Building Laundry Room Cabinets

We’ve been moving along with the One Room Challenge by conquering our laundry room remodel. So much has been done, and yet, there is still so much to do. This past week the focus was building laundry room cabinets. Our next door neighbor, Andy, was such an incredible blessing and helped us build two cabinets – one for the farmhouse sink, and one with a drawer (you saw a quick peek of this one last week). We’ve never built cabinets before and he was willing to help us with his expertise and knowledge for this huge undertaking.

If you missed the previous weeks of this remodel make sure to click on the links below to see where we started.

Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Weeks 5&6

We used birch plywood for all of the cabinets. Andy helped us come up with a plan and they got to work.

Once the individual sides were constructed, it was time to assemble the cabinets.

You can see how meticulous they were with lining up all of the pieces.

Andy emphasized how important wood glue is when putting a cabinet together – it creates a tight seal and reinforces the pieces when finishing with nails or screws.

Joe sanded the front of the cabinet. A smooth finish was necessary for the trim/faceplate.

A hole needed to be cut exactly where the sink drain will be. (Not pictured)

Next came the finishing touches to the laundry basket/drawer cabinet – it was time to attach the drawer slide hardware. We held our breath while trying this out.

It was a perfect fit! We learned a long time ago… measure twice, cut once. (Somehow we always learn the hard way – ha!)

Installing the Cabinets

Before putting the lower cabinets in place, a ledger board was screwed into the wall for hanging the upper cabinets. This was to make sure they would be level when hanging.

The lower cabinets were then placed in the laundry room. (You can also see the folding table we were able to complete).

Please don’t mind the laundry room mess… this is real life – true behind the scenes moment… ha!

At this point we felt like we were making good progress, don’t you think? I loved seeing the cutout for the farmhouse sink. This cabinet was a challenge for me to figure out, but with Andy’s help, it was easy. Thanks Andy!

Here is the beautiful sink…

Why do sinks make me smile inside? Oh, I don’t know, but this Shaw farmhouse sink is a good one. Notice the trim/faceplate pieces.

After hanging the remaining upper cabinets, Joe nailed the shiplap in place.

To make the upper cabinets look more “custom” we created shelves in between the cabinets.

Behind the scenes I’ve been a little painting fairy – it was a big job painting the cabinets, trim, door, walls. But I am loving it. Hard work pays off for sure.

See the plywood there? Next week you will see a beautiful honed marble (I will be doing a little happy dance too!).

Next week is the final reveal… what? Most of our list is complete and everything is coming along nicely.

Laundry Room Project List

FLOOR AND BUILD PLANS – ~~Draw a floor plan and elevation sketches for exact measurements of space.~~
CABINETS – ~~Remove and Replace with new layout and design. Replace upper cabinets~~, ~~build surround around refrigerator~~, ~~build lower cabinets – one for farmhouse sink, and another with a drawer and open space below.~~
FLOORING – ~~Remove and Replace flooring with black and cream tile in a diagonal patter~~n
DROP ZONE – ~~Build a bench with underneath storage for shoes~~ ~~and hooks for hanging necessities~~.
DOOR – ~~Replace the door with a floor to ceiling window to the outdoors.~~
FOLDING TABLE – ~~Build a folding table positioned on top of the washer and dryer, this will include building a lower surround for the washer and dryer.~~
NEW COUNTERTOP – A honed marble countertop that coordinates with the paint and flooring.
WALL TREATMENT – ~~Use vertical plank/shiplap to create interest – painted the same color as the cabinets, paint walls a light cream.~~
LIGHTING – ~~Replace lighting by removing the fluorescent lighting.~~