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Sawdust Girl®

Sawdust Girl®

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Kitchen Island with Hidden Cabinet Doors

All Posts, Cabinet Making 101, Doors, Kitchen, My Home, Tennessee House

The kitchen is done but I have so many little detail “tutorials” that you’re getting lots of snippets before the final reveal. Hope that’s ok. Too bad if it’s not. LOL Today I’m showing you how to have operable, inset cabinet doors, with no knobs or pulls. Just like the ones I have under my kitchen island!

Hidden storage in Kitchen island hidden behind doors that look like panels.

The three center cabinets are 24″ deep.

Of course you knew that, because you’ve seen this island dozens of times without doors. But if you hadn’t seen it before, you probably wouldn’t know. And why would you? An island bar, where you have to crawl underneath the countertop to access the cabinets isn’t terribly convenient. But I’m not about to waste any space so I put cabinets there. I have lots of things that I don’t use very often, like for holidays and parties. So having it tucked away and crawling under the countertop when I want to retrieve it, isn’t so bad.

Hidden cabinet under kitchen island

Since this area will be filled with barstools, you won’t see much of the doors. I suppose having pulls at the top wouldn’t have mattered. They’d be heigh enough that you wouldn’t see them or hit your knees on them. All the same, I made them functional without door pulls.

The cabinet doors are installed normally with normal hinges. I used painters’ tape for temporary pulls until I could get my latches installed.

Installing hidden cabinet doors

With a push Latch (or touch latch), you push it once and it pops out, push it again and it closes. So you can push on a cabinet door and the latch pops out and pushes the door open. Just enough to get your hand behind it so you can pull it open.

Push latch for cabinet doors with no knobs

You can see it in action in the video below.

The doors simply look like panels, matching the sides of the cabinets that flank the sitting area. But they are doors and behind them is lots of storage space.

Lots of hidden storage under kitchen island with hidden cabinet doors.

January 23, 2019 · 17 Comments

« How to build and attach a cabinet faceframe
Sliding Cabinet Doors with Inset Track and Glides »

Comments

  1. David McIntosh says

    January 23, 2019 at 8:27 am

    Love the hidden storage. I am curious what holds them in place… Is it just balanced in place?

    What is the dimple on the Stile just below the latch? Is that from adjoining the cabinet to the one next to it?

    I did something similar to a hutch but it used a magnetic plate to hold it to the push latch.

    Love seeing your work!

    Reply
    • Sandra says

      January 23, 2019 at 10:26 am

      The hinges are soft close so they pull the door closed until they hit a “stop” so I used these latches as my stops.
      And yes, that dimple is the hole from the screw that attached the two cabinets together. I put a little caulk in the hole.

      Reply
  2. liz says

    January 23, 2019 at 9:23 am

    I want . . . I want . . . I want . . . Love it!

    Reply
    • Sandra says

      January 23, 2019 at 10:53 am

      Liz I’m selling this house so you could have it. Want to move to Maryville, TN? 🙂

      Reply
  3. Deidre Miles says

    January 23, 2019 at 9:28 am

    Genius!!! Beautiful and inspiring as usual. : )

    Reply
    • Sandra says

      January 23, 2019 at 10:29 am

      Thanks so much!

      Reply
  4. Rita says

    January 23, 2019 at 9:31 am

    I loooooooooooooooooooooooooovvvvvvvvvvvvveee your kitchen. Would you come to WI and remodel mine?

    Reply
    • Sandra says

      January 23, 2019 at 10:52 am

      Well, if you can put up with me for 5 years! LOL I get things done but it takes a minute.

      Reply
  5. Judy says

    January 23, 2019 at 10:50 am

    I don’t think I would want to crawl up under there for storage. I’m 70.

    Reply
    • Sandra says

      January 23, 2019 at 10:50 am

      I totally understand. You could just leave those cabinets empty then. 🙂

      Reply
  6. Melanie Swank says

    January 23, 2019 at 11:18 am

    I love your island! What a great place to have your things you don’t use that often.

    Reply
    • Sandra says

      January 23, 2019 at 7:54 pm

      Thanks Melanie! We have lots of party stuff under there and have not had a single party in this house. LOL

      Reply
  7. Kathleen says

    January 23, 2019 at 3:15 pm

    That’s awesome, but while I was down there, I’d have to take a few minutes lying on my back just staring at that impressive ceiling. You are crazy talented, Sandra!

    Reply
    • Sandra says

      January 23, 2019 at 7:55 pm

      Thanks so much Kathleen. I do love those ceilings too!

      Reply
  8. Saviesa Home says

    June 4, 2019 at 7:15 am

    Really nice post Sandra. I am pretty sure that the kitchen looks more mesmerizing in real than what it looks in the photos.

    Reply
  9. Katie says

    April 2, 2022 at 7:45 am

    I’ve thought about doing something similar in my kitchen. But I’m worried people’s knees will hit the doors which trigger the latch. My island has less of an overhang and there are lots of tall people in my family so it has me worried. Have you noticed this in your kitchen?

    Reply
    • Sandra says

      April 5, 2022 at 6:43 pm

      We didn’t have an issue but we had a full overhang so your knees didn’t hit the island. You could always use the magnetic lock so they doors don’t accidentally open.

      Reply

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