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This is a drawer-and-door front technique as much as a specific project: build simple butt-jointed drawer boxes and two flat doors, then dress the visible faces with small individual plywood tiles instead of one solid panel per opening — that's what creates the classic apothecary-cabinet look of many small drawers, even though each opening is really one drawer or door underneath. It's written as an add-on to an existing base cabinet (the drawer bottoms and door panels are sized to use scrap left over from building that cabinet), but the false-face technique works on any plain cabinet front you want to dress up this way.
Don't attach the false faces until every drawer and door is built, fitted, and centered in its opening with an even gap — the false faces cover that gap, so their position depends entirely on where the underlying drawer or door actually sits, not on a fixed measurement.
| Item | Qty |
|---|---|
| 1x8 board, 10 ft | 2 each |
| 3/4" plywood or MDF scrap, for drawer bottoms and door panelsReuses offcuts from building the base cabinet, if you have them. | 15 sq ft |
| 1/4" plywood, for false-face tiles | 10 sq ft |
| Knobs | 16 each |
| Euro-style hinges, full overlay or inset | 4 each |
| Wood screws, 2" | 40 each |
| Wood glue | 3 oz |
Overall cost: $$. Lumber prices vary by region, species, and season, so we give a band rather than a figure we would only be pretending to know.
| Part | Qty | T × W × L |
|---|---|---|
| Drawer bottoms3/4" plywood or MDF scrap | 4 | 3/4" × 13" × 14" |
| Drawer backs1x8 | 4 | 3/4" × 7 1/4" × 13" |
| Drawer sides1x8 | 8 | 3/4" × 7 1/4" × 14 3/4" |
| Drawer fronts1x8 | 4 | 3/4" × 7 1/4" × 14 1/2" |
| Drawer false-face tiles1/4" plywoodFour tiles per drawer face. | 16 | 1/4" × 7" × 7 3/4" |
| Larger door panel3/4" plywood or MDF scrap | 1 | 3/4" × 16" × 15 1/2" |
| Smaller door panel3/4" plywood or MDF scrapThe two doors are not the same size — check which opening each goes in before hanging. | 1 | 3/4" × 16" × 14 5/8" |
| Door false-face tiles1/4" plywoodFour tiles per door. | 8 | 1/4" × 7" × 7 3/4" |
Buy 7 boards at 8 ft.
1 board
1 board
3 boards
2 boards
Assumes 8 ft stock, a 1/8" saw kerf, and buying each part at its own width. Change the board size or kerf on the full board plan →
Fasten each drawer back to its bottom with 2" screws and glue. A useful trick: rest the bottom (not the back, sides, or front) on a scrap of 1/4" plywood while fastening, which raises the bottom 1/4" so it doesn't drag once the drawer is installed. Add the sides the same way, fastening into the back as well as the bottom. Add the front last, checking the box is square and its front edges line up before fastening with 2" screws and glue.
Set all four drawer boxes into their openings without any false faces attached, centering each with roughly an 1/8" gap on the sides and bottom and a 1/4" gap on top. Position the false-face tiles over each drawer so they just cover that gap, leaving a 3/4" space between tiles for the classic apothecary look. Glue in place, tack a few nails into the tile corners if you have a nailer, and clamp until dry.
Cut the two door panels — remember they are not the same size. Fit each into its opening and attach with the euro-style hinges.
Attach the door false-face tiles the same way you did the drawer tiles, concealing the gap around each door. Once everything is dry, sand and add your knobs to the drawers and doors.
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