Materials from which you can make a cabinet door

In this article we will talk about what you can use to make a closet door. Making a cabinet at home is a great way to save money and get a piece of furniture that fits perfectly into your interior. Even a novice craftsman can cope with assembling a classic cabinet or wardrobe.

Making doors is one of the most important stages of work, because this part of the structure should have a pleasant appearance and functionality. Doors can be made from various materials; the choice is limited only by the financial capabilities of the customer and the creative imagination of the master.

Materials for the manufacture of swing doors

Hinged doors are considered the classic, easiest to manufacture option. Ordinary cabinets and bedside tables, as well as some built-in wardrobes, are equipped with such doors. The main advantage of such doors is that they are functional and durable; they, unlike their sliding counterparts, do not contain elements in their design that can quickly wear out.

In most cases, hinged doors are attached to the cabinet body using piano hinges. To assemble such a door, it is enough to cut out a rectangle of the required dimensions from the material, and then sand its ends. After that, all that remains is to install the hinges and handles. Swing doors are made from solid wood, chipboard, MDF, plywood and other materials.

Natural wood

Wooden products are environmentally friendly; they do not emit harmful substances into the environment. Natural resins and essential oils come into the air from wood, which have a pleasant aroma and have a positive effect on the human body.

Wooden furniture is characterized by strength, resistance to mechanical stress and a long service life. The main advantage of wood is its pleasant and status appearance. The wood is easy to process and can be easily milled. For the manufacture of cabinet furniture, pine, spruce, fir, larch, birch, aspen, oak, acacia, linden, cedar, walnut, chestnut, poplar, rowan, maple, beech, ash, apple tree, etc. are most often used.

The main disadvantage of natural wood is its high cost. Therefore, wood is now inferior in popularity to other, more affordable materials. Another disadvantage of wood is its rather heavy weight. For this reason, wooden doors are not installed on lightweight structures (for example, on cabinets made of thin chipboard).

Chipboard, MDF

Chipboard (chipboard) is the most popular material in furniture production, as it has the optimal combination of price and quality. Products made from chipboard are practical, resistant to moisture and have a pleasant appearance.

This material imitates natural wood, giving the interior originality and sophistication. A large selection of shades makes chipboard a universal material. Wood processing and sawmill waste is used to make chipboard; formaldehyde resins are used as a binding material when pressing wood waste. The presence of formaldehyde in the composition of the boards is perhaps the only significant drawback of chipboard.

In the furniture industry, frames and milled facades are made from Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF). This material is made from dried wood fibers. The production technology is based on hot pressing followed by grinding with synthetic binders.

MDF differs from chipboard in its greater environmental friendliness, as well as higher ductility (the material bends well, which makes it possible to make semicircular and bent structures from it). MDF can be milled, so all kinds of designs can be applied to facades made of this material. The main disadvantage of MDF is its relatively high cost.

Veneer, plywood

Cabinet doors made of veneer are practically no different in appearance from wood, since veneer is a thin sheet material that is made from natural wood by planing or peeling. This material is used as a cladding for chipboard or MDF panels. The main disadvantage of veneer, which is an organic material, is the need to handle it carefully.

Plywood is one of the materials most in demand and widely used in furniture production. Plywood is wear-resistant, it does not rot or warp, and is resistant to moisture, high temperature, and sunlight. It is resistant to chemicals, detergents, and various types of contaminants. Plywood furniture is practical and easy to move due to its light weight.

Plywood owes its excellent characteristics to a special manufacturing method: a plywood sheet consists of thin layers of wood (veneers) glued together. The number of sheets is always odd, which allows you to maintain symmetry with respect to the central sheet. This symmetry ensures the strength of the product, its resistance to loads and a long period of operation. In each layer of plywood sheet, the wood fibers are directed perpendicular to the adjacent layer, which increases the material’s resistance to bending and twisting.

To make furniture that is used outdoors (for example, for a cabinet installed in a country house or an unglazed balcony), you can use moisture-resistant plywood. Layers of such material are connected to each other using moisture-resistant glue.

Classification of cabinets depending on how the space is used

All furniture is divided into the following categories:

• Corpus. These are models of classic cabinets that have back and side walls. The main advantage is the ability to move it to any place. The presence of all elements of the case reliably protects things from the ingress of dust microparticles and prevents the formation of an unpleasant odor. Ready-made models are sold, or the cabinet is made to order.

• Built-in. Its main difference is the absence of side walls. Many models are made without a back wall. All components and door panels are attached to the walls of the room. What types of built-in wardrobes are there, and where are they located in the room? It is advisable to install such furniture along the wall or in a niche, if there are any in the room. By choosing built-in models, you can realize your vision of the convenience and comfort of furniture, since such cabinets are made only to order. Modern manufacturers have tried to reduce lead times, reducing production time to a couple of weeks.

• Semi-built. It is one of the types of built-in furniture. Its main difference from built-in ones is the presence of one side wall. Typically, such models are chosen for a corner location. Semi-built ones are considered more universal, as they can be installed anywhere. Just like built-in furniture, it is made only to order. The most important thing when choosing is to decide on the location, since it will not be possible to move it to another place.

Methods of decorative finishing of furniture boards

To improve the performance characteristics of the above materials, special coatings can be applied to them. The most popular method of processing furniture boards is lamination. It consists of covering the material with special films made of paper and impregnated with melamine resins under high pressure and at high temperature.

Laminate is resistant to chemicals and scratches. In addition, it is aesthetically pleasing. Now there are a large number of colors and shades of this material on the market. Another way to process furniture boards is lamination. It involves covering the material with paper-resin or polymer film, followed by applying varnish or paint. The film is applied to the slab using glue.

Laminated products

The advantage of laminate is its availability, but the design of cabinets made from this material is not as durable as other options. Door style choices will likely be limited to a flat front panel. High-pressure laminates are more expensive, but they are more durable (though they are also difficult to repair).

Various materials are used as a substrate hidden behind laminate, vinyl film or wood veneer:

• Chipboard is made from wood particles mixed with resin and bonded under pressure. The slab serves as the base for most laminate and vinyl cabinets. New technology and improved resins make particle board a durable, reliable building material. But from such cheap slabs, hinges and other fasteners tend to quickly fall out. A chipboard that is too thin will break or deform under the weight of heavy objects and things.
• Medium-density fiberboard is a high-quality backing material made from finer fibers than particle board. It has excellent screw holding ability, boasts clean edges and an extremely smooth surface. In addition, the edges are processed and painted.

Advantages of sliding doors that are equipped with sliding wardrobes

In recent years, sliding wardrobes have become very popular, and this is not surprising, because they are spacious and easy to use. This piece of furniture can be purchased ready-made or assembled yourself.

The most difficult part of assembling such a structure is installing the sliding door mechanism. The closet closing system, despite the complexity of assembly, has an important advantage over the hinged door system - the sliding doors move to the side when opened and do not create problems for the movement of apartment residents. This advantage is appreciated by residents of small apartments. But this design also has one significant drawback - the cabinet cannot be fully opened, it only opens halfway.

The cabinet closing system consists of two main parts: door panels and a special guide system, which can be purchased at a furniture fittings store. This system is a set of metal profiles, roller mechanisms, gaskets, fasteners, plugs and jumpers. Such systems form door frames and mechanisms for their movement.

Design

Today, the choice of materials and colors is so wide that even the most unsightly furniture can be transformed. The following models are especially popular:

1. Colored - wardrobe doors can be either plain, matte, or glossy. The combinations also look interesting.
2. Mirrored ones will visually increase the area of ​​the room, which is important for small rooms.
3. With photo printing - depending on the customer’s preferences, doors can be made with an image of a night city or a starry sky.
4. With images of plants and flowers, the interior of the bedroom will be emphasized.
5. With drawings of popular cartoon characters - for children's rooms.

If you want to add austerity to the interior, pay attention to dark shades of doors, for example, dark brown and black. You can either choose ready-made solutions from the catalog or make custom doors.

Materials for assembling wardrobe doors

The internal filling of the structure frame (canvas) can be made of various materials, for example, chipboard, MDF, glass, plastic or other materials. Let's take a closer look at the most popular options:

1. Mirror. Cabinet doors with a mirror finish make the interior more sophisticated and add brightness and light to the room. In addition, the mirror surface visually increases the space. Many potential owners are afraid to equip their furniture with mirror panels due to fears that the mirror may break and injure people. However, doors made using modern technologies are covered with a special film, ensuring the absolute safety of the product. Furniture mirrors come in a variety of designs, such as tinted, anti-reflective, patterned or patterned, or with built-in lighting to provide additional illumination for dark rooms. Another significant advantage of mirrors is their affordable price (mirrors are much cheaper than natural materials, for example, solid wood).
2. Glass. This material is environmentally friendly and easy to care for; it never goes out of fashion and does not age. Glass for sliding wardrobes is covered with a special film, which does not allow the broken material to disintegrate into small fragments. Therefore, glass panels for sliding wardrobes are safe to use. Glass can be frosted, colored, with patterns and designs, or embossed. Tempered glass – triplex – is also popular, but it is expensive. Glass can be used alone or in combination with chipboard and mirror.
3. Plastic. Highly environmentally friendly acrylic plastic is often used to decorate sliding doors. This material is also sometimes called acrylic glass, but, unlike glass, it is characterized by high strength and resistance to mechanical damage (does not break). Plastic is presented on the market in a wide range of colors, so plastic panels can be matched to any, even the most unusual, interior. Acrylic plastic looks great in any room and can be easily combined with other materials.
4. Rattan. If the master wants to decorate the interior in an exotic style, then he can put rattan panels in the closet. Doors made from this material are beautiful and practical. Rattan is a natural material characterized by a durable structure, abrasion resistance, and resistance to moisture and temperature changes. Rattan furniture makes the interior lighter and creates a feeling of closeness to nature. In addition, it is easy to clean - just remove dust with a damp sponge. The only significant drawback of rattan is that it does not tolerate dry air well. Cracks may appear on the doors of a cabinet located in a room with low humidity. Another important disadvantage of rattan is its high cost.

Despite the availability of many beautiful, practical materials, chipboard panels are most often used in the production of sliding wardrobes. They are durable, easy to maintain, versatile, and affordable.

Decor options - how they can get off

The design of the furniture is determined by the finishing of the doors. Lots of possibilities:

• overlay elements and fittings - wooden doors are often decorated with moldings - metal, plastic, overlay carved elements. Beautiful sculptural handles, glass and metal knobs also serve as decoration;
• inserts - most often this is how the door leaf for a coupe is “assembled”. The insert material, dimensions, and configuration are determined by the style of the room. Thus, mirror and glass inserts visually “lighten” the tall, massive cabinet fronts up to the ceiling. Plastic and wood create an interesting design;
• canvas decor - glass and mirror can be decorated with a matte pattern or laser engraving. Painting is suitable for any material. An expensive and interesting option is stained glass or fusing. Another universal option is photo printing. Thus, a colorful unique image is obtained on chipboard, MDF, wood, glass;
• cladding - for example, finishing with acrylic panels. The material is extremely durable, resistant to water, steam, and grease. Additionally, acrylic panels provide incredibly vibrant color and a high-gloss shine. No less decorative cladding with glass or mirror panels;

There is also a “technical” way - lighting. An LED strip or a row of spotlights emphasize the design of the furniture and create a feeling of lightness and airiness.

The design and construction of cabinet doors are very diverse.
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