Making a kitchen made of wood with your own hands has a number of advantages. This solution will make it possible to choose a kitchen of any configuration, layout and size. In our age of artificial materials, the use of natural wood in the manufacture of furniture has significantly decreased due to its high cost, but, nevertheless, those who care about their health and about creating a cozy, elegant atmosphere in the house, still prefer natural wood. This raw material has environmental friendliness, strength, durability and, importantly, the external beauty of the natural texture. Wood lends itself well to processing, and therefore it is quite possible to make a kitchen with your own hands from wood, which will significantly reduce costs. In addition, some craftsmen make only facades from natural solid wood, and internal structures are assembled from chipboard or MDF, which also have many positive characteristics. In this article, you will learn about the main stages of self-assembly of a wooden kitchen in an apartment or a private house.
Do-it-yourself kitchen made of natural wood: the choice of material
Choosing the right material is not an easy task. In the modern market, you can find more than 30 hard and soft rocks, they will make a beautiful kitchen made of wood, made with your own hands. Often a combination of these rocks is used due to the fact that hard varieties are more durable, but harder to process, and soft ones have a smaller margin of safety, but it is more convenient to cut small parts from them. From this it follows that such hard rocks as oak, beech, walnut are best used for the manufacture of arrays and plates, and soft ones – pine, poplar, cherry are well suited for decorating various shelves, cabinets, facades and individual décor elements.
The choice of color is also important. Each type of wood has its own shade and the overall color palette is quite large, ranging from the white and gray color that white ash has and ending with almost black wenge. The material for the facades should correspond to the overall color interior of the kitchen space. If the house where the furniture will be located is wooden in itself, it can be equipped with a kitchen made of wood with your own hands (photos successfully confirm this) with facades made of the same wood.
Special attention will be required to the manufacture of countertops. If it is also supposed to be made of wood, it will need to be carefully treated with water-repellent agents. Experts still recommend making a countertop to order, for example, from artificial stone or other materials.
Having decided on the desired type of material from which the kitchen will be constructed from wood with your own hands, it is worth paying attention to the absence of cracks, knots and various layers in it when buying. The material must be of high quality.
How to make a kitchen with your own hands from wood: the tools you need for the job
In order to successfully independently design a kitchen set, you need some skills in wood processing and the use of various tools. Beginners in this business should first try to make simpler designs, for example, a stool or a shelf. If there is self-confidence, we proceed to the selection of work accessories. Here you will need tools such as:
- measuring – tape measure and square;
- for processing material – jigsaw, hacksaw, grinder or sandpaper, vise and clamps;
- for leveling – building level;
- for processing holes – a drill with drills, a screwdriver, screwdrivers;
- stationery – pencil and eraser.
This is a list of the main tools used that will be needed in order to make a kitchen with your own hands from wood. Additional ones may be required, but this is already determined individually.
Do-it-yourself wooden kitchens: project development
The main stage in the design of the kitchen is, of course, the preparation of the project. Initially, you need to measure the entire kitchen space, including various communications, protruding parts, windows, niches, if any. It is necessary to take into account the possible curvature of the walls, so the length of the walls, as a rule, is measured at three levels: the first is at the ceiling surface, the second is in the center, and the third is above the plinth. All the measurements obtained are transferred to a sheet of paper in the form of a drawing, it will serve to draw up a subsequent sketch.
When sketching a sketch, it is important to think through everything to the smallest detail. Since the kitchen is made of natural wood with your own hands, and not bought in the standard version, it should be as convenient as possible for the owners themselves, accommodating all the necessary furniture, taking into account the location of household appliances. The shape of the headset can be varied – decorated along one wall or be angular. In spacious rooms, mainly private houses, where there is a large space, a multifunctional table or an island is often arranged in the center of the kitchen, where a stove with a cutting table and an extractor hood will be placed.
After the sketch is ready, it is necessary to separately draw up a detailed drawing of each piece of furniture with the marking of all parts – horizontal surfaces, basement slats, drawers, accessories, etc. A very important nuance is the mandatory consideration of the thickness of the material itself, from which the kitchen will be assembled from wood with your own hands.
Based on the final drawings, the amount of material is calculated, which can also include various glass inserts (frosted or transparent), stained-glass windows or mirrors. Also, it’s time to buy accessories – handles for lockers, hinges, brackets, etc.
Do-it-yourself wooden kitchen: assembly features
Having the received drawings, they need to be transferred to the canvas of the material, thus making peculiar patterns. Having received all the components by sawing, experienced furniture makers are advised to sort them and sign them, so as not to get confused in the future and understand what to fasten with what.
One of the important steps is the processing of workpieces to improve their performance properties. This is especially true of the facades that will be in plain sight. They need to be sanded, polished, stained and opened with varnish or oil-wax impregnation. It will also significantly improve the aesthetic performance, and a DIY wooden kitchen will look very beautiful with accentuated wood patterns.
If all sketches, drawings, tools, fittings and sawn structural elements are ready, you can start the assembly process. It begins, as a rule, with the assembly of the main frame-box with legs, in which shelves, guides are mounted, where drawers, doors are then inserted and handles are installed.
When the cabinets of the lower row are ready, we proceed to the upper tier. All suspended structures are mounted using a building level so that the curvature of the walls does not lead to improper installation. At the same time, they should be placed at a level convenient for the owners. Fasteners for hanging are installed on the boxes of the upper cabinets or shelves. After installing the upper frame, doors and handles are attached to it.
The final stage will be the installation of a sink, stove, hood and various electrical appliances.
Do-it-yourself summer kitchen made of wood
Owners of private houses and country cottages often prefer to arrange an additional summer kitchen separately from a residential building, and this is quite effective. It is convenient to carry out the most time-consuming processes that require good ventilation, for example, to engage in various preparations for the winter.
Any preparation of a hot dish will entail the accumulation of steam, various flavors, and, sometimes, soot. In a separate house, where there is good ventilation, all these excess cooking is quickly eliminated. As a rule, the room is built quite spacious and one of the best options for its equipment will be a made-up summer kitchen made of wood with your own hands.
Summer kitchens are open and closed. The open version assumes the presence of a foundation, supports and, possibly, one or two walls to protect from the wind like a gazebo, and the closed one is a full-fledged small house. Wood is a profitable material for construction, as it is plastic, environmentally friendly and easy to process. Another advantage of using wood is its lightness, so the foundation for a wooden structure can be made lightweight, for example, blocks of sand concrete.
Do-it-yourself summer kitchen made of wood is framed, built from timber treated with special water-repellent oils, which is tightly packed and connected with nails. At the same time, the internal joints must be fastened with large corners with long self-tapping screws – then the structure will be strong and stable.
Having built the frame, it is necessary to equip the floor surface, for which boards are used, which must also be treated with oil or wax to protect against the harmful effects of moisture and dirt. To save money, it is advisable to equip the kitchen floor under the tree with your own hands, using WPC (wood-polymer composite), which is a board made from a mixture of crushed wood with polymers.
The roof of the summer kitchen can be straight, single or gable, while the crate is made of processed boards. Any material, such as metal tiles, is suitable as a coating. Between the crate and the coating it is worth laying a layer of roofing material, it will be a good safety net in case of heavy rains.
The walls are also sheathed with boards. An important point is the process of their perfect fit for one size, which is performed on a specially equipped machine. This is necessary in order to avoid gaps in the structure. The walls can be sheathed on both sides or only on the outside (the inner side will have a beautiful appearance due to the texture of natural wood treated with wax). Materials for decoration can be wooden or plastic lining, fiberboard, blockhouses, etc. At the request of the owners, it does not hurt to pre-lay a layer of insulation between the frame and the finish.
On this, the main work should be considered completed. This will be followed by the process of arranging the internal “filling” – it can be furniture for the kitchen, made with your own hands from wood. It will fit very harmoniously into the interior of the room.
In such a house, in addition to the main cooking area, you can install a folding dining table and gather in a friendly company until late autumn.
In conclusion, I would like to say that such a material as wood has a very beneficial effect on human health. Its hygroscopicity creates a comfortable microclimate in the room with the necessary level of humidity, and the beautiful appearance is always individual, thanks to the non-repetitive pattern and texture created by nature itself. This is a durable material that allows it to be used not only for the manufacture of headsets, but also in construction. Furniture made of natural wood, wherever it is, is always fashionable, prestigious and respectable.