Removable kitchen cabinet build-ups
This one... this one was a lot of work.
I haven't posted for awhile because this has been a big project that was in the works for a long time. You know that weird empty open space above kitchen cabinets that was super trendy in the late '90's and early '00's? The stuff that's too high up for short people like me to actually want to put stuff in, but a huge waste of space that collects dust and grease? Yeah, I wanted to do something to get rid of that.
Here I was, young and carefree, thinking kitchen cabinet build-ups would be a quick and easy one weekend project. Bob tried to warn me it was going to be tough to do well. But did I listen?
Hahaha. No. I barged in like a bull, forgetting all angles. Oh yeah, and how I have no woodworking, carpentry, or crown moulding experience.
In short, this took almost an entire month's worth of weekends.
Supplies:
To start out with, I took detailed measurements of my cabinets and the kitchen and came up with a to-scale sketch. I added a little shopping list once I figured out all my measurements so I wouldn't have to do math in the store:
A big shout out to the folks at Home Depot in Arvada who spent almost a hour trying to color match the cabinets that are currently installed. Of course, the previous owners didn't leave us any touch up paint, so we had to color match from a drawer front I brought in store. It took forever, but they did a darn good job in getting that color to be the same. Personally, I can't tell that it's not from the same batch (and this is a girl who spent 30 minutes in a Lowe's trying to decide between two almost-identical shades of bluish-purple-based-greige for my parents' kitchen).
I then gathered all the cabinet materials and got started putting together some boxes that would sit on top of the cabinet. I measured these out and used my power saw to cut them to the right size. The cuts were a little rough, so I sanded the edges to make them smoother. I then assembled the face frames that would face out.
Eventually, I ended up with a bunch of weird looking rectangles and a bunch of approx 1x1 squares of plywood that would make up the eventual boxes.
I assembled these boxes by putting the plywood where the sides would be and screwing the plywood into the box frame. This probably would have turned out better with a countersink drill bit, but I made it work by just pre-drilling holes and screwing in extra deck screws we had from the garden box project.
I continued placing these around the kitchen, making sure the boxes and dividers aligned with the current cabinets. I ended up securing these to the existing cabinets by screwing them in the bottom framing piece for stability.
There were some gaps and some odd places where the boxes didn't align perfectly because, again, angles. That little corner cabinet was the biggest pain.
Also, fun fact - walls and ceilings are not actually straight lines.
I got them just as close as I could and rolled with it.
That's when things got interesting. You see, crown moulding requires two angle cuts - one with the ceiling and one with the corner. This got really rough, because I also had to cope inside angles.
I practiced a lot with the quarter round before I got the hang of it.
Once I had a decent grasp on that part, I went around and used wood glue to secure the quarter round to the face frame to give it a nice neat look.
I then added the straight pieces of crown moulding on either side of the kitchen, saving the overlapping pieces to the end.
After that, I fit in the mitered and coped pieces. This didn't fit as perfectly as I hoped, and I think if you're using an electric saw instead of doing this by hand it might sit nicer together without caulking as much.
It wasn't perfect, but it looked okay.
That's when the magic happens. And by magic, I mean caulk.
The caulking helped hide a lot of the imperfections. I ended up using two tubes of paintable caulking to seal up the gaps. I let that dry, and it was time for paint!
Boom. I ended up doing three coats in a circle to help give it the appearance that it matched the other cabinets. All it needed then was some decor.
And voilà!
I haven't posted for awhile because this has been a big project that was in the works for a long time. You know that weird empty open space above kitchen cabinets that was super trendy in the late '90's and early '00's? The stuff that's too high up for short people like me to actually want to put stuff in, but a huge waste of space that collects dust and grease? Yeah, I wanted to do something to get rid of that.
Here I was, young and carefree, thinking kitchen cabinet build-ups would be a quick and easy one weekend project. Bob tried to warn me it was going to be tough to do well. But did I listen?
Hahaha. No. I barged in like a bull, forgetting all angles. Oh yeah, and how I have no woodworking, carpentry, or crown moulding experience.
In short, this took almost an entire month's worth of weekends.
Supplies:
- Plywood (I used some underlayment) to put on top of cabinets to cover the gap in my builder-grade cabinets
- 1x2's for the frame
- 2'x2' plywood for the dividers
- Crown moulding for the top
- Moulding to create a smooth transition between installed cabinets and build-ups (I used quarter round)
- Tools (I already had a power saw and screwdriver, I had to buy a coping saw and miter box/saw)
- Paint
- Paintable Caulking
- Total cost for my small kitchen=$230
To start out with, I took detailed measurements of my cabinets and the kitchen and came up with a to-scale sketch. I added a little shopping list once I figured out all my measurements so I wouldn't have to do math in the store:
A big shout out to the folks at Home Depot in Arvada who spent almost a hour trying to color match the cabinets that are currently installed. Of course, the previous owners didn't leave us any touch up paint, so we had to color match from a drawer front I brought in store. It took forever, but they did a darn good job in getting that color to be the same. Personally, I can't tell that it's not from the same batch (and this is a girl who spent 30 minutes in a Lowe's trying to decide between two almost-identical shades of bluish-purple-based-greige for my parents' kitchen).
I then gathered all the cabinet materials and got started putting together some boxes that would sit on top of the cabinet. I measured these out and used my power saw to cut them to the right size. The cuts were a little rough, so I sanded the edges to make them smoother. I then assembled the face frames that would face out.
 |
| Cut the wood |
 |
| Sand |
 |
| Assemble into boxes. This works best if you put the screw on the sides that won't be visible, and to slightly stagger them from the one directly next to each other, so that they are hidden and sit correctly when installed. |
I assembled these boxes by putting the plywood where the sides would be and screwing the plywood into the box frame. This probably would have turned out better with a countersink drill bit, but I made it work by just pre-drilling holes and screwing in extra deck screws we had from the garden box project.
 |
| Example 1 |
 |
| Working around |
 |
| All boxes in place. |
Also, fun fact - walls and ceilings are not actually straight lines.
I got them just as close as I could and rolled with it.
That's when things got interesting. You see, crown moulding requires two angle cuts - one with the ceiling and one with the corner. This got really rough, because I also had to cope inside angles.
I practiced a lot with the quarter round before I got the hang of it.
Once I had a decent grasp on that part, I went around and used wood glue to secure the quarter round to the face frame to give it a nice neat look.
I then added the straight pieces of crown moulding on either side of the kitchen, saving the overlapping pieces to the end.
After that, I fit in the mitered and coped pieces. This didn't fit as perfectly as I hoped, and I think if you're using an electric saw instead of doing this by hand it might sit nicer together without caulking as much.
I definitely needed a second pair of hands, and Bob helped me a lot with nailing the moulding into the face frames. I didn't want to do this into the ceiling, although that's definitely an option, because I wanted the option to remove it when we move. That's right, this has the ability to be removable if we decide we want to go back to the empty space. We can also leave it here, if we so desire, and it's secure.
It wasn't perfect, but it looked okay.
That's when the magic happens. And by magic, I mean caulk.
 |
| That's what she said? |
Boom. I ended up doing three coats in a circle to help give it the appearance that it matched the other cabinets. All it needed then was some decor.
And voilà!
I have the option to take it out when we move if it looks too DIY or modern, but for right now I'm digging what it does for the kitchen.
Let me know what you think!!
~ K
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