DIY built-in cabinet for the dining room in Elegance by LAB, by Johanna

Build a built-in wardrobe for your dining room yourself

A cabinet that fits perfectly into your alcove and offers space for your most beautiful accessories: Johanna made it entirely herself. For this built-in cabinet in the dining room, she used custom-cut wood from OPMAATZAGEN.nl. With enclosed storage, playfully arranged open compartments, and the color Elegance from LAB colours, it has become a personal piece of furniture that combines tranquility and atmosphere.

A smart distribution of open and closed compartments

The photos show a tall, rectangular cabinet that fills almost the entire wall niche. At the bottom, three tall, flat doors sit side by side. Above this, the layout is asymmetrical: on the left, a closed upper compartment with two open compartments below it; on the right, a small open upper compartment and a strikingly tall niche. The doors have no visible handles. Narrow seams and continuous straight lines give the front a calm appearance.

Store and display your favorite items

Behind the doors, for example, you can store tableware, table linens, and other dining items out of sight. The open compartments keep the design airy. Johanna placed a pink bowl with a wavy rim and a white, coral-shaped ornament on the left. In the tall right compartment stands a table lamp with a light fabric shade and a base with soft pink, orange, and yellow stripes. The warm lamplight makes this niche a particularly atmospheric eye-catcher. A power socket is visible behind the lamp: a practical detail if you want to design a cabinet with a lamp niche yourself.

Elegance by LAB colours: a soft base

Johanna finished the cabinet in Elegance by LAB colours. In the photos, this colour appears as a soft, warm beige-grey shade. By giving the visible cabinet sections and the inside of the open compartments the same colour, the unique compartment division remains calm. The warm light from the table lamp clearly shows how much influence lighting has on the appearance of a paint colour.

Custom work in a logical place

The built-in cabinet is situated in an alcove in the dining room, with a wall on the left featuring a fine, dark speckled wallpaper pattern and a white wall strip on the right. The light wood-look floor complements the warm cabinet color beautifully. The cabinet utilizes the height of the alcove, while a narrow space at the top remains visible up to the ceiling. This gives a section of the wall a clear function without having to place a freestanding piece of furniture in the middle of the room.

From custom-cut wood to a homemade cabinet

Johanna realized this project entirely herself, using MDF Primed that was cut to size by OPMAATZAGEN.nl. In the project photo, you can see the cabinet without doors, with the vertical dividers, horizontal shelves, and hinges visible. Masking tape runs along the joints with the walls and the floor. That photo provides a nice glimpse into the construction before the flush fronts and accessories complete the whole.

By outsourcing the sawing, you can focus on assembling, installing, and finishing your cabinet. Furthermore, building it yourself gives you freedom: you determine the dimensions, choose the panel material, and organize the compartments according to your own belongings. You also keep a grip on your budget because you make your own choices regarding material, hardware, and finish, and handle the assembly yourself.

Good preparation for your built-in wardrobe

Do you want to build such a built-in cabinet yourself? Then measure the niche at multiple heights and check if the walls and floor are level. Take the panel thickness, space for moving doors, and accessible electrical outlets into account in your design. Also, draw your lamp or accessories to scale: this way, you can see in advance if the proportions of the open compartments are correct.

Warm modern style

With its sleek, handleless appearance and soft color, this cabinet fits beautifully within a warm, modern style. The asymmetrical compartments make the design lively, while the understated fronts prevent it from becoming cluttered. With a few carefully chosen accessories and warm lamplight, you can give a practical storage cabinet a very personal touch.

The material used: MDF Primed

MDF Primed is a great base for a painted built-in wardrobe like Johanna's. This board material has a smooth, uniform surface without visible wood grain, allowing flat doors and sleek cabinet sections to really come into their own. The applied primer saves on preparatory painting work. However, do check the saw edges before applying the topcoat: they may require extra primer. Sand according to the advice of your paint system and remove dust from the parts so that you can apply the chosen color neatly.