The Simplest Way To DIY An Appliance Garage For Your Kitchen

Implementing an appliance garage in your kitchen is a simple way to declutter your countertops while still giving you easy access to your beloved coffee-maker and air fryer. If your kitchen didn't come with an appliance garage, you can easily add one with this hack from @foreclose2fab. On Instagram, she posted a quick and easy DIY for creating an appliance garage by cutting a standard cabinet in half and turning it on its side.

This is a fairly simple project to do when you're installing new kitchen cabinets. With prefab cabinets, an appliance garage might not be available or may cost more than a standard one. Using a regular cabinet can give you the look of a custom appliance garage. This feature will upgrade your space, since it's often used in high-end kitchens. If you have a lot of appliances or just extra under-cabinet space, you can use both halves to create two appliance garages to help keep your kitchen counters clutter-free.  

Cutting a cabinet in half might seem like a big job, but it's not that difficult. You'll need a circular or table saw, brad nails, a nail gun, scrap wood, hinges, trim pieces, wood filler, and a sander. Remove the doors from the cabinet and mark the center line all the way around it. Using your table saw or circular saw, cut the cabinet on the center line, then sand the edges smooth.

Turn the cabinet on its side and dry-fit it, then add the trim pieces using wood glue and a brad nailer. Fill in holes with wood putty and sand smooth after it dries. Attach the door with the hinges of your choice. You may need to use several pieces of scrap wood for support and to keep the hinge screws from going through the cabinet. Finally, add a handle at the bottom, and you'll have a countertop cabinet that stylishly stores your kitchen appliances. 

If you're not redoing your cabinets but you still want an appliance garage, you can buy an upper cabinet from your local home improvement store. Paint or stain it to match your existing cabinets for a built-in look. You can also find orphan cabinets at thrift stores for a fraction of the cost of new ones. For a quick and easy option, convert an existing cabinet into an appliance garage by mounting a power strip. This will be most effective if you have a full-length cabinet that sits on the countertop.

If you're willing to tackle a bigger project, try building an appliance garage from scratch. This may be your best option if the distance from the bottom of your upper cabinet to your countertop isn't a standard size that half of a stock cabinet could fill. This will also give you the option of adding a shelf and customizing your garage to perfectly fit your appliances. To do this, you'll need to create a frame and a door. You can use plywood or MDF with wood trim. Cut the plywood to fit the space below the cabinet. Make a piece for each side, the top, and the back. Screw these pieces together, then attach them to the upper cabinet. Make a door out of another piece of plywood and trim it to match your cabinets. Finally, attach the door with hinges and finish the garage with a paint or stain that matches your existing cabinets.