Making my own kitchen 😥🤞

[Richard Burns]

Hi everyone,

Looking for a little advise, I'm going to have a go at building/making my own kitchen and was after some direction to what material I should use.

Would MRMDF be the best choice?
What thickness would be best?
Should I use a specific paint?

Many thanks in advance

 

[Spectric]

You need to be more specific on what style you want, MDF boxes or something more traditional and also this will impact to an extent the tools required.

 

[Richard Burns]

Will be looking to make basic shaker style cabinets.

 

[Kayen]

Melamine faced chipboard for the cabinets (can't beat it) MRF for the doors would work well. There are plenty of firms that cut and edge at a reasonable cost and it's really the best way to do it. The best finish is something like sprayed PU or AC, but if you haven't the necessary equipment, oil based eggshell will have to do.

 

[meccarroll]

Hi Richard I am a carpenter and currently finishing a kitchen made from melamine (Cupboards) and MR MDF (for panels doors etc) I have made kitchens and bedroom furniture etc before too.

A lot depends upon your equipment and skill level and work area when contenplating a project like a kitchen.

I used 18mm melamine faced chipboard for the cabinet carcases and once cut I used an edge bander to apply pre glued edging tape to the cut edges. The units are put together using cam dowels and wooden dowels (the same as flat pack kitchens).

For the face of the cabinets I used 18mm MR MDF cut to size then sprayed with water based paint (one high build primer and two top coats).

I have a panle saw with scoring blade and CNC router so cutting the melamine was not too bad but for me. If you do not have equipment that can cleanly cut melamine it might not be the best choice of material for you to use as it can chip on the edges when being cut. Another option for you would be to buy the units without doors etc and add your own doors draws etc which might be a better option if you are short on equipment.

Mr MDF is a very common material to use in cabinet construction for draw fronts trim etc. You could easily make shaker style doors and draw fronts form it and it's not too expensive either. I normally use 18mm MR MDF for shaker style door frames and 6mm MDF for the panels but 9mm is another common thickness for door panels too.

For ironmongery fittings I use Blum which are slightly more expensive than some others but well worth the extra as the technical back up is second to none.

I do have spray equipment HVLP spray guns, Complient spry gund and conventinal spray guns, turbines and compressors etc so can manage to spray finish my items but if you don't have this equipment I'd think about hand painting using a speciality paint.

The kitchan I am currently making has 14 units and well over 100 pieces of cabinet parts so you are going to need to plan out your kitchen first. I use CAD to draw out the kitchen plan and elevations then skip over to the Blum cabinet configurator to design the actual cabinet and obtain cutting lists and fittings parts lists. I also use an online panel cutting optimiser to work out the most economical way to cut up my sheet material.

Mark