Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

As the delivery date for my trailer gets closer (it's built and awaiting deliver!), I'm thinking about ways to get it built out faster/cheaper that doing the cabinetry myself. Does anyone have a good source for stock cabinets in 18" depths? The standard 24" depth looks like it will take up too much room in the trailer.

I bought mine at Home Depot and Lowes








check both in kitchen and bathroom departments.....

I bought 2 cabinets from lowes in the bath department they are shallow made to go over a toilet and have a open space at the bottom which is nice to put things without having to open the cabinet. 75.00 each nice finished look.

Yah - I was specifically thinking of the lower cabinets. I've found 12" and 18" upper cabinets.

Saw the back off. Shorten the drawers. Time wise and dollars I bet you are still way ahead.

You can pick up inexpensive cabinets if you have a Habitat For Humanity building thrift store nearby.

Probably the easiest way is to buy upper cabinets. Upper cabinets wont have recessed bases or "toe kicks" so you will need to build cabinet bases. Wall cabinet heights vary but many are 30" in height, which is shorter than counter height of 36". I'd make up the difference by building a 5-6" tall base and recess the base to allow the cabinets to overhang 3-4" for toe room.

Have you looked at lav cabinets? I don't think they're 18, but maybe 20? If that's close enough, that would be an easy fix. You could even get a sink built in.

Now that my trailer is finally here, I'll be able to mockup the cabinets in cardboard to get a feel for size. I went to Home Depot, Lowes, and IKEA the other night to get an idea of the available options and prices for prebuilt. I really like the Ikea stuff - quality seems better than the cabinets on hand at Lowes (many where broken in various ways). Hopefully this will help me make the call on build vs. buy.

I see Ikea cabinets mentioned many times in this forum. I guess I need to head to one of their stores to see what they look like. The only issue is that the closest one is in Charlotte, NC, a three hour ride. But there is a also Bass Pro Shop there for me to hit and also a big mall for my wife. Sounds like a good rainy day trip.

IKEA has a simplified 3D builder app that lets you visualize and price cabinets. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/kitchen/ (it's a ways down the page)

I think I just solved my cabinets.Don't know if this is an idea you can use.

I've heard over and over again in CTC and general RV building to frame out what you want, cover it in plywood, and then add the doors being the best route. Well I'm all for that except for the me adding the doors part. I'm handy - I can build pretty much whatever you want, but "amateur cabinetry" isn't a real pretty thing.

Also, I didn't want prefabs because I didn't want to lose access to the trailer walls. My electrical panel is going to be up there under the cabinetry area, so for that and possible additions in the future, I'll want some "open the door and work on the trailer" access.

This morning I woke up to an Angie's List "Big Deal" - Kind of like Groupons on Angie's List. "6 Hours of Master Carpenter, $199". So I'm thinking I frame it up, slap some plywood on the front, either cut or mark the openings, pick out some nice doors at Habitat, call in the master carpenter, and have a refreshing beverage.

That's in Atlanta, but f you're on Angie's List anywhere might be worth poking around the deals.

Cabinet doors can be simple to make.

Check this out.

http://ana-white.com/2013/09/plans/easy ... anel-doors

lrrowe wrote:Cabinet doors can be simple to make.

Check this out.

http://ana-white.com/2013/09/plans/easy ... anel-doors

That's a good system, and I might wind up incorporating some of that. The part of my skills I'm less thrilled about is the fit and finish of getting them all hung straight. It kind of depends what I run across at Habitat on any given day or find in the RTA section somewhere (It irks me to no end that Home Depot discontinued RTA cabinets).

khigh wrote:I've heard over and over again in CTC and general RV building to frame out what you want, cover it in plywood, and then add the doors being the best route. Well I'm all for that except for the me adding the doors part. I'm handy - I can build pretty much whatever you want, but "amateur cabinetry" isn't a real pretty thing.

I actually really like doing hand tool woodworking. In inspecting the casework for all of these companies, it's really not that complicated. The main thing is that it is very time consuming to do the design and construction. Now that my trailer is here and I've had a chance to walk through it, I've realized that I really do want 18" depth cabinets and counters to keep the space feeling roomy. Back to sketchup to finish working out my ideas...