Spring is here and our work area finally thawed out enough for us to get some projects done. The only question was where to begin.
Then I looked down the hall and saw this:
As you can see from the lovely before photo, our laundry baskets were unsightly and got out of control pretty quickly. The baskets didn't match and they often became a dumping ground for miscellaneous clothing items.
Our laundry baskets live in the space between the door to the bathroom and the door to the closet in our bedroom. The builders typically put a vanity counter in that location, complete with dressing room lights, but we asked them to nix that plan so we could put the space to better use. A little over three years later, we've finally done it.
I'd seen hidden cabinets for laundry baskets in stores before, but wanted something custom made for us. I also wanted an excuse to buy some new tools.
The first thing we needed were plans. So I grabbed a measuring tape, paper, and pen and came up with these very sophisticated drawings:
After some sketching and a trip to the local home improvement center, we ended up with the following materials:
(3) 1x3s for the frame
(1) 1x2 for center support between the drawers
(3) 1/2" pieces of plywood, measuring 2'x4' for the drawers
(1) 3/4" piece of plywood, measuring 2'x4' for the drawer fronts
(4) handles
(2) sets of 24", soft-close drawer slides
(4) pieces of moulding for the drawer fronts
(2) plastic laundry baskets
(1) can of paint (we used Sherwin Williams, Tony Taupe)
1" Kreg Jig screws
1 1/4" Kreg Jig screws
We also needed some new tools, so we bought a table saw and a Kreg Jig. It was our first time using a Kreg Jig and our lives are forever changed. Some in-progress photos below show the beauty of pocket holes, which are not only hidden but also pull the wood together to make a more secure joint.
Time to build!
We cut four 1x3s to the same length (43" if you're curious) to act as support pieces for the top and bottom of the cabinet. After drilling pocket holes in the underside of the 1/2" plywood, cut to fit the space, we connected two of the 1x3s to form the base of the cabinet. Then we built a rectangular frame to support the top of the cabinet. We connected the top and bottom using 1x3s in each corner and 1x2s in the middle of the front, back, and sides for support.
Once the base was finished, we started working on the drawers. First we needed support for the drawer slides, so we attached pieces of spare 1x4s we had from another project on either side of the base and two pieces in the middle, running front to back about 12" up from the bottom of the cabinet. We attached the drawer slides to each 1x4.
For the drawers, we used 1/2" plywood and attached the walls and bottom in a "U" shape using our new favorite method: pocket holes. Then we connected the U-shaped pieces to the front of each drawer, made of 3/4" plywood.
With the drawers in place it was time to make it look like a real cabinet. We decided to make the cabinet look like four individual drawers, so we cut the moulding to form four separate squares. Because they aren't structural (and we don't own a nail gun) we used Gorilla Glue and a lot of clamps to secure the moulding to the front of each cabinet. This part took a lot of patience and time (mostly waiting for the glue to dry). A word of caution, if you're using Gorilla Glue be careful to wipe up any excess before it dries, otherwise you'll have a lot of sanding to do later.
A little patching and sanding, and the cabinet was ready for paint! We removed the drawers and painted them and the top (made of 5/32" plywood) separately.
When it was time to attach the top, we used a very sophisticated method of keeping it in place (i.e, miscellaneous heavy items we found around the house).
After everything was assembled, it was time for some finishing touches. We added handles to the drawers and a small piece of moulding along the front edge of the top to give the plywood a more finished look.
A quick trip to Home Goods and Marshalls, and we ended up with a finished product we are really happy with. No more messy laundry piles!
