Kitchen Cabinets?

Anyone have any creative or unusual ideas for kitchen cabinets? I will be replacing the cabinets in my kitchen soon (very small, btw), and I do not want traditionally built cabinets. I will be building them myself, and I am looking for unique and creative materials to build them out of. I just want something different. I don't mean how they are painted, what kind of trim or hardware, the style or type of doors, etc. I am talking about building materials. I particularly like the old style metal cabinets, but they are hard to come by (at least at a reasonable price). One idea was to refinish old school lockers, but I am still looking for other ideas. Thanks to anyone who can help.

Public Comments

1. I have always liked glass fronted cabinets - like old windows.
2. ever thought about using apple crates, they are made of wood so they would be easy to make fit in the space you have and some have pictures on them, and also this is a good time of year to find them at orchards
3. I don't have much of an imagination, but I like your ideas. If I find anything I'll send it your way.
4. We are ripping out old 50s style metal cabinets and replacing with wood. One sink base, drawer and two single door base cabinets with two tall wall cabinets and one shorty above the sink. If you are in the central part (Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, of the US and would like to look at them to have contact me via my profile email address. I will find some pics and email them if you'd be interested.. Your other possibility is check out lumber and building supply salvage yards in your area.
5. You could use filing cabinets.I also like the idea of using old grocery carts , which would give you an open cabinet. You could use sheet metal and plasma cut designs into the doors which would be really cool.
6. You may want to go to your local salvation army. They may have metal cabinets. Also check out the schools. They tend to throw away lockers yearly. Personally, I wouldn't use metal. i would use cedar. Cedar helps to keep ants and other crawlies out. Swirling paints makes a very nice touch also. My friend put up cut plastic milk crates on the front of her cabinets. She cut them with a heavy duty cutter and mounted them with small screws to the doors of the cupboards. Good luck, have fun.
7. A friend of mine used old wooden legal book cases. (By that I mean the bookcases that have a glass door that lifts from the bottom, swings up till it's level and then slides back into the case.) I think they were used by law firms to store their heavy law books and keep dust at bay. Anyway, she found some at a flea market and cut the feet off, stained the fresh cut and mounted them to the wall. They looked pretty nice......I for one think they are not too practical for a working kitchen. If you want something a little more industrial....the wire storage shelves used in closets and painted with "Hammerite" (sp?) metal paint might be an idea. Good Luck