I’m sitting in the kitchen writing while watching our meat ducks romp around the front yard. They are full of personality—waddling to their feed, dipping at the water, then back again until their little crops are full. Their cheerful commotion makes this room feel alive as the house slowly comes together.
My laptop is balanced on top of the cabinet boxes while I stand and type. Yes—cabinet boxes. They are finally in place. After so much planning and work, it still feels surreal to see the beginning of our finished kitchen taking shape.
Designing Our Kitchen Cabinets
My partner and I designed the kitchen cabinets together. I had clear ideas: drawers in specific spots, tall cupboards in others, shelves at particular heights. He translated those ideas into plans, then spent evenings and weekends cutting birch plywood to the right shapes, lengths, and heights. Cabinet making is slow, detailed work—especially when you’re balancing a day job and building a home and small farm from the ground up.
Can you tell what these cut-outs were used for?
Watching him work, I felt proud and eager to help. There were many evenings when I wished I could do more than hand him tools or hold a piece steady. But the steady pace paid off. In about a month, every piece had been measured, cut, labeled, and readied for assembly. That moment when the boxes could finally be put together was thrilling.
Slow and Steady Wins the Race
He assembled each cabinet box with care. The weekend we decided to install them, he brought wedges, levels, a laser level, screws, a drill, and an arsenal of tools I can’t name. He wrestled the boxes into place and secured them to the whitewashed wood paneling we installed earlier. I hovered nearby—asking questions, holding and lifting where I could—trying to be helpful and absorbing every detail of how custom cabinets come together.
By the end of that weekend, he had installed more than 17 feet of custom counter boxes across our little cottage kitchen. It transformed the room instantly. I worried the space might feel cramped once the cabinets were in—but the opposite happened. The kitchen feels more purposeful, cozy, and like the room we designed on paper almost three years ago.
We’re not using the cabinets yet because the raw wooden shelves need sealing. We plan to apply two generous coats of Varathane to protect the wood. Doors and drawer fronts will wait until winter when construction slows and my partner has more time to finish the final touches. For now, the open boxes let us see and appreciate the craftsmanship and layout before hardware and finishes change the look.
Pardon the mess in the photos—this is a lived-in worksite. The place where breakfast, lunches, and evenings happen, even during renovation.
He is working on the countertops now. There’s a bit more backsplash work to finish, then we’ll seal the counters and install the sink I ordered. I chose a practical farmhouse-inspired sink that fits our budget and style. It isn’t a perfect farmhouse model, but its design should help prevent water from pooling along the counter behind it—an important feature for a busy kitchen.
There’s more to share about countertops and final finishes, but I’ll save those details for next time. For now, the milestone is real: the cabinet boxes are in, the kitchen layout is set, and each step brings us closer to a finished, functional space. Seeing these cabinets installed has been one of the most satisfying moments in our build—proof that patience, planning, and steady work truly pay off.