How to make your own cabinet doors
Today, I am going to show you how to make your own cabinet doors!
Okay, so I am very proud of this project because I made them 100% by myself. 
You know that I have a very handy husband that likes to help me with most of my projects, but this one I tackled all by myself.
We re-used and installed the cabinet shelves from our kitchen makeover, but we had to make new cabinet doors so they would match throughout the office.
I needed to make 9 cabinet doors: 4 upper cabinet doors, 1 lower cabinet door, and 4 window seat doors.
To save money, I bought a 4 x 8 foot sheet of MDF board from Lowe’s for approximately $37.00.
We had the employees at Lowe’s cut the MDF board into 9 pieces using the measurements we gave them for each cabinet/window seat door.
That made each cabinet door approximately $4.00 each, minus the trim pieces.
Not bad, huh?!!
To decide where I wanted to place the trim, I just used our level that was about 2 1/2 inches wide. I laid the level in line with the edge of each side of the door, and drew a line.
{You may decide to attach your trim at a different distance depending on the size of your cabinet doors.}
So then I was left with lines on the doors that I could use as guides as to where to install the trim.
I used my chop saw to cut my trim pieces at a 45 degree angle, then glue and nail them to the doors.
The picture below shows you what it looked like before I installed the last trim piece.
Some joints will come together better than others, but get as tight of a fit as you can. Then just use some wood filler to fill up the nail holes and joints.
Then sand the filler smooth after it dries, and you are ready to paint your doors!
I used this paint to paint my doors…
This is my favorite paint, and I used it on my kitchen cabinets as well. It is very durable!
I hung the doors on my window seats with some oil rubbed bronze hinges from Lowe’s.
I looked online for some oil rubbed bronze cabinet latches, but they were too pricey.
So I bought some inexpensive gold ones from Lowe’s, and spray painted them ORB.
If you push the screws into a card board box, it makes it easier to spray paint them.
Then I added the latches to the front of my window seats. I LOVE these window seats, people! They are probably my favorite part of my office space!
I also bought some ORB knobs from Lowe’s for my upper cabinets.
It am so glad I have some space in my office to hide my “uglies.” These cabinets hold a lot of my “stuff” that I don’t want everyone else to have to see.
So that is it!
Not too bad, huh?
I think my cabinet doors look great, AND I saved a ton of money! I was able to make all 9 cabinet doors, including the hardware, for less than $100. Yay!
Stay tuned for the next project in my office!
Coming soon…
oh yeah! THIS is why I love your blog. I will definitely be utilizing this in the future. We opted out of the builder grade mudroom, because I wanted to do myself and knew I could do it for a Lot less with MY personality. I also didn’t want the same mudroom that everyone else on the block has.
You are a Very clever girl. This room is turning out So great. I imagine you could even use flat trim on the edges for a Shaker-type profile. Ctd
great idea here…may have to replace some of our cabinets soon & i’ll definitely keep this method in mind!
Great job and easy on the budget as well! I bet it feels so good to have tackled this yourself. The tip about the screws is genius : )
Great job, Traci! Thanks for the budget-friendly tutorial.
You are amazing!
I love those doors! I’ve contemplated building new doors for our kitchen cabinets… and your post totally gives me the courage to give it a try!
Great job. You did it again, to my amazement. I can see that you are too busy to work out sided your family and we love you for it. Can’t wait to see the next project. God Bless!
Perfect! I would never have thought twice that they were that simple to put together!! XO
Fantastic, Traci!
xo Heidi
Love what you did for your cabinet doors. Just wondering if you applied the paint with a roller or brush? If roller, what type of foam roller? Probably obvious, but I’m not very experienced with painting furniture.
My son recently re-did his cabinet doors and used some flat FLOOR EDGING (baseboard!) to trim them out and they look amazing!
Also if you use caulk to fill in those small gaps you don’t even have to sand as you just smooth and go!
Great job! More inspiration for my re-do!
They look great Traci! I love the steps you outline. Makes it LOOK easy! ;) One question though – how did you determine what the measurements of each door would be? You obviously have to allow room for the hinges on the edge of the cabinet and even space all around. Help! Thanks so much, Tracie
LOVE IT !!! I am gonna build my own !
Can you also do this on existing cabinet doors. Mine are flat and need something added to them and this looks great!
Absolutely! :)
I’m going to be making my own doors, too. I love how you put these together!
As heavy as MDF is, was there a particular reason you went with 5/8″ vs. 3/4″? I’m even debating going 1/2″ because I’m going to be facing them with wine crate panels, which will add their own weight and thickness.
Wanna cover all the questions I might not have thought of before I dig in!
Thanks — and GREAT job.
Christine, there is not a particular reason I went with that size board besides the fact that that is what size my husband told me to get. :)
I’m sure you would be able to go with a smaller thickness and it would be just fine.
Good luck!
Traci
Traci, I love your cabinet doors. Did you pre-drill the holes for the hinges?
I don’t think I did. :) It’s been a while, but I don’t remember pre-drilling. You certainly could if you wanted to.
Thanks for the idea. Can you share the name of the paint you used? It isn’t showing up in the post. Thanks!