Assistance re- Bathroom built in cabinet please

[Glynne]

I've posted this under General Woodworking although there are design and buying advice elements involved.
I've just had a new boiler installed, moved from the kitchen to the space where I took out the airing cupboard in the bathroom. I've also had the bathroon completely refurbished and I now need to "box in" or enclose the boiler and pipes in a cupboard.
To give you an idea: -

The current plan, subject to Design Authority (my wife) sign off is to build in a full length cupboard with 2 doors and some flotaing shelves to go between the cupboard side and the shower screen: -

Apologises for the rough diagram but if you double click you can see it better. I plan to construct a basic frame and fix to the back and side walls so stability shouldn't be an issue. The reason for 2 doors is that one full length door would be fairly heavy but also the main access is to the boiler control panel which folds down. The doors will be hinged on the right (which is probably the wrong way) but the main boiler panel pulls straight off for servicing and there isn't enough room to hand the doors on the left. I plan to use euro type hinges.
The questions are: -
Is this a reasonable design or is there anything easier / simpler?
I'm thinking of using veneered board in order to match / contrast with the basin vanity unit: -

As this is bathroom there will be moisture / humidity issues so should I go for veneered MDF or plywood as opoosed to the usual veneered chipboard?
Can anyone advise of suppliers for a veneered MDF / plywood boards who will also cut and edge and supply a one off for DIY?
I can get a full size board on the roof rack but I will at least need the doors fully edged so theoretically I could buy a single board provided I could get the matching edging but this would seem to be a lot of extra work unless the price difference was that great.
In terms of the floating shelves, these will effectively be for dispay purposes and so not carry much weight so I plan to dowel them from the back panel initially and then add dowels form the cupboard side panel rather than going for specific floating shelf brackets (although these are quite cheap in Ikea).
Any comments / suggestions / advice will be very much appreciated.
Thank you.
Glynne

 

[thomashenry]

Have a very similar situation in my bathroom. Probably no help to you, as you've going down a different route, but I built out a tiled floor to ceiling stud wall to the right hand side the boiler, projecting out about 4cm past the front of the boiler.

Next I'm going to make an oak frame from 1.5" square stock that sits in the "doorway" created by outer wall and the new stud wall, and hang doors off this. Actually, I will probably have a mix of open shelving and doors, but all that needs to be finalised and put to building control aka my other half.

 

[thomashenry]

In your case I'd be inclined to make a simple shaker frame and panel style cupboard, and paint it white to match the tiles, rather than trying to match the laminate under the sink.

 

[MikeG.]

Don't try to match the veneer. You'll fail. Keep it simple, and paint your panels instead.

Personally I wouldn't be hanging the doors on the right, and I definitely wouldn't be putting shelves up to the side of the show. Shelves up to glass is going to look weird, and will prevent the proper cleaning of the shower screen. If the upper part of the cupboard isn't used for storage but just for access to the boiler, I'd use a lift-off panel. There are specialist fittings for this, but magnets do the job perfectly well. You could then have the lower cupboard door hung on the left.

 

[Glynne]

Thanks everyone for the replies, some really good points.
I wasn’t going to try and match the veneered unit but use a complimentary veneer as I know I can never get a close enough match. I had thought of a frame and panel side but it is fairly narrow so I think I’ll still go for a solid panel and either go for a “whitish “ melamine finish or spray some MR MDF (the tiles aren’t pure white and have a grey fleck).
I had a look at catches for lift off panels and I think I’ll go for these for the main panel in front of the boiler casing.
I think by having solid doors, I can then use Euro type hinges on a batten on the left hand wall which means I can have the doors swinging the right way and the doors will match with the lift off panel.
So thank you again for your advice, I will post picture when I’ve finished.

 

[Myfordman]

I made my boiler enclosure so that with the loosening of a couple of screws the whole cupboard can be lifted away to allow unfettered access for maintenance. It makes working on the boiler soooo much easier and quicker.

 

[petermillard]

Button-fix are good for this kind of lift-off panel fixing, though if you’re battening the left-hand wall for concealed hinges on the lower door, why not just keep it as two doors and clip the top door off it’s hinges when you need to have the boiler serviced?

 

[Glynne]

Thanks Peter, I’d just come around to that thought this morning when checking the exact clearance on the left hand side. It’s only taken my days to see the obvious!