DIY - Decorative Toe Kick - Built-Ins Part 3

Adding a toe kick to those plain base cabinets is the sure way to give character to that build. It can be a base cabinet for the kitchen, the family room, or as in this case for the built-in unit in my office.

It's being a while since my last post about the built-in's. But, that doesn't mean I haven't been working on it.  In fact, that's precisely the reason why this post is so late.

The last post ended with that first picture... The bases installed and face frames done, and me, starting to play with the idea of a toe kick.

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I used simple graph paper to trace the design, and that design was inspired by the work done in this beautiful kitchen:

Via: MOLLIE JOHNSON

The entire kitchen is GORGEOUS, but as soon as I saw this pic, my eyes got glued to those toe kicks.

It made me bring the face frames back to the garage to work on replicating those toe kicks.

The whole frame was done with 1 x 2's and that toe kick being at 5½" is kind of high.  I think, I should've gone with a 1 x 4 piece on that lower rail from the beginning.

That's called a rookie mistake and/or lack of a plan.

The good thing is, there's always a solution. ;)
Another 1 x 2 solved that problem.

The extra decorative part ended up being simpler than I thought.

The design was traced and cut with my BladeRunner I loved that it was one simple curve. All the other cuts were done with the miter saw.

One of the cabinets sits on a part were the floor is sunken. I made sure to give it that extra little piece of wood.

Once they were cut, they needed lots of sanding. My cuts are far from perfect, sanding and more sanding sure makes them look much better.

I attached the extra 1 x 2 and the decorative corners with pocket holes and lots of glue, and clamped them to dry. Hmm, I think I also drove a nail or two to the lower part.

Next up, after some more sanding is the time to fill all those cracks and holes with wood filler. My first time using this Elmer's brand and I kinda like it.

And then some more sanding, and more filler, and more sanding...  Until it feels very smooth.

If you see closely at my inspiration pic, there is a round piece below the door line. Well, I'm also planning on adding it, especially to hide the transition between the two 1 x 2's.

Before installing the face frame, I had a helper driving the holes for the shelves, the Kreg Shelf Pin Jig makes this job so easy, even a kid can do it nicely.

The other thing done before attaching the frame was to add a better looking plate to cover the ugly base.

Here you can see the sunken part on the floor. There's still a little open line that bothers me, I guess the shoe molding will cover that.

As I said, I've been working hard to try to finish this project. You can follow the progress over on Instagram where lately I've been posting short videos.

Check the following links for complete details about this project:

Part 1 : The Starting Point
Part 2:  The Base Cabinets

Part 3:  The Decorative Toekick
Part 4: The Shelves
Part 5: The Bench

Part 6: The Table Makeover
Part 7: The Ceiling

Part 8: The Cabinet Doors
Part 9: DIY Pull-out Drawers
Part 10: The Final Reveal

For more Home DIY ideas check these out:

Bathroom Makeover

Christmas Home Tour

Add Moldings to Your Kitchen Cabinets

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