(One side of the MDF I used has a white vinyl finish on it.)Īt this point, the MDF is cut, and the doors and drawer fronts are removed, cleaned and sanded. Intrigued, I had him cut the 4’x8′ sheet of 1/4″ MDF into strips of 3″ for the cabinet doors and 2″ for the cabinet drawers. Still, he calmed my fears and assured me it would work.Īll I would need to do to give it a water-proof coat is to paint it He said it would take a LOT of prep work to get the type of finish I wanted and he recommended that we look for a different/better product, possibly MDF.Īt first, the thought of using MDF instantly brought up a mental image of water-logged trim pieces, sagging and eventually disintegrating onto my kitchen floors. Not surprisingly, he had the same concerns I did about using plywood. I explained to him what I was doing and asked what his thoughts were.

You would have to do some prep work to the plywood before you could use it to make cabinet doors.īecause of this, I put off buying the plywood for a month, while I considered my options.įinally, I went to Home Depot ( love my local store) and found a helpful worker. If you have ever used cheap plywood before, you would know that it splinters easy, and there can be gaps in the sides of the wood ( unless you use a more expensive cabinet grade plywood). INFORMATION ABOUT MDF TRIMĪlthough I used other tutorials as my inspiration to start my project, something worried me – the other tutorials were working with 1/4″ plywood. You can print the material list and instructions below. 1/4″ MDF sheet or Cabinet Grade Plywood ( I used one cut to 3″ for the doors & 2″ for the drawers).We have always loved the look of the classic shaker style furniture – it complements any design aesthetic with its simple elegance and clean lines. In the end, we decided to update the kitchen cabinets, without replacing them, by adding MDF trim to create DIY shaker cabinet doors. Neither did I want to spend the money or time to build new ones.

Our own kitchen cabinets were outdated, but I could not bring myself to rip out these solid wood cabinets. Is your homeowner anxiety making you sweat or is it the cooling system again? Their sad, rusted knobs and badly-scratched surfaces beg for your attention.Īnd your kitchen is the last place you want to hang out when family and friends come over. Today, you’re still staring at the worn, neglected kitchen cabinets. These unexpected emergency repairs drained your home improvement funds over the years. How could you have known that you would soon be sitting on cracked foundations and sweating with a faulty HVAC system? When you moved into your home, you had an ambitious list of all the renovations you would tackle in the first year. A step-by-step tutorial on how to update kitchen cabinets without replacing them by adding MDF trim to the door to create a DIY shaker style cabinet.

Diy kitchen cabinet makeover ideas