The Definitive Guide to Used Kitchen Cabinets | Ben's Repurposed Cabinetry

The DEFINITIVE Guide to Used Kitchen Cabinets

Hello and welcome, I’m excited you’ve chosen to start this journey with us! I just want to start off by assuring you that using used kitchen cabinets isn’t as difficult as it looks or as you may have been told by others. There are tons of options and simple solutions to help you achieve your desired look as well as overcome your problems, and in this guide our goal is to show you what some of those are. In addition, we’ll also go over some real scenarios as well common repairs, customer stories, and even how to go about installing them yourself. I’m confident by the end of it you’ll feel excited and empowered to get this project started.

Part 1: Making It Work

The biggest piece of advice that we can give our customers, that will help eliminate a lot of future headaches and frustrations, is to understand that the cabinets you’re shopping for don’t need to have the exact same measurements as your existing cabinets. The box structure of cabinets allow them to be moved around and organized into many different angles and layouts.

We understand the difficulty in doing this on your own, which is why we provide all the tools you’ll need, including design services! You choose the kitchen you want, and it’s up to us to make it fit! After you have your design, all you have to do is install the cabinets and fill the gaps and dead space that you don’t want. That can be as simple as installing a piece of filler or you can go the extra mile and give your new kitchen even more utility with the unused space!

Below we’ll go over some of these easy solutions to some of the most common problems our customer’s face, and hopefully give you an idea of what you can do with your kitchen. Let’s get started!

Missing Corners

When you’re trying to fit used kitchen cabinets into your space, the best place to start is at the corner. It’s the heart of the kitchen and everything else builds out from here. Sometimes you may find a kitchen on our website that you love, but unfortunately it doesn’t have the corner cabinet or just doesn’t have enough corner cabinets. Don’t give up on that set though! All you need is some inspiration for what you can do if you don’t have the necessary corner cabinets.

Use a 45-Degree Angle

By going off a 45-degree angle at the corner, you give yourself a lot of options. You could install just about any 18-inch cabinet with a drawer base at this angle. Another idea would be to put in just a cabinet door with open space behind it. How you fill that space is then up to you! If you want to go bigger, use the corner as your pantry. Either add a pantry cabinet or frame in a small room with a door for a walk-in option. We’ve also seen customers use this part of the kitchen for a corner cooktop, range, or oven/microwave combo.

Use a Blind Corner Cabinet

Using a blind corner cabinet is a great way to utilize that corner space without the need for another cabinet front. The term “blind” refers to the fact that one side of the cabinet is hidden from view, while it’s still able to be accessed from one of the cabinet fronts at the corner. All you need to achieve this is a cabinet base with two doors or two doors and two drawers.

Blind corner organizers, such as the one in the photo below, are very popular and can be purchased online as well at your local big box stores. They come in various styles such as swing out, pullout, and even soft close sliding that attaches to the door!

Keep it as "Dead Space"

Another option, if you don’t have the means to make a blind cabinet or just don’t care too much about utilizing that corner space, is to just leave it as “dead” space. Looking at the photo above, you can see that it’s not even noticeable. Just use a piece of filler, to give the cabinet at the corner some separation, and you’re good to go!

Narrow Gaps (6" or less)

Now that you have some solutions for your corner space, you may be running into a few gaps between your cabinets. The good news is gaps are easy to fill and may even become a favorite part of your kitchen.

Use Filler w/ the Optional Spice Rack

Any of your small spaces can easily be filled by a piece of filler. All you need to do is go to your nearest Home Depot or local hardware store and find a section of wood and match it to your cabinets. You may have to bring in a piece so that an employee can match wood type and color. Then all that’s left is to install it.

If you’d like to go a step further, a spice rack is a great addition and can be done very simply. To accomplish this you just need to find the spice rack you want. A quick Google or Amazon search will pull up all kinds of cool shelving options and builtin organizers for this space. (Try searching the brand Rev-A-Shelf!). After you’ve found the shelf or rack that you want, then you can just attach the filler piece (that you bought and finished in our last step) to the front.

Add Some "Unique-to-You" Features

Some other options could be something like adding some shelves for wine bottle storage or even just filling the space with a rolling cart for storage or, as you can see in the photo below, a coffee and tea station. There really isn’t a limit (other than size) to what you can do with the space. That really is the beauty of remodeling a kitchen with used kitchen cabinets. It forces you to be creative, which means the end product may include some really cool features that you wouldn’t have even thought to include otherwise, and It’s these little details that result in a space that is uniquely you.

Missing Uppers

Up to this point, we’ve covered some easy DIY solutions for missing corner cabinets and narrow gap utilization. This next section will focus on the problem of your dream kitchen not having enough wall cabinets, to fill your space. As always our solutions are easy for the typical buyer and they won’t only help solve your cabinet problem, but may in fact become a cool accent to your overall kitchen design.

Open Shelving Saves the Day

One of the easiest ways to fill in gaps caused by missing upper cabinets is to use open shelving. This solution isn’t only practical but also very trendy right now. Although you could paint or stain to match, open shelving also looks very good when it works as an accent. That could be using a natural look wood with a live edge, metal, or even glass (which creates this really cool floating dish effect)! You could also change how they’re mounted, as you can see in the photos below, floating or suspended.

Get Creative with Door Styles

If you want to avoid building cabinets that exactly match the rest of your kitchen, a gorgeous option is to use glass or lattice-style doors. The idea here is that it’s not hard to get an upper box that serves it’s purpose and matches the rest, and by using a glass insert cabinet door you can bypass the need to match cabinet doors, which can be very difficult!

Using this kitchen as an example, you can see how the glass inserts can really go well with the overall design of the kitchen, and in this case I’d say they even compliment the rest of the kitchen.

Add Another Rack

As always, you can never go wrong with a well placed wine rack, which is easily made with some wood planks, but you could also add plate rack. These could be made to match or presented as an accent to the rest of your kitchen design.

Add Some Beadboard

Adding some beadboard, which can be bought at most home improvement stores, is a simple and affordable way to spruce up some of that open space. You can see how this homeowner used it in the photo below, and they even added a plate organizer to really bring that space together!

Missing Bases

Use Upside-Down Uppers

We think it’s pretty neat how this kitchen island base incorporates upper cabinets that have been flipped upside down! 30inch tall uppers create a regular height island. Taller uppers could be used for a raised bar seating portion. The only caveat with this, as you may have noticed, is that upper cabinets are usually 12″ deep and base cabinets are 24″ deep. The best place to use uppers in this way would be in a place like the back of an island, where it doesn’t matter if the cabinets are a little more shallow.

At the very least you can use the cabinet fronts from the uppers and attach them to a deeper box, which is a lot more affordable then ordering a whole new custom cabinet to fit.

Add Your Appliance of Choice

Instead of adding more cabinets, how about a beverage fridge, an ice maker, a second dishwasher, or a wine fridge? These options can be fun and are generally more cost effective than purchasing a custom made cabinet. The appliances all come in a variety of widths, some even as narrow as 6″, which means you’re bound to find something that’ll fit the space your dealing with. Rolling the mouse over the photos will reveal the widths they come in.

Wine coolers come in widths of 6" to 30", in increments of 3.

Ice makers comes in widths of 15" and 18"

Beverage fridges come in widths of 12", 15", 18", and 24"

Dishwashers, commonly, come 24" wide but can also be bought at 18" wide as well.

Another Place for Open Shelving

Are you noticing a pattern here with open shelving? (See our “Above the Fridge” and “Missing Uppers” solutions.) You can install custom open shelving in place of missing cabinet bases, too.

If you’re wanting to differentiate some of the open shelving in your kitchen, add your own storage such as a wicker or wire basket! They can both be bought at any Walmart or Target, or you may even have a couple of your own that you can use!

Above the Fridge

When in Doubt, Leave It Open

The most important point to make here not to obsess over that rarely used space above the fridge. If you can’t find an easy way to utilize it then just leave it open. The space sits up high enough that it doesn’t generally get used on a regular basis. Some kitchens don’t even integrate the refrigerator with the rest of the cabinetry.

That being said, there are plenty of cool ways to use the space if you so choose, and here are some of our favorites!

Adding an Island

You can have an island even if one didn’t come with your recycled cabinet set! Here are some ways to include this feature.

Create a Contrast

Your cabinets do not have to be all the same color. In fact, two-tone kitchens are stunning! We’ve even seen examples where the homeowner incorporated not only two, but three or four colors throughout their cabinets, shelves, and island. Contrast isn’t only limited to colors either. You could contrast styles such as modern and rustic, distressed and polished, or traditional and contemporary.

You Don't Need Many Cabinets

Island don’t have to be overly complicated or consist of a large amount of cabinets. The most important part of the island is going to be the countertop, so really your goal here is just supporting that piece section of countertop. This can be done easily with as few as one or two cabinets. As you can see in the photos below there are a couple ways to do this. The island top could fit the cabinets exact, such as the photo on the right, or the top could extend out further and be supported by columns, like you see in the left photo.

Island Built of Beams

Islands with pillars and beams create an open and airy look for your kitchen. Not to mention, they provide a spacious seating area. As you can see from the photos below, there are a variety of ways to use beam or pillars to create an island. You can reclaimed wood for a rustic look, like the photo to the right, or you can create a more “polished” look such as the photo below. You can also integrate a cabinet, or two, with the beams, such as in the photo in the bottom right.

Finishing Touches

What To Do About Crown Molding?

The thing to remember here is that crown molding is completely optional. Many kitchen design don’t even utilize crown molding.

If you do want to install crown molding though, it’s as easy as going to your nearest hardware store or lumber yard and getting the necessary crown molding, boards, or trim pieces. Then painting or staining and installing them.

Toekicks

Let me pose a couple questions for you. How important is the toe kick in the grand scheme of things? Looking back, can you actually remember any of the toekicks in the kitchens we looked at? The reason I ask this is because people tend to fret over this rarely noticed area of the kitchen. Toekick boards can be bought at any big box store. All you have to do is get the boards and paint or stain them to match. Nobody will ever notice if it’s not a perfect match.

Rather than finishing their toe kick boards, some of our customers choose to overlay it with a rubber cove base, such as you see below. These come in different colors and provide homeowners with an option that resists a lot of damage.

If you’re feeling really creative, you could even turn your toe kicks into more storage space, like you see in the photo to the left.

Part 2: Real Scenarios

To start opening your mind to the possibilities here, I’d like to walk you through a couple scenarios.

Scenario #1

For the purposes of this demo, I’m going to use the Marilyn Montana kitchen pictured here. This gorgeous knotty alder softclose kitchen comes with a whopping 40 cabinets and 3 appliances, so that gives us lots of flexibility

Here’s the footprint of the original kitchen.

(Red lines show the walls, while black lines show where cabinets are placed)

We have two customers, John and Jane, who are interested in this kitchen and want to see if it will work in their space. Their kitchen layouts are quite different from the original, but let’s see how this works out. Remember, cabinets are all different sizes, so you can put them together in almost countless different configurations.

Here’s the footprint for John’s kitchen, including where he wants cabinets placed.

After a bit of finagling, here’s the layout we’ve been able to put together for John’s space. I think it fits nicely!

In order to get to this point, we did have to do a bit of retrofitting.

Here are two photos that show what the kitchen looked like before we put on those finishing touches.

Now here are a couple photos showing how we were able to fill those gaps and complete the design.

On the island, we just had to create a matching pillar and get some paneling for the back. There’s a decent chance the paneling could be obtained from the existing trim pieces, but if not we just need to take a piece of the cabinetry into our local paint store and have them match the stain for us, so that we can apply that stain to whatever paneling pieces we purchase. We would also use that stain on the unfinished pillar we found.

The second issue that needs to be addressed is the right corner.

Now here are a couple photos showing how we were able to fill those gaps and complete the design. John’s kitchen is Ushaped, as many of our customers’ are, but not many of our million-dollar home kitchens have multiple corners, so that often requires us to be a bit creative. In this case, we just added some trim pieces (either from extra pieces in the set or by purchasing and staining pieces, as mentioned above), leaving some dead space in the corners that isn’t visible from the outside.

If you really don’t want any corner dead space, there are other things that can be done, such as making a blind corner cabinet from a two door upper.

From the pictures above, you can also see that we created an open shelving cabinet to fill in the space to the left of the fridge.

Again, we can easily get matching stain (or paint if applicable) from our local paint store, so creating something like this isn’t too difficult. I would strongly recommend doing something like this instead of going to the trouble of trying to order an additional cabinet from the manufacturer.

Scenario #2

Now let’s look at Jane’s kitchen. Here’s the footprint for the layout she wants.

And the finished design that we’ve created for her.

We just need some paneling and filler pieces to complete the island, sink base rounding the corner, and the dishwasher being at the end of the peninsula. Pretty simple!

Notice how we were able to turn the wine rack and add a glass rack underneath to make it work for this space.

Plus, we also took some extra cabinets and created a sideboard buffet piece to go in the living area.

Bonus Scenario!

Speaking of utilizing extra cabinets, since our kitchens typically come from large homes, they can be enormous packages, especially when the supplier is removing cabinets from all throughout the home. That is the case with the Oslo Octavia pictured here, which creates almost limitless options for anyone doing a complete home renovation or a new build.

Just as an example, see how we were able to utilize these cabinets in a completely different kitchen layout, while still having plenty left over to finish out a nice laundry room and master bath.

Part 3: Touch Ups and Repairs

Your kitchen cabinets are one of the most frequently used and visible elements in your home, and over time, they can show signs of wear and tear. Whether it’s scratches, dents, or fading, it’s important to keep your kitchen cabinets looking their best. Here’s some tips and how-to’s for some of the most common and easily fixable repairs and touchups, you can do yourself, to give your newly purchased used kitchen cabinets that “new” feel.

How to Touch Up Used Kitchen Cabinets with Stain Pens and Wax Sticks

Step 1: Clean the Surface

Before touching up your kitchen cabinets, make sure the surface is clean and free of dirt and grease. Use a mild soap and water solution to clean the area, and then let it dry completely.

Step 2: Choose the Right Color

When selecting a stain pen or wax stick, it’s important to choose the right color to match your cabinets. If you’re unsure of the exact color, take a small sample of your cabinets to your local home improvement store for a color match.

Step 3: Apply the Touch Up Material

Once you have the right color, it’s time to start touching up your cabinets. If you’re using a stain pen, shake it well and then test it on a hidden area of your cabinets to make sure it’s the right color. Apply the stain pen to the scratched or dented area, and then wipe away any excess with a clean cloth. If you’re using a wax stick, rub it across the grain of the damaged area to force the wax into the void. Most wax pens come with a small, plastic spatula. Use it (or something equally as soft to avoid further damage) to rid the area of any excess wax. Stain pens are going to be more applicable to smaller, surface scuffs, whereas wax sticks will work better to fill in deeper gouges.

Step 4: Blend the Touch Up Material

After applying the touch up material, use a clean cloth to blend it in with the surrounding surface. Make sure to use a gentle touch, as you don’t want to create any new scratches or marks. If you’re using a wax stick, sometimes it’s beneficial to apply a small amount of wax to your cloth and blend that into your repair. In some cases this is the further you need to go in your repair process, but if you’d like to learn more about sealing your repair then continue below.

Step 5: Apply a Finish Coat

Once you’re satisfied with the touch up, it’s time to apply a finish coat. Though it’s not mandatory, applying a finish can help you attain the gloss you seek, help seal the repair from moisture, and can also help keep dust and dirt from sticking to your newly repaired area. If you used a stain pen, a finish coat isn’t necessary and could actually make your repair more noticeable than you want it to be. If you used a wax stick, simply buff the surface with a clean cloth to create a smooth finish, and then you can use an oil based polyurethane spray to seal it.

Step 6: Enjoy Your Refreshed Kitchen Cabinets

With your kitchen cabinets looking as good as new, you can sit back and enjoy your refreshed kitchen. Remember to keep your cabinets clean and protected with regular cleaning and maintenance to ensure they stay looking their best for years to come.

In conclusion, touching up used kitchen cabinets with stain pens and wax sticks is a quick and easy way to refresh the look of your kitchen. By following these simple steps, you’ll be able to touch up any scratches or dents and keep your kitchen cabinets looking their best.

Used Kitchen Cabinet Corner Brace Replacement

The purpose of the corner brace is to retain the shape of the corner. Oftentimes the corner brace of a cabinet box becomes damaged during the uninstall process, specifically the countertop removal process. It’s a simple and cheap fix that can be resolved in a few ways.

Start by removing the existing corner brace if it’s still attached to the box. This could be attached with screws or staples. Be careful not to damage the cabinet box.
If you have a piece of scrap wood or mdf you can use a saw to create a brace. If you go this route be sure that the factory edges of the piece face against the sides of the cabinet box. This may be the better option if you just have 1 or 2 to replace.
Alternatively, you can just purchase new corner braces from any nearby hardware store or online. They come in packs of at least 4, so this may be a good time to replace more. Corner Braces | Click Here to Order
If you bought your corner braces then they should come with the necessary screws and directions to install them.
If you created your own brace then you will need to attach it. Glue will hold by itself but isn’t recommended. We recommend using glue in addition to a short #8 screw. Wood Screws | The Home Depot. Be sure NOT to buy screws that are too long. You don’t want to drive it through the side of the cabinet.
Use a countersink drill bit. This will create the pocket for the screw to sit in.
Place the block in the corner with the factory edges against the sides of the cabinet box.
Then using your #8 screw, attach the brace to the cabinet box using your predrilled holes

How to Fix a Loose or Detached Cabinet Face Frame

Assess the Issue. It may be that one of the face frame joints are loose or that the face frame is coming detached from the box. If the face frame is coming detached from the box continue onto Step 6
Tighten the Screws There will be multiple pocket holes with screws that join the pieces of the face frame together. Over time these joints can loosen. Check that all screws are tight or don’t need to be replaced.
Replace the Screws If one of the screws needs replaced then take one of the existing screws with you to a hardware store like Lowes, Home Depot, or Ace Hardware. The Home Depot
Find an Associate in the screws and bolts department of your favorite hardware store and show them the screw you brought with. They’ll be able to find you a suitable replacement.
Replace More You will probably have to buy a full box. It might not be a bad idea to try to replace some of the other screws in the face frames as well with your excess screws

If you notice the frame has become detached…

Detached Frame If you notice that the face frame is coming separated from the box then it most likely needs new brad nails.
Place the Face Frame in its correct position. There is usually a groove or slot for it to sit in.
Reattach the Frame Use an 18 Gauge Brad Nailer to reattached the face frame
Glue for Strength Then run a bead of wood glue along the edge of it to secure even further.

3 Common Fixes for Cabinet Door Hinges

If the hinge itself breaks then it just needs to be replaced. You can buy new hinges here: Cabinet Hinges | The Home Depot. For loose hinges, check out our tips below.

Start by unscrewing the loose hinge to see the extent of the damage. Generally after much use, the screw holes securing the hinge to the cabinet box can become worn out, which in turn causes the screw to spin or just not fit as snuggly.

Tip 1 (Simple Repair): Try a bigger gauge (or thicker) screw. Sometimes the screw hole has seen just enough wear to cause the current screw to “wobble” around a little. Using a thicker screw will allow it to catch new wood, making for a more secure bond. For example, If your hinge screws are originally 6 gauge, try to use an 8 gauge screw of the same length.

Tip 2 (Simple Repair): Use a masonry wall plug. This is a great method to use when the hole is just worn out and you can’t get a screw that’s big enough to secure it but small enough to fit in the hinge’s screw hole. This will fill the hole back in so that your original sized screws will fit snugly. Wall Plug | The Home Depot

1. 1. First find a masonry wall plug that fits snuggly into your screw hole. You don’t want it to be able to move around. Some people have even been known to use broken up toothpicks or golf tees to fill the hole.
  2. Use a hammer or a mallet to softly tap the wall plug into place if needed.
  3. Cut off the excess with a utility knife
  4. Place your hinge back in its place and use your screws to secure it.

Tip 3 (Intermediate Repair): Fill the screw hole in with wood filler. This method is best used when the area around the screw hole has been damaged. Usually from too much pressure put on the door overtime, ripping it off the hinge.

1. Buy your Wood Filler. Be sure to buy filler and NOT wood putty. Filler hardens and can be sanded while putty will remain pliable. Wood Filler | The Home Depot
2. Fill in the damaged areas with wood filler. The wood filler may shrink slightly once it’s hardened so it’s okay to over fill it a little.
3. Allow it to sit for 5 to 10 minutes. Until the excess around the whole has had a chance to dry.
4. Then use your utility knife blade to scrape off just the excess around the screw hole. This will make the sanding area much smaller.
5. Let it finish drying at the recommended time, according to the manufacturer of your wood filler.
6. Once it’s hardened you can use a piece of fine grit sandpaper to lightly sand the wood filler until it’s smooth with the surface.
7. If needed, use a touch up stain pen or paint to match your desired color. Your hinge may cover the damage though.
8. Once everything has had a chance to dry place the hinge back into position
9. Secure with the existing screws, or new ones of your choice.

Fixing a Broken Drawer Front

Start by removing the screws that attached the drawer front to the drawer box. These will be located inside the drawer box.
Access the damage. If the damage is substantial you may want to try to order a new one from the cabinet manufacturer if you know who that is, otherwise a website like Cabinet Door Store | Drawer Front may have your particular drawer front style. From there it is as simple as giving them the dimensions and ordering it.
If the damage was just a matter of it coming off the drawer box, then the drawer front will need new pilot holes and fasteners to re-secure it properly.
Start by using a 3/16th drill bit to drill new pilot holes next to the original holes of just the drawer box. NOT THE DRAWER FRONT
If the original screws are still usable then go ahead use them to reattach the drawer front to the drawer box using the new pilot holes. NOTE: If you need new screws then order them here Wood Screws | The Home Depot or you can take your original screws into any hardware store and they’ll help you match your particular screw.

Repairing a Drawer Bottom

If the bottom of the panel is bulging, first check to see that either the staples haven’t come out or that the panel hasn’t come out of its groove.
Replace staples as needed
Once the panel is back in place the correct way, run a bead of wood glue (Wood Glue | The Home Depot) around the drawer panel at the groove.
Use wood clamps as the glue dries to secure the hold. Wood Clamps | The Home Depot
If the drawer bottom is too warped to stay in place you can try the Sunlight + Wet Grass Method to flatten it out. Place the board with the curved part on the wet grass, and as the sun dries the topside it may unwarp the board.
If the drawer bottom is permanently damaged you will need to order a new one or cut a new one yourself out of plywood. Again, you can take the panel into any hardware store or lumber store and they will tell you what material you need, and they may even cut it for you if you ask. Project Board | Lowe’s
Take the measurements of your existing drawer bottom and mark them out on your new board. You may be able to even trace the existing board.
Use a square with a straight edge to connect your marks on the board.
Use a circular saw to carefully cut your new drawer bottom out. Make sure the blade is sharp so there are no frayed edges.
Fit the new drawer bottom in place

Part 4: Installing Your Used Kitchen Cabinets

TOOLS REQUIRED

MATERIALS REQUIRED

PREP

Using a pencil, draw your base cabinet, horizontal level line, 341⁄2“ (standard base cabinet height) up from the highest point along your kitchen walls. Note: Homes built within the past 40 years generally have a flat floor.

Then draw your wall cabinet, horizontal level line where the bottom of your wall cabinets will be, 191⁄2” up front the horizontal cabinet line. (It’ll be 18 inches after the countertop is installed.)

Test fit your cabinet configuration to ensure your configuration will work. Tip: It helps to also have all the doors and drawers removed.

Starting with the corner cabinets, carefully measure, draw and label each base cabinet and appliance location on the wall. Do the same for the wall cabinets. Use a 4-ft. level and a pencil. Note: The marks should reflect the width of the face frame, not the cabinet back, and don’t forget to leave room for FILLER.

Trace any islands and peninsulas on the floor for later. We recommend tracing the outside of the toe kicks, not the outside of the main box.

Use the masking tape to make labels of the cabinets and their corresponding spot in the layout.

Find and mark the stud locations just above the horizontal level line.

INSTALL

BASE

Starting from the corner again, set your first cabinet. Use shims to reach the height of the level line and level front to back.

Drive the 21⁄2” screws through the back of the cabinet into the wall studs. Note: If the previous holes are still in good shape go ahead and use those, but if not don’t be afraid to drill new holes with the countersink drill bit.

Set the next cabinet. Once it’s been anchored into the wall. Clamp the 2 cabinets together. Use the 2 1⁄2” screws and fasten the two cabinet’s face frames together. Note: These screws may be visible, so we recommend using the previous holes if possible. So as to not leave any holes visible.

Continue this process until all the perimeter base cabinets have been set.

Use a plunge saw or jigsaw to cut out any plumbing or electrical fittings.

WALL
(BE SURE TO USE A HELPER!)

We recommend installing a 1×2 ledger board for the cabinets to sit on while you position them. This will result in a safer, more accurate installation. But you can still just use the drawn line as a guide if you’d like.

Starting at the corner and set your first cabinet. Use your screws to fasten the cabinet to the wall. Don’t forget to use your stud reference marks from earlier.

Set your next cabinets and repeat the process to fasten the face frames together until all your wall cabinets have been installed.

ISLAND/PENINSULA
(TIP: SAVE THIS FOR LAST TO GIVE YOURSELF PLENTY OF OPEN SPACES TO WORK)

Using the traced island/peninsula toe kick lines from earlier, draw another line offset the thickness of the cabinet box. We will fasten support blocks to this line.

Measure and cut the 2×2 support blocks. They need to be roughly the length of the inside of the cabinet box, but not exact. Otherwise it can make it difficult to fit the cabinet box over the support blocks.

Fasten your cut blocks to the subfloor using the 2nd line as a guide.
Set the cabinet over the blocking into your desired place. Use your screws to fasten the bottom of the cabinet to the blocking, using shims as necessary.

Repeat for the rest of the island/peninsula cabinets until finished.

Part 5: Inspiring Stories

From a Million-Dollar Home to Yours!

How the Spence family updated their kitchen with this gorgeous set of gently-used, high-end knotty alder cabinets. Pandi Spence has remodeled four kitchens (and counting!) using recycled cabinets. The Longmont-based interior designer knows a thing or two about taking an idea and turning it into a real-life, functioning kitchen that you love.

A Large Family Kitchen Built On A Budget

How Sam and Pat spent just $2k on cabinets and created a kitchen that comfortably seats eight! Like many large families, Sam and Pat had two goals for their home: 1) Add a second bathroom. 2) Expand the kitchen. Each had three children, so when they got married, they suddenly found themselves trying to squeeze around the table as a family of eight. It was soon time to make some adjustments to their kitchen!

Read This Before Settling for the Big Box Store Cabinets!

If you’re landing on our website for the first time, you might be surprised to discover you can find a complete high-end kitchen when shopping recycled. This was true for our customers J & L, too. The couple was searching for cabinets for their office kitchen when they found us on Craigslist. L said she knew it was possible to find a couple of second-hand appliances or cabinets, but she hadn’t realized people were also …

A Leap of Faith

How one couple saved thousands of dollars on their kitchen with recycled cabinets, appliances, and countertops. It all started with a Facebook scroll. Matt and Sandy were about to place an order for new cabinets when a gorgeous, knotty alder kitchen popped into their Facebook feed. They discovered it had recently been salvaged from another home that was undergoing a remodel…

Not Local to Colorado? No Problem!

Homeowners from across the country have purchased recycled kitchen cabinets and appliances with us. See how April from Northern California remodeled her entire kitchen for about $5k. (Travel and moving truck costs included!) “I had pretty much resigned myself to not being able to redo our kitchen, as it would just have been too much money.” Can you relate?

Wrapping This Up

Overall our main of this article was to wash away any doubts you may have about working with used kitchen cabinets. We went over many ways to overcome common problems, such what do to when you don’t have enough of a particular cabinet. We also gave you some real scenarios to show you the possibilities, as well as easy ways to touch up and repair your new set of used kitchen cabinets. We finally finished it up by giving you our own guide to installing your used kitchen cabinets and showed you a few stories of customers we’ve worked with, to give you that spark of inspiration.

Given that your situation isn’t anything out of the ordinary, generally 20% of the kitchen we have in stock will fit any given kitchen space. That means that we won’t just have 1 option for your kitchen space but more like 4, 5, or even 6! We’re confident that of those, there will be something that suits your tastes and needs. All we ask is that you give us the chance to WOW you, and leave us the hard work of fitting it into your space!

All that’s left now is to find your favorite one!