January 10, 2023

How We Made A Beautiful Two Door Cabinet into our Kitchen Trash Can!

Good afternoon! I am soooooooo excited to be back. SO. DANG. EXCITED. From the unexpected passing of John’s dad in November to my four surgeries in seven days in mid-December… it was quite the not-so-fabulous end to 2022. But we did have a wonderful Christmas and New Year’s and a big start to 2023. With Addie’s trip to France this month for a study abroad to a trip to Disney World for just John and I next week and the start to quite a few projects, we have been off to the races!

The first project I was determined to complete this year is the transformation of a cute little cabinet I found at HomeGoods into a trash can for our kitchen. Yep, I said TRASH CAN! Here’a a peek at the cabinet before…

BEFORE…

Yep, John thought I was crazy too. I won’t lie… it took us a minute to nail down exactly how we would tackle this transformation. We first thought we’d do slide out tracks for the trash cans but then John decided chained pull-downs might be the easier method. We also went back and forth about how exactly you’d go about opening each door given that there was already beautiful wooden pulls on each door. Here’s how we finally made it happen!

What You’ll Need…

A Cute Cabinet!

Measuring Tape

Pencil

Table Saw or Circular Saw & Miter Saw

One Sheet of 1/2″ Plywood

Screw Gun & Drill

Wood Glue

Finishing Nails & Construction Screws

and…

Step One…

First, choose a cabinet that you love! I found this one at HomeGoods a few months back. Just make sure the interior of the cabinet can fit-ish your average kitchen trash can.

Step Two…

Measure the interior of your cabinet to determine the size of your platform that the trash can will rest on. Measure the width of the cabinet door and the depth of the cabinet to the inside of cabinet door when closed leaving a minimum of 1/4″ space from the back of the cabinet. For this project our dimensions were 16″W x 10-1/4″D.

Step Three…

Cut out and assemble your platform box. Using a table saw and 1/2″ finished plywood, we cut out a 16″x 10-1/4″ rectangle. Next rip 2″ wide plywood strips, and cut them to size to fit around the perimeter of your (our… 16″x 10-1/4″) rectangle. Your rails will rest on top of your plywood rectangle. Use wood glue, trim nails and small construction screws to assemble it all together.

Step Four…

While the original cabinet door is still in place, mark each edge of the door. This will be used for reference when centering the new door to install. Detach the door by removing the original hinges. Once door is removed, mark the location and screw in the new hinges to the bottom of your cabinet. Make sure they are equal distance from the edge of your door marks for symmetry. Next, line up the bottom of the door with your edge marks against the hinges; mark and screw the hinges into the door.

Step Five…

Assemble your new trash can tilt out door. Attach the platform box to the door. Line up the bottom and sides of the box with the door and clamp into place. Then screw the plywood rail into the door frame.

Step Six…

Now that your door is assembled. Open and close it multiple times, to check for proper clearance and smooth operation.

Step Seven…

Choose the range limit that you would like door to tilt out. For this project, we choose about 45 degrees. This allowed ample clearance to throw away trash and pull out the trash can when needed. Add a decorative support chain to the back of the cabinet and to the inside of the door. Finally, choose a decorative cabinet pull.