Pine Cupboard Doors Made to Measure

Solid pine cupboard doors, handmade to your exact sizes

If you want cupboard doors made from real, solid pine rather than MDF or vinyl-wrapped chipboard, you are in the right place. At Mister Micawbers Cottage Doors, we have been handcrafting pine cupboard doors, wardrobe doors and drawer fronts at our workshop in Cheshire for years, using Grade A pine sourced from managed, renewable forests.

Every door is made individually to the millimetre from your dimensions. That makes us a popular choice for two types of customer in particular: people creating a farmhouse or cottage style from scratch, and people replacing doors on solid pine kitchens from the 80s and 90s that the big retailers no longer stock or match. In both cases, replacing the doors rather than the whole kitchen or wardrobe typically costs a fraction of a full refit.

We deliver across the UK, and our pine cupboard doors start from just £41.

Why choose solid pine?

Pine has been the material of choice for cottages and farmhouses for generations, and for good reason:

Durability and repairability. A solid pine door is the same material all the way through. Unlike vinyl-wrapped or foil doors, there is no surface layer to peel, bubble or delaminate near ovens and kettles. Dents and scratches in pine can be sanded out and refinished; damage to a wrapped MDF door usually means a new door.
It takes stain and paint beautifully. Pine is one of the most forgiving timbers to finish. Wax it for a warm honey glow, stain it for an antique pine look, or paint it in any colour you like. If you change your mind in ten years, sand it back and start again. You cannot do that with a laminate.
Sustainable sourcing. All our pine comes from managed, renewable forests. Timber is a genuinely renewable material, and a solid wood door that lasts decades and can be refinished rather than replaced is a far more sustainable choice than a wrapped door with a limited lifespan.
Honest value. Because we make every door ourselves and sell direct, solid pine from Cottage Doors often costs less than mass-produced MDF replacement doors from the big online retailers, and considerably less than reclaimed or period joinery specialists.

We work mainly in pine, but we also make doors in hardwoods such as oak on request; just mention it when you enquire.

Pine vs MDF vs vinyl-wrapped doors: an honest comparison

Most replacement door websites sell MDF or vinyl-wrapped doors. They have their place, so here is a straight comparison to help you decide.

	Solid pine	Painted MDF	Vinyl-wrapped
Material	Real timber, solid throughout	Compressed wood fibre board	MDF or chipboard with a plastic foil skin
Lifespan	Decades; can be refinished repeatedly	Good, but chips expose brown board beneath	Foil can peel or bubble, especially near heat
Repairable?	Yes; sand out marks and refinish	Limited; touch-up paint only	No; peeling foil usually means replacement
Refinishing	Stain, wax or paint, any colour, any time	Repaint possible with preparation	Cannot be sanded or repainted reliably
Heat and steam	Naturally tolerant	Reasonable	Weakest point; foil lifts near ovens and kettles
Character	Natural grain, ages beautifully	Uniform, flat	Printed woodgrain effect
Feel and weight	Solid and substantial	Solid feel	Lighter, hollow-sounding
Sustainability	Renewable timber from managed forests	Uses resins and adhesives	Plastic skin, not recyclable
Typical cost	From £41 per door at Cottage Doors	Varies widely	Often cheap, but shorter lifespan

The short version: if you want doors you can finish yourself, repair over time and keep for decades, solid pine is hard to beat, and with our direct pricing it often costs no more than the man-made alternatives.

Finishing your pine doors

All our doors are supplied fully sanded and ready to finish, which keeps costs down and puts you in control of the final look. Most customers choose one of three routes:

Stain and wax for the classic antique pine look, and the easiest way to match existing 80s and 90s pine cabinetry. We can also supply doors with an antique pine stain or wax finish; just ask when you order.
Clear wax or varnish to keep the pale, natural Scandinavian look while protecting the timber.
Paint for a modern farmhouse finish. Prime, undercoat and top coat with a good quality wood paint and the doors will look like a bespoke painted unit at a fraction of the price.

For step-by-step guidance on preparing, staining and painting pine doors, see our Tips page.

Replacing doors on an existing pine unit?

If you have a solid pine unit from the 80s or 90s, you already know the problem: the carcasses are perfectly sound, but one or two doors are damaged or you want to extend the run, and the big retailers stopped stocking anything like them years ago.

This is exactly what we do. Send us your dimensions, or post us a sample door or a clear photo, and we will make replacement pine cupboard doors to match, to the millimetre. Because our doors are supplied sanded, you can stain them to blend with the aged colour of your existing units. It is a far cheaper option than replacing a unit that still has decades of life in it.

We also make wardrobe doors and drawer fronts in the same five styles, so an entire room can match.