How to Install RTA Cabinets Yourself: A Step-by-Step Guide

One of the biggest reasons homeowners choose RTA cabinets over custom cabinets is the ability to install them yourself — saving thousands in labor costs on top of the savings from buying ready to assemble cabinets in the first place. If you've ordered your kitchen collection from an RTA cabinets store like Frugal Cabinets Online and you're ready to get to work, here's a complete, step-by-step guide to installing your new kitchen cabinets.

Step 1: Unpack and Inventory Everything

Before you touch a screwdriver, unbox every piece and check it against your order confirmation. Ready to assemble kitchen cabinets typically ship with:

• Pre-cut cabinet panels (sides, top, bottom, back)
• Cabinet doors and drawer fronts
• Drawer boxes and glides
• Hinges, cams, dowels, and screws
• An assembly instruction sheet specific to your kitchen collection

If anything is missing or damaged, contact your RTA cabinets store immediately — most, including Frugal Cabinets Online, will ship replacement parts quickly since delays here hold up your entire install.

Step 2: Assemble the Cabinet Boxes First

Start with base cabinets, since they set the foundation for your whole kitchen. Most RTA cabinets use a cam-lock and dowel system:

1. Insert dowels into the pre-drilled holes on side panels
2. Align the bottom, top, and back panels
3. Tighten cam locks to pull the joints flush
4. Square the box by measuring corner-to-corner diagonals — they should match exactly

Do this on a flat, clean surface (a drop cloth over your existing floor works well) so the box doesn't rack out of square while you're working.

Step 3: Install Cabinet Hardware Before Mounting

It's much easier to attach hinges, drawer glides, and cabinet pulls and knobs while the box is on the ground than after it's mounted on the wall. Install:

• Hinge plates on cabinet doors and door
• Drawer glide rails inside the cabinet box
• Any cabinet pulls or cabinet knobs if not pre-installed

This is also the point to attach any add-ons like a lazy Susan, pull-out organizer, or sink base storage insert, since access is far easier before the cabinet is fixed in place.

Step 4: Locate and Mark Wall Studs

Before mounting any base cabinets or wall cabinets, find your studs with a stud finder and mark them clearly with painter's tape. Cabinets are heavy once loaded — especially a kitchen sink cabinet or any cabinet with drawers full of cookware — so every wall-mounted cabinet needs to be anchored into studs, not just drywall.

Step 5: Set Your Base Cabinets First

Starting from a corner (or the highest point of an uneven floor), install base cabinets in a row:

1. Use shims underneath to level each cabinet front-to-back and side-to-side
2. Screw adjacent base cabinets together through the face frames
3. Screw the back rail of each cabinet into wall studs
4. Check level constantly — an unlevel base cabinet will throw off your countertop, backsplash, and cabinet doors down the line

This step is identical whether you're installing basic kitchen cabinets, shaker cabinets, or a more detailed custom kitchen cupboards style — a level base is non-negotiable.

Step 6: Install Wall Cabinets

Wall cabinets are lighter but trickier to hang solo. A simple ledger board — a temporary strip of wood screwed into the studs at the height where the bottom of your wall cabinets should sit — gives you a shelf to rest the cabinet on while you screw it into place.

1. Rest the cabinet on the ledger board
2. Screw through the back rail into wall studs
3. Screw adjoining wall cabinets together at the face frames
4. Remove the ledger board once everything is secured

Step 7: Hang Cabinet Doors and Adjust

With boxes installed, hang your cabinet doors using the hinges installed in Step 3. Most modern RTA cabinets, including shaker style cabinets and wood cabinets from Frugal Cabinets Online, use adjustable European-style hinges — a few turns of a screwdriver lets you fine-tune each door so gaps are even and doors close flush.

Step 8: Add Trim, Fillers, and Hardware

Install any filler strips where cabinets meet walls or appliances, attach toe kicks along the base, and add your final cabinet pulls and knobs. This is the finishing step that makes ready to assemble kitchen cabinets look every bit as polished as fully custom cabinets.

Tools You'll Need

• Drill/driver with assorted bits
• Level (a 4-foot level is ideal)
• Stud finder
• Shims
• Clamps (helpful for holding boxes square while fastening)
• Tape measure
• Painter's tape for marking studs

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Skipping the level check — even small unevenness compounds across a full run of base cabinets and wall cabinets
• Not anchoring into studs — drywall anchors alone can't support a loaded kitchen cabinet
• Rushing the box assembly — an out-of-square box will cause doors and drawers to bind later
• Ignoring the instruction sheet for your specific collection — MX Shaker, Gramercy, Essex, Dover, and California each have slightly different hardware and panel layouts

When to Call in Help

If your kitchen involves structural changes, electrical or plumbing relocation, or an especially large or irregular layout, it's worth bringing in a contractor for at least the wall cabinet portion. Many homeowners install their own base cabinets and hire help only for hanging wall cabinets — a hybrid approach that still saves significantly versus full custom cabinet installation.

You Don't Have to Do It Alone

Frugal Cabinets Online includes a detailed planning guide and measurement template with every order, plus access to a 1-on-1 designer call to walk through your layout before installation day. Combined with our sample door program, you can be confident in your kitchen collection choice — MX Shaker, Gramercy, Essex, Dover, or California — before a single box is opened.

Ready to start your DIY kitchen makeover? Browse our kitchen collections and view our full planning guide to get your measurements, tools, and order squared away before installation day.