BUILDING CLOSET STORAGE
- To build this closet storage unit, first remove the existing shelves, closet rod, and doors. Measure 3″ down from the top of the door opening and make a pencil mark on the wall just inside the door. Use a level to draw a level line from this mark all around the inside of the closet.
- Cut two 10″ 1×2 cleats and fasten them to the side walls, upper edges flush with your pencil line. You should be able to nail the cleat to the wall framing in the back corner, but you may need to use a toggle bolt or hollow wall anchor at the front of each cleat.
- Measure along the back wall to the location of the center upright. Make a mark, then make a second mark 3/4″ farther. Install two more 1×2 cleats on the back wall, leaving a 3/4″ gap between them at the point where the center upright will be placed.
- Cut the top shelf and place it on the cleats. Fasten it in place with 6d finish nails. Measure from the bottom of the shelf to the floor, then cut the center upright to fit. Set the upright under the top shelf and nail through the shelf into the upright with 6d finish nails. Use the level
to plumb the upright, then use a carpenter’s square to make sure it is at a 90-degree angle to the back wall. Toenail through the lower edge of the upright into the floor with an 8d finish nail to secure it in place.
- Next, install the lower permanent shelf. Fasten 1×2 cleats on the back and side walls as you did for the top shelf. Cut the shelf and set it in place, fastening it to the 1×2 cleats on one side, and nailing through the center upright into the edge of the shelf on the other.
- Then cut the lower upright, the one that divides the lower shelves and the drawers. Install the small upright as you did the center upright.
- Measure from the center upright to the side wall for the closet rods. Cut the closet rods 1/2″ shorter than that dimension. Install the closet rod sockets on the wall, centered between the back wall and the front of the closet. Set each closet rod in the socket, level it, and mark the location of the opposite socket. Install the other two sockets, then set the closet rods in place.
- On the shelving side of the closet, measure the vertical distance from the underside of the top shelf to the top of the lower permanent shelf. Subtract 6″, then cut two 1×2s to this length to provide backing for adjustable shelf standards. Mount each 1×2 vertically on the side wall with four hollow wall anchors. The 1×2s should be positioned about 2″ from the back and front walls of the closet.
- Cut four shelf standards to the same length as the 1×2s. Mount the shelf standards on the 1×2s and on the center upright. To make sure the slots in the shelf standards are level with each other, insert one shelf clip in each standard and use your level (and a cut 1×2, if needed) to check each standard before fastening it. Repeat the process on the wall between the lower permanent shelf and the floor.
- Cut the adjustable shelves about 1/4″ shorter than the distance between the standards. Insert shelf clips in the standards and install the shelves.
- Cut the permanent shelves that will go between the center upright and the lower upright, then install them by nailing through the two uprights into the ends of the shelves. Use your level to make sure they are installed level.
- Build the drawers from 1/2″ Baltic birch plywood. First, measure the cubbyhole where the drawer will be placed. Cut the sides so the width is 1″ less than the height of the hole, and the length is 1″ less than the depth. Cut the back and front the same width as the sides, but 1/2″ shorter than the width of the hole.
- Rout a 1/4″ x 1/4″ groove in all four pieces, 1/4″ above the bottom of each piece. Assemble the front and sides by gluing and screwing through the front into the edges of the sides. Cut the bottom from a piece of 1/4″ hardboard, 1/2″ larger in each direction than the interior dimension of the drawer.
- Slip the drawer into the groove, then fasten the back to the assembly. Attach the handle.
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