My Dream Kitchen

[agarwalsa]

Here is my kitchen I made which took me almost a year to complete working part weekends. My first attempt at something so massive but boy, was it fun. In fact I feel very 'unemployed' since I finished this project. We were in the market to buy some kitchen cabinets as part of the kitchen remodel but I could not get myself to spend so much money on particle board cabinets and then try and fit the kitchen to the cabinets so decided to design and make it myself. Well that is the official version anyway. The reality is I could not give up on such an opportunity to buy all the tools I wanted but could never justify !

I designed this using AutoCAD. I used beaded face frames and inset doors. The drawers have applied molding and doors are frame and panel.  There are cobels and onlays that I bought. Used 3/4" prefinished plywood on the inside and poplar/maple outside and finished it by spraying tinted lacquer. All joinery is Dominos. Even the drawers. Drawers are from 1/2" prefinished plywood. Must have used more than 1000 dominoes -  this kitchen has 100 doors and drawers. Drawer Slides are Tandem Full Extension with Blumotion.

My main tools were a Sawstop Tablesaw, Festools MFT/3, CT22, TS55, RS2, ETS150/3, OF1010, LR32, Domino, Kapex and Bosch and Milwaukee table mounted Routers and Incra fences on the router tables and the MFT/3. I also bought an OF1400 and RO150 but they didnt get much use.

 

[GPowers]

Only a year, looks like a ton of work. It would take me a life time.  Looks beautiful, bet the wife loves it [big grin]

 

[spikfot]

Gotta love that Blumotion!

 

[mouppe]

It looks fantastic. What are you going to do next?

 

[GPowers]

It looks fantastic. What are you going to do next?

he is going to do my house [big grin]

 

[jonny round boy]

That looks great! Well done. Could we have some pics of the insides? Drawers etc.

When you say it took a year, I take it that was a year of building the cabinets elsewhere, before ripping out the old kitchen? How long did the actual install take you? I can't see your wife being too enthusiastic about going a full year without any kitchen...

 

[pdlandgang]

Incredible work!!!!

 

[nclemmons]

Very nice work.  Great photos too.

Curious about the fluting and how you did that.

Excellent detail in the drawers, doors, beaded frames, etc.

Thanks for sharing.

neil

 

[Theshipstore]

Fantastic Job....Well worth the years wait for completion    The detail work is awesome

 

[ScotF]

Awesome work!  Very impressive...my kitchen is 1/2 your size and it took me over a year to complete.  Did you do the finishing yourself or did you outsource?  Love the granite.

Scot

 

[ScotF]

Did you do the finishing yourself or did you outsource?

I should have said that it looks like you outsourced as the finish came out very nice.  That is a lot of spraying!

Scot

 

[agarwalsa]

Thanks for all your compliments.

It looks fantastic. What are you going to do next?

he is going to do my house [big grin]

Thanks [smile] for your confidence but I doubt I want to do more cabinets anytime soon. My next project is a Federal Coffee Table, and I plan to use hammer veneering and scratch inlay techniques. Need a break from the Domino !

That looks great! Well done. Could we have some pics of the insides? Drawers etc.

When you say it took a year, I take it that was a year of building the cabinets elsewhere, before ripping out the old kitchen? How long did the actual install take you? I can't see your wife being too enthusiastic about going a full year without any kitchen...

I will get some pictures of the drawers and insides later today.
The old kitchen was ripped off a year ago as part of the overall remodel. The original plan was to buy cabinets. Thankfully we have a kitchenette in the basement. It was tough but we survived. It looks all worth it now that it is complete. I did all the work on-site in the kitchen. Miss that space now.

Curious about the fluting and how you did that.

I did the fluting using the an OF1400 and the edge guide. Just made the marks and routed the cavities. This was the only time the OF1400 got used, and the only reason to buy it.

I should have said that it looks like you outsourced as the finish came out very nice.  That is a lot of spraying!
Scot

Scot, I did do the spraying myself and that was the toughest part of the job in my view. Each component ,was sprayed individually in my garage before assembly. I first made the face frames, sprayed and glazed them and then dominoed them into the cabinets. Did the same with the drawer fronts, doors, moldings and everything else. I used the Earlex 5000 sprayer and am very happy with the results! It is not that hard once you start.

 

[tiralie]

Here is my kitchen I made which took me almost a year to complete working part weekends.

Really nice work!
Looks beautiful. My wife is very, very patient, but I can only imagine what she would say if she was without her kitchen for a year.

I designed this using AutoCAD.

Any chance you could post a jpeg/graphic of the original design?
It would be interesting to compare the final to the original.

Drawer Slides are Tandem Full Extension with Blumotion.

Are those under mount or side mounts? I have heard that the side mount w/Blumotion can be a bit of a problem.

Is there any problem with debris buildup and cleaning under the cabinets? The reason I ask is I am building a built in bookcase/desk units (see post) that has a similar feature.

Is , your "avatar" or personal picture a section of your tool chest. Have I seen that someplace else, maybe here?

Again, great work thanks for posting.

Tim

 

[dltflt]

Very nice job.  I'm gpowers it would take me a life time to complete that.

 

[rookie08]

That is amazing!  Great work.  Definitely can't let my wife see it or it's going to move to the top of an already long list!  [scared]

I've never done much finishing, but I know I can build something great but the finish can easily negate everything if it's messed up and yours came out fantastic.  I'm not familiar when you say glaze.  Is that a type of paint, method of painting?  Any chance you could post the steps you took for that phenomenal finish?

Thanks!!

 

[Jeff Zanin]

Absolutely gorgeous - design, execution, lighting, materials, appliances, even photography.

Very very nice, and with all due respect to Festool and other brands I think most of the credit should go to yourself and anyone else who contributed to the work.

 

[agarwalsa]

Are those under mount or side mounts? I have heard that the side mount w/Blumotion can be a bit of a problem.

Is there any problem with debris buildup and cleaning under the cabinets? The reason I ask is I am building a built in bookcase/desk units (see post) that has a similar feature.

Is , your "avatar" or personal picture a section of your tool chest. Have I seen that someplace else, maybe here?
Tim

The slides are undermount, they work like a charm. So far I have not seen any dust build up or anything.

My profile picture is from a Spice Box I made - based on a Steve Latta artice in Fine Woodworking.

I'm not familiar when you say glaze.  Is that a type of paint, method of painting?  Any chance you could post the steps you took for that phenomenal finish?

Glazing is nothing but putting some kind of stain (usually dark) in all crevices and corners and wiping it off so it leaves a residual. I used a water based lacquer and an oil based glaze over.

 

[LostInTheWood]

That is magnificent!  I've only done a few cabs here and there, though I would love to do a whole kitchen like that some day.  A lot of work, but the rewards are ten-fold and your pictures are proof of that.  Great job! 

 

[agarwalsa]

Some more pics of cabinets that were not included before and some details of interiors and drawers.

The drawers are prefinished maple edge banded and dominoed. I did buy a Leigh D4RPro as my original plan was to dovetail but I preferred the look of the prefinished interor much more than having to finish raw maple myself. The cabinets inside are the same so having the drawers the same adds to the overall richness of the interior.