Why garage cabinets are the ideal optimizer project
A garage wall usually means several cabinets in a row, and that is exactly where a cut list optimizer earns its keep. One cabinet is easy to lay out by eye; four columns of sides, shelves, backs and doors across six or seven sheets is not. The optimizer nests all of it together, so a shelf from cabinet three fills the gap next to a side from cabinet one, and the whole build comes out of fewer sheets. Because garage cabinets are usually melamine-faced board or OSB rather than show-grade plywood, you can let most parts rotate freely, which packs even tighter.
How to use it
- Start from the example. The garage cabinet example is a real four-column wall unit. Open it, then change the column widths, depth and height to fit your own wall.
- Or design from scratch. Use the cabinet designer: enter the outside dimensions per unit, add shelves and doors, and the panel list is derived automatically, adjusted for material thickness.
- Pick a garage-proof material. White melamine-faced board wipes clean and needs no finishing; OSB is the budget choice for a workshop look; moisture-resistant board makes sense in a damp garage. Enter your sheet size and blade kerf.
- Cut in order. You get a numbered cutting order of straight cuts, a shopping list of sheets, and printable part labels so twenty similar white panels do not get mixed up during assembly.
Garage-specific tips
- Doors take the hits. Fronts in a garage get knocked; 18 mm board with edge banding on the exposed edges holds up. The optimizer adjusts the cut sizes for the banding thickness so doors still fit their openings.
- Plinth or wall-hung. A plinth keeps cabinet bottoms out of floor water; wall-hung cabinets keep the floor clear for sweeping. Both just change the carcass height, which the designer handles.
- Keep the offcuts. A garage build leaves good rectangles, and a garage has room to store them. Save them to the offcut stock; shelves and drawer bottoms for the next project come out of them first.
- Let the store do the big cuts. Full sheets are heavy. Take the numbered cutting order to the store's panel saw for the long rips, and do the fine cuts at home.
Ready to plan your garage wall? Open the example garage cabinet, resize it to your wall, and see how many sheets you really need. No sign-up, nothing to install, no part limits.
A worked example: a four-column garage wall
The built-in example is a real build: a floor-to-ceiling garage wall of four cabinet columns (62, 90, 77 and 62 cm wide) in white melamine-faced board, with doors, shelves and drawers. The tool derives the full part list, and the optimizer packs it onto standard sheets with a numbered cutting order per sheet. Open it, swap in your own wall width, and the plan updates. Switch the goal between least waste, fewest cuts (useful when the store charges per cut) and lowest cost, and export the plan as print/PDF, CSV or labels.
Frequently asked questions
Is the garage cabinet cut list optimizer free?
Yes, free with no sign-up and no limit on the number of parts. It runs in your browser and your projects stay on your device unless you create an optional account to sync.
Which material is best for garage cabinets?
White melamine-faced board is the usual choice: wipeable and needs no finishing. OSB is cheaper and suits a workshop look. In a damp garage, pick a moisture-resistant board and keep cabinets on a plinth or on the wall.
Can it plan several cabinets at once?
Yes, and that is where it saves the most: all cabinets are nested together onto the same sheets, so the build needs fewer sheets than planning them one at a time.
Does it handle doors and edge banding?
Yes. Doors are derived with a hinge gap, and if you band the exposed edges the cut sizes are adjusted for the banding thickness, so everything still fits.