Designedfor real life.
Custom joinery for modern homes. Kitchens, wardrobes, laundries, vanities and more. Built with precision, installed with care, all under one roof.
Thoughtful design
Every project begins with considered design and detailed drawings.
In-house manufacturing
Precision manufacturing under our own roof.
Installed by us
The people who understand the design are the people delivering it.
Built to last
Premium materials, hardware and finishes selected for everyday use.
From a bare room
to finished joinery.
This is what a Cabico project does to a space. Drag to reveal.
Start your enquiry →Joinery,
explained.
Joinery is custom built cabinetry, made to fit a space rather than bought off the shelf. Kitchens, wardrobes, laundries, vanities and living rooms are all joinery. This is a plain guide to how it is built, the materials and finishes involved, and what separates lasting work from the rest.
Start with the anatomy of a single cabinet.
How a cabinet
is built.
Under any finish, cabinetry is a set of boxes, called carcasses, with fronts and hardware fitted to them. How the box is made and joined decides how square, strong and long lasting the piece will be.
Frameless (European)
No frame on the front of the box, so the doors cover it completely. Full access inside and a clean modern look. The most common style in Australia today.
Framed (American)
A timber frame sits on the front of the carcass. A more traditional look, with a little less room inside the cabinet.
Board carcass
Moisture resistant particle board or MDF, edge banded. Stable, consistent and good value, and the standard for most cabinetry. Higher grades are used in wet areas.
Plywood carcass
Lighter and very strong, holds screws well and resists moisture. A premium choice, sometimes left visible as a feature.
Aluminium cabinetry
A modern system built from aluminium frames and panels, popular across Asia. Waterproof, heat and warp resistant with very slim profiles. Well suited to wet areas, outdoor kitchens and a minimal look.
Solid timber
Real timber for feature doors, frames and detailing. Beautiful and repairable, but it moves with humidity, so it is used with care rather than for whole carcasses.
The face of
the joinery.
The fronts are what you see and touch every day. The finish sets the look, the feel underhand and how well it wears over the years.
2 pack polyurethane
A sprayed, painted finish in any colour, matt to gloss. Seamless and hard wearing, it is the benchmark for a solid colour door.
Laminate & melamine
A printed surface bonded to board. A huge range of woodgrains and colours, tough and the best value for money.
Timber veneer
A thin layer of real timber over board. Natural grain that can be book matched across doors for a continuous flow.
Acrylic & high gloss
A mirror like reflective face that bounces light around a room. Bold and modern, best kept to lower cabinets.
Thermolaminate
A seamless finish wrapped over a routed board, with no visible edges. Ideal for shaker and profiled doors.
Aluminium framed glass
Slim metal frames around clear, tinted or fluted glass. Used for overhead and display cabinets, and on aluminium systems.
Benchtops
and tops.
The working surface takes the most wear of anything in the room. Each material trades off looks, durability, cost and care.
Marble & granite
Quarried stone with unique veining, so no two tops are alike. Marble is soft and characterful, granite and quartzite are harder and hardier.
Porcelain
A fired surface that is very hard, heat and scratch resistant and UV stable. Can be made thin, and works for tops and full splashbacks.
Engineered stone
Once the most common benchtop. From 2024 the high silica product is banned in Australia for worker safety, so low and zero silica versions and porcelain now fill this space.
Solid timber
Warm, tactile and repairable by sanding. It needs oiling and care around water, and suits islands and butlers pantries.
Laminate
A printed top over board, the most affordable option, now in convincing stone and timber looks with slim square edges.
The parts
that move.
Hinges, runners and lift systems are the difference between joinery that feels solid for decades and joinery that loosens in a year. Good hardware is soft closing and fully adjustable.
Soft close hinges
Doors that pull themselves shut and stop quietly, adjustable in three directions so every gap stays even over time.
Concealed runners
Hidden runners under the drawer that carry its full weight and glide closed softly, far stronger than side mounted rails.
Lift systems
Sprung or motorised stays for overhead doors, holding them open at any height and closing them gently.
Push to open
A sprung catch that opens a door at a touch, used for handleless fronts and appliance panels.
Internal fit outs
Cutlery inserts, waste bins, corner carousels and pantry systems that turn a plain box into usable, organised space.
Lighting
LED strips under overheads, in shadowlines and inside cabinets, wired in during the build rather than added on later.
Door styles
and detailing.
The same cabinet can read traditional or minimal depending on the front. These are the main looks.
Slab
A plain flat door. The clean, modern default that lets the finish and grain do the talking.
Shaker
A recessed panel inside a square frame. A timeless look that sits between traditional and contemporary.
Handleless
A shadowline, J pull or push to open front with no visible handle, for a seamless, uninterrupted face.
Fluted & ribbed
Vertical grooves that add texture and shadow, popular on islands, feature walls and bar fronts.
Where
joinery goes.
Every room asks something different of its cabinetry. Select one to see the idea and start an enquiry.
Before
and after.
Our project gallery is coming soon, we are photographing our finished work now. Until then, here is the transformation every Cabico project delivers, from the room we start with to the joinery we hand over. Drag across to see it.
The gallery is
on its way.
We are photographing recently completed homes across Melbourne. Register your interest and we will send you the gallery the moment it is live.
Enquiry
The brief, in writing.
Consultation
Measured and drawn.
Manufacturing
Made in our workshop.
Installation
Fitted by the makers.
Sign-off
Walked through together.
A simple process.
A better result.
Five stages, each with a clear outcome, so you always know what happens next and what you will receive.
Enquiry
Tell us about your space, how you want to use it, and share any plans, photos or references you have been collecting. You hear back from the person who will run your project, with an honest read on whether we are the right studio for the job and what your budget can realistically achieve.
- A personal written reply
- An honest fit and budget check
- A consultation time that suits you
Consultation
We measure on site to the millimetre and check that walls are square, floors are level and every appliance, tap and power point is accounted for. Then we work through layout, materials, finishes and hardware with you, and turn it into detailed drawings, a 3D render and physical samples, so you can see and hold exactly what will be built before anything is ordered.
A $100 design consultation, credited in full to your project.- On-site measure and site check
- Materials, finishes and hardware chosen with you
- Detailed drawings, a 3D render and samples
Manufacturing
Once you approve the drawings, your job is CNC-cut for accuracy, then edge-banded and assembled by hand in our own workshop. Every cabinet is drilled, dry-fitted and hung on Blum soft-close hinges and runners, then built up and checked as a complete unit before it is wrapped for delivery, so nothing is improvised on site.
- CNC precision cutting, hand assembly
- Blum soft-close hinges and runners
- Built and checked as finished units
Installation
Your joinery is delivered and installed by the same team that built it. We scribe cabinetry to the real shape of your walls, level and pack each run, set consistent gaps and reveals, and coordinate the stone template and appliance fit so the benchtop and everything around it lands right.
- Installed by the team that built it
- Scribed to your walls, levelled and packed
- Stone template and appliance coordination
Final sign-off
We open and adjust every door and drawer so they sit even and close softly, clean the joinery down, and walk the finished job with you. You also get a simple care guide so it keeps looking and working the way it does on handover day.
- Every door and drawer adjusted
- A final walk-through together
- Care guide and handover
Designed, made
and installed
by one studio.
Design, manufacture and installation sit under one roof, so the standard you approve on paper is the standard delivered in your home.
One standard.
Thoughtful design
Every project begins with considered design and detailed drawings, so you approve exactly what will be built.
- Drawn to your space and the way you live
- Materials and hardware chosen with you
- Nothing is made until drawings are signed
In-house manufacturing
Precision manufacturing under our own roof means every panel is made and checked by the people accountable for it.
- Made in our own workshop
- Checked before it leaves
- Never outsourced to third parties
Installed by us
The people who understand the design are the people delivering it, so no detail is lost between trades.
- One team from workshop to site
- Scribed and levelled on site
- Coordinated with your builder and trades
Built to last
Premium materials, hardware and finishes selected for everyday use in a busy home.
- Soft close hardware throughout
- Moisture resistant carcasses in wet areas
- Finishes chosen for durability
How we work,
on every job.
Enquiries in writing
Every detail is confirmed in writing, from the first conversation to handover.
Drawn before made
You see and approve detailed drawings before a single panel is cut.
One point of contact
One person looks after your project from consultation to sign-off.
Premium hardware
Soft close hinges, runners and lift systems chosen for quiet, lasting use.
Careful installation
Your home is protected and left clean at the end of every day on site.
Final walk through
Every door and drawer is adjusted with you before we hand over.