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Top 5 Unusual Uses for Kitchen Cabinets
The functionality, practicality, and beauty of kitchen cabinets should not only be limited to the kitchen space. Besides holding your pots, pan, and other essentials, kitchen cabinets can be used in other areas of your home. They can make fantastic storage solutions or creative add-ons. Whether for a desk for your home office or a play kitchen for your kids, kitchen cabinets can be used in many creative ways. In this blog post, we look at a few unusual yet useful ways to use kitchen cabinets throughout your home.
1. Electric Fireplace
Make your kitchen feel even more homely with a warm and cozy electric fireplace. An electric fireplace is a fast and efficient way to heat any room in your home. Without the smoke and smell of a wood-burning fireplace, many homeowners have opted for this cost-effective option. But every electric fireplace needs a place to go, as it would look out of place in the middle of a room. We suggest simply installing it into your kitchen cabinets. Here are a few reasons why you should opt to get an electric fireplace installed into your kitchen cabinets:
- Makes A Statement: Having an electric fireplace installed in your kitchen cabinets truly makes a statement. With the right design and color scheme, your entire kitchen can be transformed into a more relaxing space for guests and your family to gather.
- Use All The Space In Your Kitchen: One of the best places to install an electric fireplace is in your kitchen island. If you have an open plan kitchen and living room, guests will enjoy the heat in both areas, plus you'll be making use of space that has gone unused.
- Create An Entertainment Space: If your home is small, adding an electric fireplace in your kitchen cabinets creates a new space to entertain. Guests will gravitate towards the warmth of the fireplace turning your kitchen into the new hot spot to be.
2. Desk
Whether for your home office or used as a workspace in your garage, kitchen cabinets can easily double up as a desk. If you have the time and the skillset to get creative and take on a small DIY project, you can convert a used kitchen cabinet door into a desk. Using a front panel cabinet door, you can create a beautiful desk suitable for anyone in your family. Before you begin, you'll need some supplies, including paint and pre-fab furniture legs, which you'll find at any home improvement store. Remove the hinges and handles, fill the drill holes, attach the legs, and add a fresh coat of paint.
Alternatively, you can create a desk using a couple of base cabinets and a piece of plywood. This type of desk is perfect for a craft table or a space for kids to do their homework. Plus, it has added cabinet storage for arts and craft supplies, homework accessories, or other odds and ends. A desk like this would be ideal in a bedroom or home office space where additional storage is needed.
3. Console Table
Repurpose your kitchen's base cabinets and turn it into a stunning console table. Whether used in a hallway or living room, it is a great space to store rarely used kitchenware, books, home decor elements, and shoes. Being used kitchen cabinets, you will need to give it a makeover by doing the following:
- Refacing Cabinet Doors: If you have the time and skillset, opt to give your kitchen base cabinets a fresh look by painting them. This a low-cost way of repurposing used cabinets without replacing the doors or the entire cabinet.
- Replace Cabinet Hardware: Cabinet hardware makes all the difference, especially if you've given your cabinet a fresh coat of paint. Opt for vintage or glass hardware to add some character to the console.
- Remove Doors: If you want to use your kitchen cabinets as a console that stores shoes or books in your hallway, you might opt to remove its doors. You may not remove all the doors except for one to create a shoe rack or bookshelf, but it will give the console more depth and purpose.
4. Open Storage Bench
Gut out your kitchen cabinets and create a beautiful open storage bench. With no base that you usually find in floor cabinets, you can simply place the upper, long kitchen cabinet on its side to create this storage space. By removing the doors and hinges and filling the drill holes before giving it a fresh coat of paint, you can have a new storage bench within a day. It's that simple! Here are a few ways to integrate this excellent DIY idea into your home:
- Toy Storage: With gifts from grandparents and birthday parties, children always end up with way too many toys and nowhere to store it. Using an old upper cabinet, you can create the perfect open storage bench to keep all your kids' toys. You could repaint the cabinet in a bright, cheerful color and add a comfy pillow on the top as additional seating in their playroom.
- Library: If you're a bookworm who needs additional storage for your books, opt for a simple bookshelf with a comfy, pillowed bench. Opt for a neutral tone like white or grey so that it can be placed anywhere in your home.
- Shoe Rack: A practical open storage bench is a shoe rack. Perfect for families with small children who need a place to sit to put on their shoes. Add a door to keep running shoes that may cause unwelcome odors.
5. Play Kitchen
Whether you have a toddler or an eight-year-old, having a play kitchen in your home is something that will keep your kids entertained. A play kitchen can cost hundreds of dollars if bought from a toy supplier, but there is a more cost-effective way to add one to your child's playroom. Save yourself some money by DIYing a play kitchen for the young chef in your home. All you need is a single kitchen cabinet to make it with storage space and a stovetop and oven. Additionally, add a few extra pots, pans, and utensils to turn it into a real kitchen. Here is how to add a few cool features to your child's play kitchen:
- Stove: Create a stovetop by painting them onto the cabinet top and adding some old knobs that turn.
- Oven: Create an oven by adding a plastic door that opens and closes the way an oven does. If you have the skillset, insert a light socket into the inside of the oven. You'll need to wire it to a light switch, which he placed on the side of the oven.
- Sink & Taps: Add a sink and tap to the play kitchen by cutting a hole in your cabinet top and mounting a small sink and faucets to it.
A play kitchen is a great family-friendly project that will allow you to get creative with your kids. Additionally, it is an excellent way to teach your kids basic things about a kitchen and introduce them to chores. A play kitchen can easily be converted into a workshop, beauty salon, or grocery store checkout for kids who are not interested in helping out in the kitchen.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully, this list gave you some ideas for a DIY project. You don’t have to follow these plans step by step, as most DIY projects are best when they are fitted to the individual. Thinking outside the (cabinet) box can have lots of benefits, and can help you to reuse materials you already have and not have to buy new. DIY projects are perfect for making your home truly unique and yours.
