at and work. Just move the temp top and close the drawers when done.

I would not hesitate to use real wood cabinets again in a shop. I don't know so much about the MDF stuff that a lot of newer houses have though. They don't hold up as well, but it would also depend on how much you are abusing them and what you are really using them for.

 

[mo2872]

I have 24' of "kitchen" type cabinets, upper and lower, in my shop.... http://garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=976523&postcount=48

Love having the hidey-space!

 

[Tim The Tool Man]

I remodeled a kitchen years ago and thought the old cabinets would look good in a shop so I saved them until I finally had a shop for them. I love them. They are strong, durable, and the color works for me.

 

[volvo]

..
Doing a complete kitchen remodel and cannot even give away 24' of upper & lower solid wood cabinets in today's economy. Off they to the local habitat for humanity store tomorrow am.

 

[NUTTSGT]

..
Doing a complete kitchen remodel and cannot even give away 24' of upper & lower solid wood cabinets in today's economy. Off they to the local habitat for humanity store tomorrow am.

Put them in the classifieds here. I'm sure somebody here would take them if you are close enough.

If you had them listed on CL, I'm very surprised you can't get rid of them.

I would easily drive an hour to pick those up for free if you were close.

 

[Clubber]

^^^What NUTTSGT said^^^!

 

[Spudland_Dave]

I believe kitchen cabinets can be functional it just depends on what you have to store.

Thats the thing...dunno what i'd store...its more for a worksurface & computer bench. I can see the wall cabinets being a future book shelf for service manuals and such. Maybe oil & filters? All my tools will go into a future Toolbox purchase, I've got 2 very nice heavy duty cabinets with 6" Deep Drawers for my cased tools. And I was planning on a parts room upstairs to put my consumables/fluids/etc

We have kitchen cabinets as wall cabinets for the garage and let me tell you, they are extremely strong.

Yeah strength shouldnt be an issue, as for a worksurface it would be more a medium duty worksurface, place to set tools and such while working. I plan on fabbing up a super duty welding table for my vice and metal fab when the time comes.

The only bad thing about having a wall full of base cabinets is they are hard to sit at and work because there is nowhere to put your legs. Every now and then you need sections of workbench that has nothing more than a shelf under it so you can sit down and work without your legs getting in the way.

I would leave an open area with no base cabinet probably under the window. Kinda why I'm hashing this out now is I'd like to put power down there so wiring up my PC will be easy.

I have 24' of "kitchen" type cabinets, upper and lower, in my shop.... http://garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=976523&postcount=48

Love having the hidey-space!

Precisely what I oringally had in mind...wonderful layout! I've decided to downsize from the entire wall (22') to a portion of some length...next to which I'll put my future KRL or Macsimizer.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Why carry consumables upstairs and have to make a trip up to get them every time you need some ? Kitchen style cabinets would be perfect for stuff like that.

 

[Worsedog]

I have a wall of kitchen cabinets from when I remodeled the kitchen. They are great for clean storage space and the tops are fine for light work. I have a heavy workbench for framming on.

 

[BD1]

I prefer top cabinets and a homemade bench below. I did have base cabinets and a counter top. Big pane in the a$$. i don't have a lot of room so I took out and made bench. I liked it better.

 

[zcar751]

They are all right, and its what I have in my garage right now but I will be changing things over time.

 

[tommudd]

I find that mine are pretty strong and very useful.
Would I like the full blown metal ones, sure,
but these were in there when I bought the place so they're working.
Heres a couple of before shots when I was first looking at buying it and then one from when I recently painted them for something different

and after painting. Hey the paint was free

 

[liam.roy80]

Hi there,

Check this picture you may get idea for your garage kitchen cabinet....

For more information about kitchen cabinet you can also visit Discount kitchen cabinet's official website.

 

[Kevin54]

Tommudd......why do you have your doors installed upside down?

 

[BD1]

If he turned the cabinets over you couldn't use the drawers.

 

[tommudd]

Tommudd......why do you have your doors installed upside down?

Never really looked at them, just the way they were when I bought the place ???

 

[NUTTSGT]

Tommudd......why do you have your doors installed upside down?

Never really looked at them, just the way they were when I bought the place ???

I'm lost, how do you figure they are upside down ?

 

[Rockuf8]

I say go with a mix of kitchen cabinets, base or wall, toolboxes and a work surface to be used as a work bench. Kitchen cabinets you buy at Home Cheapo are inexpensive, strong (if you mount them right), they come in white, natural wood, maple and cherry stain colors so they can be had in a variety of colors and they look good and won't dent like metal cabinets, nor do they require painting and they won't rust. If you use all base cabinets, just have a space between them to put a chair and add a strong work surface if you need that.

I added a steel work bench to my set up and will have 26" rolling toolboxes under each end of my work bench for extra storage.

Hidden storage above each bank of cabinets, 54", 9' and 15'6" for scrap wood

Added crown molding to hide the 4.5" storage boxes

Added a top to the crown molding to finish off the above storage area on each set of cabinets.

 

[ratdoggy]

Mine...Workbench below and old steel cabinets above

 

[ratdoggy]

I'm lost, how do you figure they are upside down ?

Arch at the top

 

[Rockuf8]

Arch at the top

There's an arch on both the top and the bottom. They can be mounted either way depending on which way you want the door to swing open. I changed a couple on my cabinets.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Arch at the top

There's an arch on both the top and the bottom. They can be mounted either way depending on which way you want the door to swing open. I changed a couple on my cabinets.

That's what I noticed, there is an arch top & bottom. That's why I asked.

 

[Rockuf8]

That's what I noticed, there is an arch top & bottom. That's why I asked.

The top arch is just less noticeable due to the lighting, more of a shadow on the bottom arch, and vice versa on the base cabinet doors, I think these guys need a better monitor or glasses?

 

[TurboBlog]

I used Ikea kitchen cabinets for my wall cabinets and some medical cabinets for my workbenches. Here are a couple pictures, you can see lots more pictures and details on my website here: http://turbomirage.com/garage_project/garage_cabinets.html

 

[Rockuf8]

^ Nice set up, color scheme.

 

[ratdoggy]

The top arch is just less noticeable due to the lighting, more of a shadow on the bottom arch, and vice versa on the base cabinet doors, I think these guys need a better monitor or glasses?

I should have really looked and I didn't have my cheaters on

 

[A1an]

I turned an old kitchen cabinet into a light duty work table and it works out great (both for my work table needs and for storage).

Perhaps this was said already but the key is to be realistic about the intended usage of your kitchen cabinets in the garage. Obviously if you need something to weld on, frequently rebuild transmissions, or whatever sort of heavy duty work you are into then you would want to look at something a little more stout. For lighter duty stuff they are a prefect wallet friendly alternative to the more expensive "garage specific" cabinets.

 

[Kevin54]

If he turned the cabinets over you couldn't use the drawers.

I was talking about the overheads

Never really looked at them, just the way they were when I bought the place ???

Taking a closer look, it appears that at the top, you also have a curve in the framework of the doors. With the way the picture is, it looks like the upper doors are upside down in comparison to the lower cabinet doors. I'm talking about the curve of the frame. The uppers curves look more prominent on the bottom of the door which led me to believe they were upside down.

 

[lisiecki1]

..
Doing a complete kitchen remodel and cannot even give away 24' of upper & lower solid wood cabinets in today's economy. Off they to the local habitat for humanity store tomorrow am.

If you were in SE Texas I would have taken them before you finished this post!

 

[tommudd]

The top arch is just less noticeable due to the lighting, more of a shadow on the bottom arch, and vice versa on the base cabinet doors, I think these guys need a better monitor or glasses?

Heck they had me going out to look them over to see what was wrong/ right or otherwise messed up
But after looking at them while standing on my head , they are the same either way

 

[Rockuf8]

Haha, I think it was a test to see who was paying attention in the thread.

 

[Spudland_Dave]

Thats what I had in mind for my area under the window as well...2 side cabinets of whatever door config and an open space.

I used Ikea kitchen cabinets for my wall cabinets and some medical cabinets for my workbenches. Here are a couple pictures, you can see lots more pictures and details on my website here:

Beautiful setup there..and when I think garage cabinets, thats what I envision as well. I'll probably end up buying new ones from my building supply...I'm too OCD about how things look to deal with a mix match or weird door styles. Plus quite honestly, I'm sick & tired of doing "construction projects" aka constantly working on the garage... I want to get to metal fab, tinkering on my tractors, etc...havent turned a chrome wrench for personal enjoyment since I started the garage.

 

[BD1]

I was talking about the overheads

I was just jokin ! Sorry Kevin.

 

[Spudland_Dave]

I say go with a mix of kitchen cabinets, base or wall, toolboxes and a work surface to be used as a work bench. Kitchen cabinets you buy at Home Cheapo are inexpensive, strong (if you mount them right), they come in white, natural wood, maple and cherry stain colors so they can be had in a variety of colors and they look good and won't dent like metal cabinets, nor do they require painting and they won't rust. If you use all base cabinets, just have a space between them to put a chair and add a strong work surface if you need that.

Beautiful Installation and GREAT Idea on the storage box area up top..might copy that depending on how much Wall cabinets I go with.

 

[Rockuf8]

Beautiful Installation and GREAT Idea on the storage box area up top..might copy that depending on how much Wall cabinets I go with.

Thanks, it will REALLY come in handy for getting all my good scrap wood out of sight, I have three different length cabinets/storage areas to spread the weight/bulk.

More pics in my garage thread, if you have any questions feel free to PM me.

 

[Vegaman_Dan]

Kitchen cabinets are great for a garage- I have a set of them myself. But the only thing I don't like are the very vintage looking doors and drawer fronts. While fine for a kitchen, they don't say 'utility' or 'garage' to me. Thankfully putting new doors and drawer fronts is really a one day project, and one I plan to do. The cabinet carcasses are what you really want anyways.

Take any kitchen cabinet, then make new doors and drawer fronts from MDF. For me, I think I might add some aluminum angle around the edges for a nice bright and mechanical look against painted surfaces. Not sure what color yet. But it won't be terribly expensive. I'm keeping my eye out for some more overhead cabinets.