DIY your own modern studio or office

Acquiring a few basic DIY skills can empower you in so many ways. Just being able to cut your own pieces of wood or board and you can DIY furniture to create your own studio or office using secondhand or salvaged cabinets. These kitchen wall cabinets are 300mm wide and are perfect for create a storage and desk in a small space.

 

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Abby at DIYdesign found kitchen wall cabinets at a bargain price. Needing to decorate her small studio, she set about turning the reclaimed kitchen cabinets into a storage and work centre for her home office / studio.

Nothing special about these kitchen wall cabinets. However, their narrow width - only 300mm wide - make them the ideal space-saving solution for creating a home office or work centre.

Adding a frame around the outside of doors gives cabinet a modern Shaker style finish and you can have 6mm, 9mm or 12mm supawood cut into strips - or cut them yourself with a jigsaw - for adding onto doors.

GOOD TO KNOW

It's easier to paint the strips before securing them onto the front of the cabinet. Once you're done you can lightly sand the cabinet and frame with 180-grit and apply a final coat of paint.

The framing strips are glued onto the front of the cabinet doors using Pattex No More Nails adhesive. Apply a fairly thick squiggly line of adhesive at the back of the strips and press down. Be sure to wipe away any excess adhesive before it has time to dry.

Leave the adhesive overnight and the following morning you can paint the cabinets in your choice of colour. If you like the colour shown here, grab a Plascon B4-E2 colour swatch and look at the grey hues on the card, ranging from dark to light.

Use Plascon Velvaglo water-based enamel for a durable finish on the doors and worktop.

Finish off your new home office or work centre by adding adjustable brushed chrome legs and handles - find at your local Builders Warehouse or www.cabinetfittings.co.za.

Finally, top off the cabinets with your choice of worktop. You can have a piece of 12mm or 16mm supawood cut to size and sand and paint in your choice of colour.

Using narrow cabinets in a small room is one way to still have plenty of storage without taking up valuable floor space. And if you can't find wall cabinets at a bargain price, you would be surprised how affordable these can be if you buy basic cabinets without any trimmings direct from a manufacturer.

 

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