Let's say you want to add a pantry in your kitchen to give you more room to store can goods and odd and ends to get them up off the counter tops and off the top of the refrigerator.

The first thing you will need to do is to decide just where you can add the pantry so that it will not be in the way. Once you have established the location then you will need to decide on the dimensions that will be adequate for your needs. Using a tape measure place the end against the wall it will be on and measure out into the room the distance you would like to make it. After deciding on the depth of the cabinet you can now determine the height you want. Place the end of the tape on the floor and measure up the wall until you have determined the exact height that will accomodate your needs.

There are several methods inwhich you could go about building your cabinet but I prefer this method. Take a level and place one end on the floor at the side of the pantry, make a plumb mark up the wall to the height that you just determined. Now, make a level mark across the wall over to, where you decided would be the width of the cabinet. Now, make another plumb mark down to the floor. You have just drawn an outline of your new pantry.

Now that you have the out line for your new pantry it is time to start putting it together. This process will be the most fun.

Take and cut some 1x2's to the length of your outline and place them on the inside of our lines. You can either nail or screw them to the wall. You may want to add some Liquid Nails to the back side of the 1x2's for added strength.

With the outline of the pantry attached to the wall it is now time to make the sides. Rip or cut a piece of plywood the width that you determined the pantry to be. After getting the side cut now you want to cut it to length. Measure from the floor up to the top of the 1x2 and cut the side that length. Repeat for other side piece.

All right, now take one of the side pieces and stand it up against the 1x2 and put the edge against the wall. Take your level and place it on the front of the piece of plywood to make sure that it is plumb. If it is not, pull the bottom/top out until the level reads plumb and hold the side in that position until you can tack it in place holding it in that position. After tacking the side in place you can now scribe off the necessary amount of plywood so that when place flat against the wall the front edge will be plumb. Repeat for other side. (Note: Be sure to take off the exact same amont on the second side as you did the first one so the front of your pantry will line up straight across from each other.)

Once you have both sides in place it is now time to cut the top piece. Measure across from outside edge to outside edge of the plywood, at the back against the wall, Now measure from the wall out to the edge of the side piece. ( they should both be the same) Cut the top and secure it at the back to the 1x2 and to the top edges of your sides. You now have the plywood frame up and ready to trim out! 

Now it is time to trim your box out and make it to start looking like a cabinet.  Depending on the type of plywood you used, Oak, Ash, Birch..., will determine the trim you will want to use. 

Let's say we used Birch, and we are going to paint our cabinet, we can use a paint grade wood such as Popular, Magnolia, White pine,etc.

For the top piece or style we will want to rip a piece 4" wide and then cut it to  fit from outside edge to out side edge at the top of the front of the box.  Then attach it to the top of the box, making sure it is flush/even with the outside of the box all the way around.

Now we can rip up some 3 inch styles for the side pieces.  Cut one piece of 3 inch stock to fit from the bottom of the top style to the floor on both sides.  After you have them attached then we want to cut a piece of wood 6 inches wide and fit it between the two 3 inch styles and attach it between the 3 inch styles right on the floor.  The frame work is now complete!!

To make it look more professional take some scape plywood and rip it into 5 and one quater inches wide. Then cut them into lengths of about a foot.  Take one of them and attach to each corner and at least one piece in the middle of each side, back and the front.  This will allow your bottom shelf to double as your shelf and your cabinet bottom. 

Depending on how tall you made your pantry will determine how many sections and doors you will want.

The best thing to do is to decide how many sections you want in your new pantry.  When you decide how many sections you want then you will attach a 3 inch style at that point and cut a shelf to go behind the style with the top of the shelf flush with the top of the style.

After you have added all the sections you want then you can just add shelves in the sections at desired heights.

For the doors you may want to consider having them made for you at a cabinet shop or see if your local Lowes or HomeDepot has doors to fit or can order them for you. You will get a much more professional look this way than making them yourself.

Once you get your doors hung you will have a new pantry that looks like it was professionally made.

HAPPY BUILDING!