Hello everyone! I’m happy to share a kitchen cabinet plugin I have been working on.
The goal was to make kitchen modeling faster and easier. With a simple click-and-drag workflow, you can quickly create a kitchen for a presentation, early design idea, or render.
It is not intended to replace detailed cabinet-design software. Instead, it focuses on helping you move from an idea to a visible result with less effort.
I would be grateful if you could test it and share your experience. Any bugs you find or suggestions you offer will help make the plugin better for everyone. Thank you very much for your time and support.
It’s an interesting tool, but the cabinet body appears to be a single entity, with all parts grouped into one drawing; this makes it impossible to generate a parts list.
The drawer sides and plinths do not always form closed solids.
A new definition is created every time a preview is generated in the selection window, which can quickly clutter the model with unused definitions.
It would be helpful if the SketchUp window regained focus after clicking “Place”.
Some ruby operation do not call “commit_operation” : warning: Ruby operation left open: “Update Cabinet”
Thank you so much for taking the time to test this and share such detailed feedback. This is exactly the kind of input that makes a plugin genuinely better.
Regarding the cabinet structure, the parts are actually separated into named groups inside the main component: Carcass, Base, Shelves, and individual components for each door and drawer. That said, the panels inside the Carcass group are raw geometry rather than individually named components, which I agree is worth improving for cut-list compatibility.
Sometimes those details help make the scene feel more realistic, especially in 360 walkthroughs. It can look better to leave a few drawers or closet doors open. Some artists even add little imperfections, like dirt behind the tires in a driveway.
That said, your question exposed something I missed. I forgot to implement hinges.
This is exactly the most scary part about this “democratization” of plugin developement.
You never know how the next extension you download will broke your undo-stack, corrupt your model or even your Sketchup installation (I’ve already seen multiple vibe-coded plugins out there which mess with sketchup registry/global namespaces/sketchup core and such and also silent edit/make unique of locked objects, objects on hidden layers and all this nice stuff).
Of course if you try to raise some concern about this new trend, you are “gatekeeping”. Whatever..
From my perspective as a furniture manufacturer, creating an overly abstract representation serves no purpose—especially if it is computer-generated. The cost of having your plugin clearly separate all the individual parts/panels is completely negligible. However, the benefit to the user is far greater, as it can save the production team from having to redraw everything from scratch.
Otherwise, yes, I agree with @panixia that the goal of any extension is also to be as unobtrusive as possible regarding the modifications made to the model, and to limit changes strictly to what is relevant to the extension itself. While also strictly adhering to the rules of the undo stack.
Fair point, and it comes down to use case. You see it as a manufacturer, where cleanly separated parts save the production team from redrawing everything. I built this for rendering and 360 walkthroughs, D5 Render especially, where the goal is visual realism: open drawers, doors slightly ajar, the little details that make a scene feel real instead of a flat block. Appreciate the input.
There’s no use case in which destroying a model undo-stack is fine.
That’s a stability/safety hard rule.
You need to study rules instead of blindly delegating your brain to a chatbot.
I understand, and I won’t press the issue. But after 10 years of maintaining an extension that started out with a simple, highly specific purpose, I can assure you that there is no way to predict what users will come up with—or, more importantly, what they’ll expect—from your extension. And if the long-term goal is to sell it, you might as well broaden the audience and identify features that can be added at a low cost.
The parts list isn’t just for manufacturing; it can also help provide a more accurate estimate for the project.
Thank you for sharing your experience. I appreciate the perspective, especially from someone who has maintained an extension for many years.
The plugin will be free, and my original goal was to keep it lightweight, ready to use, and approachable for beginners. I wanted users to be able to create something useful without facing a complicated setup or a steep learning curve.
You also make a good point about export options. As more people use the plugin, they may want to make further use of the information it already creates. For example, they could take the exported chart to IKEA, where a representative could easily recreate the cabinet layout. That makes complete sense, and I will look into it.
That question also revealed another feature I overlooked: glass doors. They would make all the interior parts behind the doors visible and give those details a clear purpose.
I think you just need to pick a direction and properly manage the geometry… I often show doors askew, unmade beds, shoes, jackets, etc… making it looked lived in.
Then my clients say 'Make it clean, make the beds, only put a few jackets on the coat hooks, clean up the dirty dishes, remove the wine bottle, etc. etc.
I like what I am seeing so far, good start but tweaks need to be made. The 2 casework companies I used to work with both had 2 options for the base cabinets. Either the cabinet/case side was built into the kick or it wasn’t if you were using a metal base (powder coated of stainless). Is there anyway to incorporate this option?
