Designing Kitchen Cabinets in Sketchup
Learning Google Sketchup has been a liberating experience. Just a few weeks ago before learning Sketchup, I was resorting to grid paper to layout my kitchen design. I was getting frustrated trying to get all the details just right on paper, and after many hours of drawing and erasing, I finally broke down and decided I’d learn to do this on the computer.
If you haven’t tried to learn a CAD tool for furniture design, I’d encourage you to do so. With a tool like Sketchup, you can draw every part down to the last detail. It’s become an invaluable aid in designing the rest of my kitchen since I can design all the details and measurements without guess work.
Below are some examples of the sink cabinet box I recently finished last week. I’ve made all my boxes (including the backs) out of 3/4″ maple pre-finished plywood, not unlike the “Dream Kitchen” article by Norm Abrams. Buying pre-finished maple is a tad more expensive, but it’s much less of a hassle since I don’t have to finish the insides of the cabinets.
Sketchup model
Completed box
Stay tuned for some more photos as I progress. Now that the boxes are built, the next step is the face frames which have been rough cut and are acclimating in my shop – I just need to get off my duff and start working on them.
