DIY Tilt Out Cabinet

It’s week 4 of 6 for the One Room Challenge and I’ve made some great progress on the custom cabinetry for my pantry.  This week I’m sharing a tutorial to make this DIY tilt out cabinet that would be perfect for a recycling or trash bin or even a laundry hamper.  We’ve always kept a small recycling bin in our pantry but with the new wall to wall cabinets there isn’t any room on the floor.  So I took a similar approach as the pull out cabinet for Abby’s dog food and made a tilt out cabinet for our recycling bin.  I’ll be making a shaker style door that attaches to the front face and of course painting it and adding a pull knob but the mechanics and build process is all captured in this post.

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How to Build a Tilt out Cabinet for Trash/Recycling Bin or Laundry Hamper

Before you get started with the build, make sure that the container that you are using is going to fit within your space.

Here is what you’ll need for this project.

Tools

Miter Saw 

Table Saw 

Pocket hole jig 

Drill

Speed Square

Concealed Hinge Jig

Materials

Recycling Bin

Concealed Hinges.

3/4″ hardwood plywood

1-1/4″ Pocket screws

Wood glue

How to Determine Dimensions

Bottom Support

The base that supports your container/bin needs to be large enough to fit the bin width and depth.  Measure the largest part of your bin (in my case this was at the top) and make your bottom at least that size.  For the base support I was able to use a scrap piece of 1×10 pine board that I had on hand.  I built my cabinet after I made the tilt out mechanism so I was able to customize my cabinet dimensions.  If you are working with existing cabinets you may want to make your base support a little larger if the cabinet dimensions are a lot larger than the bin dimensions.

Front Face

For the front face, I used a scrap craft board that I had on hand.  What is important to keep in mind when determining the size of the front face is that it needs to be larger than the bin dimensions but smaller than the cabinet opening.  You’ll need at least a few inches to extend below the bottom support board to install the concealed hinges.  For me this was perfect because it allowed me to raise the recycling bin up higher so that I don’t have to bend down as far when I’m using it.  Be sure to allow 1/8″ or more clearance between the front face and cabinet frame opening so that it doesn’t get stuck on anything when you are opening/closing the tilt out portion.

Angled Side Braces 

For the angled side braces I used scrap 3/4″ plywood that was ripped to 2.5″ in width.  I wanted the side braces to be as long as possible so that they not only provided adequate structural support but also held the recycling bin tightly in place.  Since the recycling bin tapers from top to bottom it limited the length that I could make the braces.  Once I figured out how far I could go, I calculated the angles for the cuts that would attach to the front face and the base support.  I just used a protractor to determine the angle at the base support and subtracted that from 90 degrees to get the opposite angle.  For reference, the angle at the base support was 35 degrees and the angle at the face frame was 55 degrees.

Attaching the Components

I drilled pocket holes into the bottom support where it will attach to the face frame.  I also drilled pocket holes into each angled end of the side supports.

Then, I attached the side supports to the bottom support using wood glue and 1-1/4″ pocket screws.

Next, the base support was attached to the front face using wood glue and 1-1/4″ pocket screws.

Lastly, I attached angled side supports to the front face using wood glue and pocket screws.

And here it is with the recycling bin in place.

Installation

In order to allow this new part to tilt out you’ll need some hinges.  I prefer Concealed Hinges.

I used my Concealed Hinge Jig to drill two pockets for the hinges.

Then I attached the hinges following the manufacturers instructions.

I measured where the hinges should be installed in the cabinet and attached them using the provided screws.  You can find more information on building a cabinet here.

Then I attached the door to the hinges and made adjustments as needed.

There are a few more steps required to align the front face with the cabinet face frame and to make sure that the tilt out component doesn’t open too far.  Here is how I solved those problems.

How to stop it from falling back into the cabinet

In the photo above you can see how at the top of the front face it extends into the cabinet too far.  That’s because there is nothing under the bottom support stopping it from falling back into the cabinet past the face frame.  I measured the distance below the bottom support and the bottom of the cabinet and cut two blocks.  I then attached them to the cabinet sides using wood screws.

Now when the tilt out portion is closed it sits on these two blocks which keep the front face flush with the cabinet trim.  I’m currently building a shaker style door that I will attach to the front face and cover the entire opening and a portion of the face frame.  If you want the look of inset doors you could build your front face to be the cabinet door instead.

How to stop it from opening too far out of the cabinet

The last step is to install two blocks to stop the cabinet from opening too far.  As you can see in the photo above the tilt out component has nothing to stop it from opening as far as the hinges allow.

First, tilt out the cabinet to determine how far it needs to open.  You’ll want it to open far enough to actually remove the bin so keep that in mind.

Next, remove the bin and trace along the bottom support and angled side support as shown below.  Do this on both sides.

Next, attach small blocks that will stop the tilt out component from opening past that point.  Since I am painting the inside of my cabinets I’m going to wait to install these blocks. Below is what I’m thinking though.

An alternative solution would be to attach a chain to the back wall and the bottom support. That would also stop it from opening too far.

Cabinetry Progress

I’m in the home stretch with these custom pantry cabinets!  Now onto the finishing touches…

1. Make doors for the tilt out cabinet and pull out cabinets
2. Cut adjustable shelves for the right side of the cabinets
3. Install trim under the toe kick
4. Make Countertops
5. Paint!

This is what it looks like today.

Renovation Plan

• Week 1: October 8th – Design Plan
• Week 2: October 15th – Remove existing shelving and prep walls
• Week 3: October 22nd – Cabinetry Build
• Week 4: October 29th – Cabinetry Build
• Week 5: November 5th – Wallpaper/painted accent wall & open shelving
• Week 6: November 12th – Final Reveal!

You can visit the One Room Challenge blog to see room transformations from all of the participants.  Everyone will be sharing progress updates each week with the final reveals on November 11th-12th.

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