Take Your Kitchen From Cluttered To Classy By Building DIY X Stacked Cabinets

It can be tough to find enough storage space in the kitchen. Luckily, there are plenty of DIY hacks that can completely transform your cabinets. If you want additional storage in your kitchen but don't want to sacrifice your kitchen's aesthetic, then stacked cabinets may be a solution for you. This method basically has you stacking cabinets on top of your existing ones, so that your storage extends from the floor to the ceiling. This gives you additional storage while also being elegant and cohesive. Even better, you can do this project yourself, allowing you to get affordable, custom cabinetry. 

Building stacked cabinets with an open "X" design for your kitchen can be simple, and measuring and drawing out your dimensions can make the process easier. Following your desired measurements, cut out your pieces from a sheet of white melamine using a circular saw and a jig saw. On the face piece, use an iron to apply edge tape where needed to seal the melamine and give it a clean look. Then, measure and use a miter saw to cut thinner strips of melamine diagonally in the squares of the face to create an "X" shape. Loctite Power Grab glue and a hammer can get the thinner strips into place on the frame. To finish the face, apply edging tape on the "X" bars and use a repair stick to clean up any issues. Then, attach the face to the rest of the cabinet using liquid nail glue and a nail gun. To attach the cabinet to the wall above the other cabinets, you can use the French cleat system.

If you are considering this DIY project or a similar one, you're probably wondering about the price. If you use melamine, a 4 by 8-foot white sheet costs about $44, and depending on the size of cabinets you want to make, you may need more than one sheet. White melamine edge tape starts at around $11 for 25 feet. Loctite Power Grab glue costs around $5 for 9 ounces, and a repair stick like the Mohawk Finishing Products M230-0202 Fil-Stik Repair Pencil (White) on Amazon costs less than $8. You will likely also need multiple types of saws to complete this DIY, which can get expensive. The total for this DIY, not including the saws or the iron, can be less than $70. 

If your cabinets are not white and you want to match them, your price may be a bit higher. You could apply contact paper that looks like your existing cabinetry for a relatively affordable matching design. Plus, even if the match is not exact, stacked cabinets are pretty far from the floor, so slight differences should not stand out too much. If your other cabinets are wood and you want the stacked cabinets to be as well, you can make them out of wood. Plywood cabinets are more lightweight than melamine cabinets, which makes them a good choice to place on top of other cabinets. Also, depending on what you want the face of your cabinets to look like, you may need additional materials.

The "X" shape is a great idea for a rustic kitchen, but the white melamine and open gaps create a clean and classy feeling. There are many other directions to take this DIY, depending on your style. First, you can change the shape of the crossbars. Instead of an x, you can try a plus shape, vertical bars, or horizontal bars to create different looks. If you like the timeless and elegant glass kitchen cabinet trend, you can add glass to this DIY. You will need to either add doors to the frame, find a way to make the glass removable, or leave hidden openings somewhere else on the cabinet box so your items are still accessible. If you want to create hidden storage, you can add melamine or plywood doors to the project. Adding an "X" shape or plus shape on the doors can give them more intricacy as well.

When it comes time to put items into the cabinets, think about items that you want in your kitchen but do not need to use frequently. Stacked cabinets are fairly high off the ground and can be difficult to reach. Bright, colorful items can be a lovely pop of color in open white melamine cabinets. You can also achieve a clean, monochromatic look by matching the color of the items in the cabinet to the cabinet. There are many ways to make your extra storage stylish and functional.