Pascal Anson sussed out kitchen cabinets and discovered that cabinet makers earn their serious money from the doors, which cost much more than the base cabinets. So he bought base cabinets from IKEA and then bought a mish-mash of doors that had been marked way down. Easy and cheap. There’s a caveat though:

The rule with this kind of thing is…if you’re going to use a mix of doors, make sure it is a REAL mix and looks really really wrong, not just a little bit wrong.”

We love the idea of REALLY REALLY WRONG as design concept…when you push dissonance to cool…

We also love that Anson’s little video wakes your head up to the way kitchen cabinets work: The cabinets (without doors) are essentially discrete boxes that can be grouped in many ways – not just the way kitchen planners say to –  to make a kitchen for not a lot of money. The doors are attached AFTER the base cabinets are placed and mounted. They are what give the kitchen its look and where to think about being resourceful and creative…

plywood-kitchen-cabs

Why not plywood, made like Maria Robledo’s painted cabinets …or like these in natural birch veneer by Emiliano Lopez Monica Rivera Arquitectos we saw on Remodelista?

Related post: Strategy: Cool Un)Plywood Storage Cabinets

Pascal Anson’s Surprising D-I-Y Paint Project

More Pascal Anson: Re-Imagined Silverware

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9 replies on “pascal anson on (cheap) kitchen cabinets

  1. For me, the specific kitchen works for Pascal, and who he seems to be…not quite for my sensibility BUT the ideas behind make me think of many more possibilities…that what I love about his little videos. Let us know if where your thinking goes with this…

  2. My cousin recommended this blog and she was totally right keep up the fantastic work!

  3. what would be beneficial is if I could post a picture of my kitchen and then receive a few suggestions using Pascal’s principles.
    …can I?

  4. Hi. Unfortunately, there is no way to post the pictures in comments. You are welcome to send submit a photo via Contact US, though we ask you to understand that we can’t promise anything. We are already OVERWHELMED by the emails we get, and planning and writing the blog. We are looking into creating a Forum where we might be able to connect readers for things like this.

  5. This is such a great resource that you are providing and you give it away for free. I enjoy seeing websites that understand the value of providing a prime resource for free. I truly loved reading your post. Thanks!

  6. This guy must be 7 feet tall! I couldn’t help but notice that his hip is higher than the kitchen countertop!

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