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You want to learn how to make your own cabinets, but aren’t sure where to start? There are tons of free resources online to help you on your quest, but getting started can feel daunting. Online tutorials aren’t all created equal, and for every good instructional source, there are at least ten bad ones. Knowing which ones to watch and which ones to skip is important.
Following are links to some of the best resources I’ve come across on my journey to teach myself to build my own kitchen cabinets. I hope you find them as helpful as I did!
Overall, my favorite creators who make woodworking and cabinet-building content are:
Bourbon Moth Woodworking – His videos are to the point, but extremely informational with a side of humor. He’s a professional craftsman with a focus on producing educational content for beginner woodworkers, as well as sharing project specific builds.
DIY Wife – Andrea’s channel is all about her DIY adventures, featuring her husband as moral – and comedic – support. She’s recently started teaching herself and her followers how to build progressively more complex furniture pieces. Her bathroom vanity tutorial is actually what I used as a reference for my bathroom vanity build!
Tools for Beginner Woodworkers
Tools every woodworker needs | Start Building for under $1000 (Bourbon Moth Woodworking) – This is an excellent baseline video for setting up a workshop geared toward cabinet making. Or, you can check out my tool buying guide.
Assemble RIDGID Universal Mobile Miter Saw Stand with Mounting Braces - Model AC9946 (Married Man Woodworking) – The set-up instructions for the Rigid miter saw and stand are the absolute worst. This video was so easy to follow, and as one commenter noted, helped them avoid tool-induced anger management issues.
How To Set Up Your RIDGID R45171 Table Saw (WorkMateGuy) – I used this tutorial to set up my Rigid table saw and it was a breeze.
Kreg Rip-Cut: Setup and Review (Fixit Fingers) – Such an easy set-up guide for the Kreg rip-cut tool. I got this tool set up and attached to my circular saw in less than 10 minutes using this video.
Buying Wood
Don't Buy Wood Here || Beginners Guide to Buying Wood (Bourbon Moth Woodworking) – Very informative video on what to know about buying wood for your projects. A must-watch before purchasing any materials!
Cabinet Box Construction
Build Cabinets The Easy Way | How to Build Cabinets (Bourbon Moth Woodworking) – This is my all-time favorite cabinet making video series. Hands down it is the best I’ve found thus far on YouTube.
Building Custom Kitchen Cabinets // Extreme Home Makeover [Part 2] // How To Build Kitchen Cabinets (DIY Wife) – This video mostly features pocket hole construction, which is generally considered very beginner-friendly for cabinet builds.
Building Our KITCHEN CABINETS From Scratch! (Kitchen Makeover Part 3) | XO, MaCenna – This is a good tutorial if you’re interested in building a 2x4 base on which to install simple, square cabinets. This method is by far the easiest for ensuring a level surface across all cabinet boxes (versus individually leveling each cabinet box, which is what I did and probably wouldn’t do again).
MAKING A CORNER UPPER CABINET (EASY!)…. *kitchen cabinets* (Cabinet Wise) – I loosely followed this video for building my upper cabinets, with modifications to account for a 90-degree face corner and French cleat wall mounting.
Upper Cabinet Basics || How to Build Kitchen Cabinets Series Part 6 of 9 (Robert Dailey – Dailey Woodworks) – Quick and easy tutorial on building uppers that use the French cleat wall mount method.
How to Build Basic Cabinets--Using ONLY PLYWOOD! (Shara Woodshop Diaires) – This video walks you through overlay cabinet box construction, but you could easily modify this tutorial to make inset boxes. This is also a good example of how to build cabinets without any hardwoods, which add to the expense of these types of DIYs.
3 Ways To Build Cabinet Doors (Mr. Build It) – This is a great, quick video detailing a beginner, intermediate and advanced way to construct shaker style cabinet doors.
How to Make an Arched Cabinet || Step Up Your Cabinet Game (Bourbon Moth Woodworking) – If you want to build a slicker looking arched cabinet than the one I made for my kitchen, this tutorial is for you.
Drawer Construction
Quick Tip: How To Install Drawer Slides Easily and Accurately (Kreg Tool) – I used the Kreg jig from this video to install my drawer slides and it was incredibly easy to use. It works with both inset and overlay drawers. There are other methods for installing drawer slides, but this is nearly error proof (as long as your drawer openings are properly square!), which is why I am a fan of it.
Build Cabinets The Easy Way | Building and Installing Drawers (Bourbon Moth Woodworking) – This is a great drawer install video if you’re building pocket-hole drawers (typically referred to as standard drawer box construction) and installing undermount drawer slides.
Build Cabinets The Easy Way | How to Make Drawer Faces (Bourbon Moth Woodworking)
Easy Box Joint Jig | How To Make Box Joints (Bourbon Moth Woodworking) – If you’re feeling adventurous and want to make drawer boxes that are slightly nicer than pocket hole constructed boxes, then this is a super easy tutorial to follow. What I like about this method is that box joints offer as nice of a dovetail look without being as complicated to make as dovetail joints.
Finishing Techniques
6 Ways to cover plywood edges - Which do you think is best?? (3x3 Custom - Tamar) – Iron on edge-banding is an option I lean on heavily for finishing plywood edges, but for shelving, Tamar provides some nicer and hardier finish options in this video.
3 Simple Projects for Better Kitchen Storage (Fix This Build That) – I have this video earmarked for when I’m ready to finish the insides of my cabinets.
Tips & Tricks
Choosing the Correct Screw Pocket Screw | Woodworkers Guild of America – I beg you, please make sure you use the correct screws for your projects. Screws are designed to perform for specific applications. A project’s construction will fail over time if the wrong type of screw is used.
How To Easily Install Concealed Hinges & Cabinet Doors (Kreg Tool) – This tutorial walks you through hinge installation for overlay cabinet doors, but the jigs used in the video also work for inset doors. Euro hinges are a great option for cabinet door mounting because they are easy to install, are concealed (meaning you cannot see the hinge hardware on the outside of the cabinet), and come in a soft close option. This is the hinge type I plan on using for most of my cabinet doors, minus the few that will need normal hinges due to space constraints. Really, I think it’s just my sink cabinet and a couple bi-fold doors that will need special attention.
If you prefer reading, "Building Kitchen Cabinets and Bathroom Vanities" by Steve Cory is an excellent resource that walks you through materials, woodworking tips, and different construction methods. To be honest though, I've only referenced this book a couple of times looking for answers to technical questions I couldn't answer easily through Google searches.
An important note: there are certainly wrong ways to build cabinets, but there is no single correct way to build them. In fact, there are many acceptable techniques for building cabinets, ranging from beginner-friendly options through to more advanced construction techniques. My best advice is to do your own research and decide which approach is best for your skill set and comfort level, then try it out.
Best of luck with your project and happy nesting,
Christine
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