Critique/ input for storage idea

We have a large wall in our home goes between the kitchen and the living room that USED to have a beautiful china cabinet/storage cabinet on it before we bought the house.  Part of the terms of the sale were that the P.O. would keep that piece.  We were bummed but figured we could replace it ourselves in some fashion.  The PO even gave us the info of the guy who built it.  We looked into it and got massive sticker shock. 

Custom furniture is EXPENSIVE!

Back to the drawing board.  Our budget is geared toward DIY  but i am not sure if my wood skills are good enough to make a scratch built unit. My wife sent me this idea and I like it!

Cabinet idea

Its quite similar to what my parents house has.  They ulitized kitchen cabinet lowers, a counter top and on either side had glass door cabinet uppers.  Budget and looks great. 

In our case we would have to use uppers or thin lower cabinets to keep it close to the wall and not have it look clunky.  

Any reason this would not work? 

Any ways to improve this design?

Thank you all

You can use upper cabinets as lower cabinets. 
 

Shallow depth lower cabinets will be custom and pricey. 
 

Also consider IKEA.  I'm not really a fan, but they have some nice finishes and cabinet fronts in knock-down packaging that would give you several nice options that are pre-finished and easy to assemble. 

I can't believe you just made me watch a TikTok video! Haha!!

Another option is a Habitat Restore or any other architectural salvage outfit There is few in Cleveland (quick Google search)

Whatever size you can imagine, these guys can make and ship to you ready to assemble. 
 

https://www.barkercabinets.com

Figured I would update this thread as the project got off the ground!!

Cabinets were purchased and match the finish of the cabinets in the house! 
I built the frame/riser as per the link in the original post but I have some questions. Note- I am not a carpenter, bear with me. 
 

Should I screw the three cabinet units together all square and tight and then attach it to the riser and then finally shim and level it? Essentially making the cabinets and riser one piece then level it?

or is there a better way?

SVreX (Forum Supporter) said:

I can't believe you just made me watch a TikTok video! Haha!!

Wanna watch another? How the hell would one build this?

CarKid1989 said:

Figured I would update this thread as the project got off the ground!!

Cabinets were purchased and match the finish of the cabinets in the house! 
I built the frame/riser as per the link in the original post but I have some questions. Note- I am not a carpenter, bear with me. 
 

Should I screw the three cabinet units together all square and tight and then attach it to the riser and then finally shim and level it? Essentially making the cabinets and riser one piece then level it?

or is there a better way?

That's the best way.  But you'll probably have to put a spacer at the back of the cabinets to keep them straight. (The cabinet faces usually have a 1/8" reveal on each side so a 1/4" spacer works.)

When I install cabinets, I screwl the face frames to each other to keep them tight. Remove the doors, predrill 1 face frame slightly bigger than the screw (so it slips through without threading in the wood), then clamp the face frames to each other. When they are perfect, screw them together. Then reinstall the doors.
 

Screwing the boxes to each other doesn't work well, because the boxes are typically thin and made of some form of particle board- screws don't hold well. 
 

It's not necessary to screw the boxes to each other better than that. 
 

Then predrill and screw them through the top rail at the back of the cabinet into the studs with long screws. 
 

You really don't have to screw them to the bottom frame (toe kick, riser) at all. That just makes ugly holes in the bottom of the cabinet where they are very visible and ugly. Gravity works. Screwing them to the wall is sufficient. 
 

Note that cabinet installation screws have large washer heads. Drywall screws don't work as well (and are unacceptable for upper cabinets). Only consider using drywall screws to screw face frames to each other, or base cabinets to the wall. DON'T use them to screw upper cabinets to the wall- the head can pull through and the cabinet fall off the wall. 

Thank you all for the input. 
I was hoping I could get away with drywall screws to secure the cabinets together and to the studs since they wil be acting as base cabinets and not hanging

Maybe you could use drywall screws with washers on the hanging rail?

I use Spax screws from the orange box store for cabinets. #8-2 1/2" to hold the faces together and #10-3" or 3 1/2" wafer head for holding the cabinets to the wall.  T-25 torx bit screws only, berkeley phillips drive.

In reply to CarKid1989 :

There is nothing wrong with drywall screws for base cabinets. 

I would definitely screw the cabinets together first.  If you try to shim and square them up later as you install you'll be chasing alignment.  Think of it like setting camber before caster.  Easier the other way around.

Drywall screws are fine depending on the wood.  You may want a panhead instead of a flat head.  Flat heads put the flare below the head which tends to split some woods.  If it's particle board, no worries.  You could use either in that case.

I like your idea.  I did the same thing in my kitchen because it's small.  The one wall used to not have any cabinets, so I added some wall cabinets overhead, and built a base for some more wall cabinets on the floor.  Then I had quartz cut for a shallow countertop for it.  I'll try to find a picture.

In the above photos, I pre-drilled (oak is hard stuff) through the back of the drawer unit into the door unit and screwed them together using shims on the wall side.  The frame on the front of the door cabinet is wider than the case of the cabinet by about 3/16" so a paint stirring stick was just about right.  That way I knew I had them straight and square with each other.  Then I set them on the 2x4 base I made and shimmed for level.  The wall curved out a bit so I had to shim the far left and right, then screwed it to the wall

Also, to add... drywall screws are a pain.  Because they are phillips, they require a lot of pressure on the head to keep the driver from stripping out the head.  I suggest making it easy on yourself and getting some T25 torx head construction screws in the pan head variety like this:

2-1/2" should be fine for into the studs unless you have double layer drywall, then I would do 3".  For joining the cabinets together, just figure out the length required to go through the two materials but not poke out the other side.  For instance, if you're joining 3/4" to 3/4", 1-1/4" screws are perfect.  3/4" stuff to a 2x4, 1-5/8" is enough, or 2" works as well.

I personally did mine like the drawing below because I could conceal the screws behind the hinge.  I have also done it where I removed the short hinge screw and replaced it with a 2-1/2" screw so it was long enough to join the two together.

Regardless of which screw you use, you MUST predrill the holes when screwing the face frames together. If you don't, I guarantee they will split. 

Back with more questions, this time on how to attach the top.

Lower cabinets have no top panel that encloses the cabinet but I am using uppers and all are boxed in.

How would I best attach the counter top? The counter top is 3/4 thick. From the top of the cabinet (flat part) to the top of the edge is 3/4 inch as well. Do I put a spacer betwen the cabinet and top? Can i just geta long screw and go from inside the cabinet into the top?

Thanks for your help in all this

If you have enough linear inches of the top of the cabinets touching the bottom of the counter I would just use clear silicone caulk. No need to risk putting a screw up through the top.

At the most you could put some corner braces in the top of the cabinets that are flush with the top edge and that will give you a few more sq inches of surface mating.

CarKid1989 said:

Back with more questions, this time on how to attach the top.

Lower cabinets have no top panel that encloses the cabinet but I am using uppers and all are boxed in.

How would I best attach the counter top? The counter top is 3/4 thick. From the top of the cabinet (flat part) to the top of the edge is 3/4 inch as well. Do I put a spacer betwen the cabinet and top? Can i just geta long screw and go from inside the cabinet into the top?

Thanks for your help in all this

Yes. That will be fine. 
 

Be VERY CONFIDENT about your screw length. When a screw comes up through the surface, it's the start of a really E36 M3ty day. 

My thought from this morning after a cup of coffee was to get some three-quarter inch plywood to take up the gap between the cabinet and the underside of the countertop. Construction adhesive on top of that so it sticks the countertop then just screw from the cabinet into the spacer. That way I minimize the chance of poking through

Progress has been made.

Lifes been busy busy busy but the cabinets have been leveled and secured to the wall and the countertop has been fastened to the cabinets.

The baseboard that was used all over the house appears to be NLA so something "close" will have to do.

I have a formica backsplash--i was going to liquid nails/ construction adhesive it to the wall? I cant see anyway to used a fastener to secure it.

Thank you all for the ideas, tips and help

In reply to CarKid1989 :

These are all standard modular upper wall cabinets:

[edit] Date comprehension fail.