Method and materials to finish building built-in alcove cabinets

Ben1989

Hi all

I spontaneously decided to attempt creating built-in alcove cabinets. 

It's an alcove that's roughly 1050mm wide by 400mm deep. I therefore decided to start with a 1000mm x 570 kitchen base unit. I've attached a little birds eye view of the unit. I'm wondering what method to make it look more professional in terms of adjoining a side panel against the continuous wall and the more complex chimney breast end. I'm thinking come sort of L-shaped panel to take it against the wall.

Would MDF be suitable for this? Also, what material for the worktop? I plan to paint it all so would MDF be suitable because I know cut edges can be 'fluffy'.

I bought matching kitchen unit doors so they're taken cared of at least.

Ben1989

Picture below

FreeBear

Possibly a bit late now, but.... You can get slim line cabinets that are around 400mm deep. Failing that, use standard wall units and attach legs to them - I did the latter where I needed a shallow unit in my utility room. Legs are readily available from Screwfix, Toolstation, and the usual DIY sheds.

To avoid the fluffy edge on MDF, glue a thin strip of wood to the cut edge. Sand an paint.

Ben1989

Thanks Freebear. I actually want the deeper units for more storage space 

mi-key

The best way I  have found to deal with cut MDF fluffy edges is to skim them over with fine surface filler, then sand everything back flush. It gives a nice smooth finish to paint onto 

ThisIsWeird

Not sure what you mean by an 'L'-shaped panel, but just a normal MDF fillet would usually be fitted to fill the gaps. Either set in slightly, or flush with the front - depends on what looks best:

As for the fluffy MDF edge, yup, you'll have that. What I did was to add a dado rail along the front. The unit top is just 12mm MDF, tho' braced underneath to make it sturdy enough. All of this unit - apart from the timber dado rail - is made from 12mm MDF, doubled in thickness for the front frame, for example. The dado moulding makes the 12mm top look 'thick'.

Top is mini-foam-rollered in Satinwood - this gives a good finish on large flat surfaces, and is durable, important for tops. Actual unit is just brush-painted in emulsion.

Ben1989

Thanks all some great suggestions, especially the dado rail idea - genius.

What I mean by L-shaped feature is to make it seem all one unit like below, especially as it sticks out.

GDB2222

I hadn’t thought of using dado rail for finishing off, but it’s the sort of thing that architrave was invented for. 

ThisIsWeird

Ben1989 said:

Thanks all some great suggestions, especially the dado rail idea - genius.

What I mean by L-shaped feature is to make it seem all one unit like below, especially as it sticks out.

Depends what your unit looks like in that space. For instance, you may wish to just push it it tight against the breast (that's what mine effectively does, tho' it doesn't stick out as far) and then a cut-to-size filler panel on the LH side to the wall, fitted flush with your unit front.

Paint the filler panel the unit front colour so it looks part of it, unit top and dado trim also go right to wall to cover it all, so it looks like a wider unit, built-in. And dado rail mitred and 'returned' on breast side until it meets the breast front.

SadieO

ThisIsWeird said:

Top is mini-foam-rollered in Satinwood - this gives a good finish on large flat surfaces, and is durable, important for tops. Actual unit is just brush-painted in emulsion.

This looks so good! 

ThisIsWeird

Thank you