Before & After: DIY Abstract Cabinet (a Bunnings hack!)
A few weeks ago I came across a beautiful abstract cabinet on Instagram made by Atelier Akuko. I instantly fell in love with it and knew I had to try to recreate it for our guest bedroom makeover. After painting a wavy wall, I realised the space needed some extra texture and the abstract shapes on Akuko Atelier’s cabinet were perfect. Like, beyond perfect. As luck would have it, I had recently bought a cube storage unit from Bunnings and I wondered if I could hack it and turn it into a cabinet. I did a lot of research, asked a tonne of questions and rolled up my sleeves to give it a try. As with all DIY’s, there were many ups and downs as I learned how to make a cabinet for the very first time. Thankfully I had the Bunnings team in Noosa by my side helping me every step of the way and as they say, the rest is history! Read on to make your own cabinet using a cube storage unit AND learn how to create a beautiful bespoke abstract finish using MDF, glue and paint! And make sure you watch this video here to see how it all came together. Happy making!
Before & After
Materials
All materials are from Bunnings:
Melamine White MDF Panel cut to size to enclose the back of the cabinet
Premium Plywood Pine cut to size for the two cabinet doors using Bunnings cutting service
I used a drill with different sized multi-purpose drill bits, hammer, jigsaw, clamps, screw driver, rollers, paint tray, paint brushes and sander for this project.
How To
Begin by assembling the cube storage, this should take about 10 to 15 minutes. Click on the product link above you’ll find assembly instructions on the produce page on the Bunnings website. Next, measure the width and height of the cabinet, and divide this into 2 to get the measurements for the two cabinet doors. Head to Bunnings, pick up your Melamine White MDF panel and Premium Plywood Pine, and get the cabinet doors and the melamine MDF cut to size.
When you get home, attach the melamine MDF (white side facing in) to the back of the storage cube using the staple gun. Paint the cabinet doors and when they are dry, lift the storage cube onto your work surface and place it onto it’s side.
Attach the hinges to the storage cube and cabinet doors using these instructions from Bunnings. The only difference is that the cabinet doors in this video already have a hole cut out in them, so you will need to do this yourself. Use a pencil to mark where you need to cut a hole (as per the images below). Use a drill to make lots of small holes and then use a hammer to bang the plywood out. If this is a little confusing, head over to my Instagram to see how I did it. Use a screwdriver to lift or drop the doors down, or to pull them left or right. The Kaboodle hinges are incredible and you will now have a full fledged cabinet!
Attach the furniture legs onto the underside of your new cabinet using a drill. If you find the legs are a little loose, use Liquid Nails and let it dry overnight.
Using a pen, draw the outline of a range of various abstract shapes and cut them out using a jigsaw. Smooth the edges down using a sander. Position the abstract shapes onto the cabinet and glue them down using Liquid Nails. The shapes may slip on the sides of the cabinet so use painters tape to hold them into place, and let the glue dry overnight. When the glue has dried, paint the furniture legs before standing the cabinet upright.
Now it’s time to paint the cabinet doors! You will need to apply several coats to fully hide the MDF. While the paint is drying, apply one coat of Zinsser B-I-N Primer Sealer to the sides and top of the cabinet. Once dried (and it dries really quickly), apply a couple of coats of white paint and set aside to dry. And your cabinet is finished!
Ta daaaa! Can you believe this gorgeous abstract cabinet used to be a storage cube?!
I cannot tell you how satisfying this project has been. It took a lot of work and there were many firsts - building a cabinet, installing hinges and furniture legs, and designing and cutting the shapes. There is always a lot of problem solving with every project, but as I say to Jason, the reason why I love what I do is because I know it helps you make your dream home for less. I love breaking down the process, step by step, and sharing the materials I used along the way so you can make these projects yourself with lots of ease. As I sit and relax in the guest room, I can’t help but smile and think to myself “I made that”...and there’s no greater feeling.
This project is in collaboration with Bunnings. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! And thank you to Atelier Akuko for the major inspiration!
