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It took me so long to finish the cabinets in the office area of my studio and covered so many blog posts that I thought it would be helpful to summarize all the information into one post with links to specific posts you make. If you want to customize the IKEA sectional cabinets in a similar way. So let’s start at the beginning.
Those cabinets that are IKEA sectional cabinets turned out to be…
So I’ll start at the beginning and go through the process of these cabinets.
Preparing the cabinet boxes
After putting the cabinet boxes together according to the instructions provided with the Ikea sectional cabinets, I made and attached my own feet instead of using the feet you can buy separately from Ikea for the sectional cabinets. I did this because I needed a specific height that was lower than the lowest height that the IKEA adjustable legs offer. So I used 1″ x 4″ lumber, cut it down to the right width on my table saw, and then cut, glued, and nailed four pieces for each leg I needed. They don’t have to be pretty because they won’t show up in the finished cabinets.
Then I attached it to the bottom of the lower cabinets using a hot glue gun.
Ikea department installing cabinets
I also didn’t use the rails that IKEA sells to secure the cabinets to the wall. Instead, I used 1″ x 4″ lumber, attached it to the wall by screwing it into studs, and then I used the hardware provided with the cabinets (screws and brackets) to screw the cabinets to the 1″ x 4″ board, and also nail the cabinets together.
And here this cabinet installation becomes very different from the mural wall cabinet installation. After the lower cabinets were secured to the wall and to each other, I added the side upper cabinet boxes, screwing the boxes together as I went.
With all the boxes assembled and secured to the wall and to each other, it looks like this…
Customizing and painting IKEA wedding doors and drawer fronts
I used wedding doors and drawer fronts because they are flat and made of MDF, so I thought they would be easy to customize. I sanded each of the front and back…
Then the trim is added to customize the look…
After the trim was attached and caulked, I used a BIN shellac based primer to prime the doors and drawer fronts using my sprayer.
This is the sprayer I use when I want to spray cabinets or furniture. (affiliate link). It’s similar to the Critter Siphon Gun I mentioned, which inexplicably skyrocketed in price a year ago (but seems to have come back down to a reasonable price), except that it has a plastic container instead of glass. I really like plastic because if I drop it or it rolls off my work table (which seems to happen at least once every time I use it), it doesn’t break. The glass container on the critter breaks every time.
I use a sprayer My porter cable pancake air compressor (affiliate link). Several years ago, I shared a comparison between two paint sprayers I owned and why I choose this particular paint sprayer for spraying cabinets and furniture.
I sanded by hand with 220-grit sandpaper between each coat to ensure the best possible finish.
Building cabinets and wiring for scans
I didn’t want these cabinets to have the look of full overlay doors and drawer fronts when they were finished. I wanted them to have a more inset look when they were finished. So it required quite a bit of work with lots of spacers, plywood side panels and a lot of planning to get them right.
The basic idea was that not only would I have to build the sides of the cabinets, but also provide an area to attach to the front trim, as well as add space for the electrical wires to run through.
And I did that by adding two 2″ x 2″ pieces of wood to each side of each cabinet…
Then attaching the plywood to those 2″ x 2″ strips. (I used plywood instead of IKEA side panels because I was going to be priming and painting.)
This allowed me to add trim to the front edges (changing the doors and drawer fronts from full overlay to inset), and it also allowed me to run the wiring to add the sconces.
But again, each step of that process is explained in the post linked above.
Building a bridge
I decided to build a bridge connecting the cabinets on both sides because without the bridge, the cabinets seemed a bit dwarfed by this wall that was so big and tall. You can see what I mean in this photo.
I felt that adding a bridge would make the cabinets look more substantial on that large wall, as well as give the cabinets a more streamlined look.
Cutting cabinets
After the basic build was all done, I was finally ready to cut the cabinets. Adding decorative trim is always fun because it really gives cabinets a finished and customized look.
I also shared a “cheat” method for creating a substantial crown molding look without the hassle of cutting crown molding.
Here’s what the faux crown molding looks like after it’s installed.
And here’s how the cabinets looked after they were all cut…
And after that, it was just a matter of priming, painting and clear coating the cabinets before I installed the doors and drawer fronts.
Building the Countertop
I made the countertop in this section of cabinets the same way I made the 20-foot long countertop in the mural wall section of cabinets.
The main difference between that long 20-foot countertop and this short one is that this short countertop needs returns at the ends because the countertop sits between the cabinets, the countertop extends an inch past the front of the cabinets, and doesn’t sit in the middle. Two side walls.
Final details
And with a few more details like installing window trim, installing sconces and gold leafing the backs of the cubbies and adding drawer and door pulls, the cabinets are done!
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