And photo from other side that didn't load...

This is the side that I want to know if we should frame out at all, or leave it as is and just add floor and ceiling trim?

None of those all different woods and really poor quality ply will finish out the same as your existing cabinets. And the exposed ply edges? It’s not even built correctly. If you leave that, it’s going to have to be painted and hope for the best. Even then those knots will be challenging for paint. It really needs to be rebuilt with the proper materials and methods if you want it to match anything and look like something.

Green designs, you clearly didn't even read the post... Of course, it's going to be painted to match existing cabs (included knots filled and sanded, lines caulked, and trim added to cover the gaps.

But I need to figure out how to finish the framing before I caulk and finish the trim... obviously???

Green-- Why would we plan to leave the edges exposed ply wood? Im sorry, but common sense says that will be trimmed out.

And of course it won't match my 20 yr old cabinets perfectly, how could I even expect that??

Annie, I actually had the same question/comment as GD about the plywood edges - mainly because standard practice would have been to finish those edges with solid wood prior to putting everything in place. (It's just easier to get a tight fit if you do that step while the box is flat on a bench instead of installed and upright. That doesn't mean you can't move forward, just that you'll probably have more filling/sanding to do.) Is there any other additional finish work still to be done, besides surface prep for staining?

Here are my two cents, from someone who's made a lot of cabinets. It looks like the base molding may need to be removed from the left side before adding the wood edging to the plywood. And as you said, the to making it fit with the rest of the cabinets will be how well knots are filled and sanded prior to staining. I would have used a different grade of plywood, one that cost a bit more but required less prep before staining. Keep in mind that many fillers take stain differently than the plywood or solid wood edging - choose carefully.

My preference would be not to add any additional rails or stiles to the side panel - and to definitely add the faux face-frame or edging to the plywood sides. Good luck and enjoy. That does look like a nice storage addition.

Salex, thank you for your helpful advice. I see what you mean about the edges-- my husband chose to trim it after standing it is up I'm sure because this was his first time building a cabinet and it was probably easier for him to visualize.

I don't mind doing the grunt work, of extra caulking, filling, and sanding. The existing cabs do have woodgrain visible through the stain that doesn't show well in the photo, so I think it will match up fine.

I used a wiping/gel stain on the existing cabinets from minwax, that basically is painted on. It doesn't absorb fully and acts like a paint, from what I understand. I hope that the it will do the same on this cabinets although I don't know yet. It's held up extremely well so far on the existing cabs.

If there is any other prep work that I'm not thinking of please let me know!

I'm not aiming for perfection, my look is rustic/vintage anyway, and DIYing this saved a lot of money so it's worth the little mistake here and there for us.

Green can think the cabinet is horrendous, for all I care. He or she just likes the attention, I think...

Oh and thank you for your advice on my original question!! Im thinking the more plain look will work best too, especially since it's so big. Don't want overkill. thanks much!

Gel stain is a good choice. However, as I said above, many fillers do not take stain - including gel - the same as wood grain or plywood. So you definitely need to not only choose a filler that says it is stainable, but also test it prior to using on your cabinet. Most fillers would show up as a much lighter final color than the surrounding wood or ply, and thus the filler spots will stick out. I would not use caulk if you intend to stain. Proceed carefully, with adequate testing on scraps before you do it for real, and hopefully you will be happy with the finished product.

Wow, I didn't even think of that! I was assuming that paintable filler would also be stainable but I can see how that may not be the case. I will definitely test before proceeding. You probably just saved me a ton of work, thank you.

Ugh - yes! My husband built a nice 2-shelf unit with hooks for keys for our foyer, and I stained it. The "stainable" filler did not take the stain well at all. Very bummed about that.

You've already received excellent advice from Salex, but boy, that's alot of knots to fill. I've not worked with gel stains before, but was thinking you could do test stains with left over ply. Try pre-staining with a darker stain to see which will give you the results you can live with.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><md>Great idea! I will definitely test out on the scraps. Actually we had picked a much cleaner board with 1 knot visible, but then he put that side towards the fridge, oops.

Why don't you veneer or beadboard the flat areas. Leave the framing and front doors alone until you see what veneer etc you can get. Don't fill and sand knots....

Add nothing, just crown on the top.

I am sorry, but this is one of those times when you saved in spots that you shouldn't have.

First, the advice you asked for... I would have split the sides into three panels (so two dissecting rails) but prefer one dissecting rail to three. Do both sides if you can do so without interfering with opening your existing cabinets.

Next, stainable filler is a unicorn. It doesn't really exist. Good carpenters will match putty after staining even for nail holes.

If you are dead set on staining, you have two options...

(1) your best option is to buy a couple of veneer sheets and veneer a decent face onto the plywood,

(2) buy a good quality wood filler (not from a big box store)and slather it on with a drywall knife until the entire surface is covered in a thick layer and then sand it down with fine grit sandpaper paper on an orbital sander until the grain starts showing through.

This will allow you to get an even stain, however I worry about the knots seeping through over time, but since you are going with a java it might work. Any spot patching is going to show through, so forget it.

Painting is a much better option but you still need to seal the knots. Use a shellac based primer such as Zinsser bin.

Good wood is expensive, and it is very tempting to use lower quality wood especially when you have concerns whether or not the piece is going to end up in the house or the fire pit. I think most woodworkers start out using cheap wood and we all make a lot of well built low quality pieces before we start spending on good wood.

If you want to save this piece then spend on the veneer, or lean into it and paint it.

Good luck.

Other things: chalkboard on upper flat area......fun hooks on lower area for hats and bags and just clear coat it.

Sorry I don’t have a lot of time to write but saw the mention of stainable wood filler.

My cabinets are oak. I stained them with general finishes gel stain quite a few years back. One of the guys on the paint or refinishing forum recommended Famowood wood filler. It’s stainable. I used it for some screw and nail holes and it worked well.

http://eclecticproducts.com/products/famowood/famowood-original-wood-filler.html

I actually put a tiny bit of putty in a small sandwich bag and cut a tip. You don’t need a lot and you don’t want it drying out. I also remember storing it upside down. (These were other things mentioned and suggested to me.) It’s also paintable. If painting I’d use MH Ready Patch.

The only other wood filler I tried, years and years ago, was Minwax and it was garbage.

Bry911, I think we will try a veneer piece first, and I like the idea of 3 boxes with 2 rails. We might as well change the frame up too while we're at it. Thanks very much for your advice. I never realized plywood was so difficult to work with.

Really appreciate everyone's thoughts, there's plenty I would not have known and I think this will save me lots of work and dust all over the kitchen so win-win!

And Shee I will definitely look up that filler!

In light of "not beating a dead horse" I am not going to tell you to buy better plywood and redo it. I understand you appreciate what your husband has done for you and also the money invested.
However, I have a couple ideas to help this go a little better. You mentioned that the side of the plywood facing the fridge had only one knot and you meant for that side to show. Can he carefully pull this down and flip around the plywood? Depending on the placement of the knot, maybe you will get lucky and one of the trim pieces will cover it! Also, if he CAN take it down, I would recommend that you sand it (with a power sander) before he puts it back up. Same goes for the wood you used as trim. Sand that really well. Then give everything one coat of stain before you reinstall it. That way you don't have to try to force stain into all the joints between trim and panels.
Whatever trim you use for the front "face frame" make sure it is of a higher grade. Stain that trim first too, them put it up and stain again. Fill nail holes with a dark putty.

I understand wanting to save him from the trouble but you really have set yourself up for an impossible task finishing it as is.

Rachel, I appreciate your understanding! It would be awesome if he could reverse that piece. Now convincing him to do that... haha.

We will definitely use a high quality trim though.

I'm not sure who mentioned the trims being mismatched at the bottom (the wall to the cabinet) but the cabinet trim will be "painted" black so it does not need to match to the wall. It will be a part of the cabinet just like we did on the island.

The issue with the trim is not only the size mismatch. You've got a straight cut where it butts into the smaller piece of trim and an unsightly gap because the back edge of the larger piece was not coped to the wall profile. Search YouTube for a video of "Coping molding" so your husband can see how to do this properly.

Got it, I will look that up! thanks for the tip

Here's a short video that shows you what needs to be done with the coping:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=058TIylqcdQ

There are several ways to cope baseboard molding, but this technique is probably the most straightforward for your situation.

kudzu, thank you for that video! Hubby just watched it and it was very helpful. we're redoing the trim now, wish us luck

Glad it was helpful. If its not a perfect cut, a little bit of latex caulk should make it so :-)

What's the worst that can happen? If it looks like crap and hubby learned how to build a cabinet, save up and do it again with quality materials. Call this your "trial and error" learning experience.

thank you deco. very true. thankfully it actually turned out perfectly. An hours work of filling and sanding and it took the gel stain just fine. the finish looks very comparable to our current cabinets since they have wood grain too. next time we'll go for quality materials, though. definitely a learning experience!

A little caulk, a little paint, makes the carpenter what (s)he ain't ;-)

Congratulations on completing your kitchen project.

Thor, that saying is perfect, haha. definitely sums up this project! And thank you! :)

It looks really nice, Annie. Congrats to you and your hardworking husband.

thanks so much, Olivia!

after all that it came out great!

great work! kudos to you and your husband. I remember my first big project with my husband and it didn't turn out that good!

Very nice!

thank you all so very much!

Great job and you learned some tricks of the trade!