I'm ready to get started making cabinets for my new house. I'll be making all of the cabinets for the kitchen and bathrooms, some built-ins and utility cabinets for the laundry room.

For those of you who build kitchen cabinets, do you have any advice on which materials you prefer for the cabinet boxes? For the kitchen, I will be making face-frame cabinets from cherry. Drawer boxes of maple. Hinges and slides from Blum.

I have a Kreg Jig and plan to use it along with biscuits to construct the cabinet boxes and face frames. I'm trying to determine what is the best material to use for the inside. I'd appreciate a discussion of the Pros and Cons of each.

  • Particleboard, MDF, Plywood?
  • Melamine-coated or do I simply paint the innards?
  • Do I buy the white melamine or do I use the wood-grain stuff? Cost?
  • Hot-melt edgebanding or pressure-sensitive?
  • Whose product would you recommend? (Panolam, Uniboard, Roseburg, others?)
  • Which should I avoid?
  • Where can I buy it?
  • Do the Kreg coarse-thread screws work well with both particleboard and MDF?
  • Finish? I'm leaning toward spraying Sherwin Williams Precat lacquer with their Vinyl Sealer. Each is about $40 - $50 per gallon. Other recommendations?


Your input is certainly appreciated!

-Kevin