BEFORE & AFTER: Custom Closet Makeover - PART 2 of 3 - Thrift Diving

so in today's video you are going to get to see me do something that i've never done on this channel before we are building a diy closet organizer i built it myself i designed it myself and i even transported all that wood home by myself so today you're going to get to see it from start to finish it's taken a year to actually get to this point but you're going to see it right now this closet organizer is sponsored in part by my friends at arrow fastener and i'm going to be using their brad nailer for some of the trim in the back so stick around for that but let's start with taking a walk down memory lane remember guys last year this is what my closet looked like i painted it after i removed all of the wallpaper i was indecisive about what color i was going to pick but regardless anything that i did was going to be a huge improvement over what it looked like before but the first step was trying to figure out what am i going to build and how much materials am i going to need so i took about a week or two to learn how to use sketchup it's a free program there's a paid version i drafted this out and figured out that i needed 14 sheets of plywood well lugging this home and paying for it was not fun it was about 700 for the maple plywood but if you can consider the price for a ready-made closet or to have someone come in and do it for you you'd be spending thousands so the first thing i did was cut down each of the pieces of plywood to about 21 inches and i needed to make some dados now those dadoes were going to be a quarter inch deep and dadoes are great for if you're building like bookshelves cabinets anything where you want a nice strong joint but in order to do that you need a fence like what i'm using here which i went out and purchased and you need a router and this is the most messy thing that i've ever used i've used a router before and i know they create a lot of dust but you know just make sure you're wearing a mask i also tried to use an edge guide it didn't work well so i ended up scrapping that and just using a different tool with a homemade jig but one thing that i learned in this project is that if you want something to turn out it really comes down to careful planning proper measurements and having the right tools and so i found myself during this project going out to buy extra things that i didn't know i even needed like this guide because when i was doing my routing in order to use it and get accurate cuts i needed to be able to run this along the fence now someone did tell me that if you turn it around the other way and run it with the curved side you actually get better cuts with less chances of errors so definitely do that if you're using the router another problem that i had was trying to maneuver in this packed garage with these heavy pieces of wood so if you're doing this project or really any large project make sure you have the space to maneuver now these spots here these locations i'm gonna do pocket holes now pocket holes are great because you can easily adjust it to the thickness of your wood you can join two pieces of wood together and it's a secure joint but you need to think about where those joints are going to be and where the pocket holes need to be so again careful planning is very important for this project i'm also using a wood conditioner because maple plywood is one of those woods where if you just applied stain to the bare wood it would be very blotchy and it would not look good same thing happens with pine so use a wood conditioner i was planning to leave my natural but even with putting the top coat i was afraid that it would look blotchy so what conditioner then stain or top coat and i found that one of the most time consuming parts of this project was having to vacuum after every single cut that slowed things down and prevented me from being able to do anything related to top coats on the same day there was just too much dust i did upgrade to a track saw and dust extraction so you will see that in upcoming videos but on the days when i was doing some top coats i would sand in between with very fine sandpaper and do three coats making sure that i didn't go down into the dadoes you don't want anything in those joints so keep those free and clear once everything had wood conditioner and three coats of top coat it was time to glue together the center supports now i didn't have any top coat on these pieces because you want that wood glue to sandwich them together this was challenging for me because i didn't have a nice flat surface that could support the entire length of this board so i glued it together clamped it and then i tried to put it underneath some of the other stacks of boards that didn't really work quite as well either there was not enough pressure so just be mindful of when you're gluing boards together you want to make sure there's enough even pressure all right so moving on some of the pieces well there was a lot of pieces let's just put it that way and they all needed three coats it felt really good once it dried then i was going to cut out the location of the light switch and you'll see in just a moment how that fits into place so now that the boards are cut it's time to do some prep work in the closet because that board is going to be smack against this wall we needed to remove that trim so that it didn't get in the way now i didn't remove all the trim just the sides where the boards need it to be flush make sure that you hammer down those nails you don't want to step on them and this was the scary part bringing this first piece up and seeing if it would fit and guess what it did not only had i cut it a little too big but i had made a change during this entire process to put a back on it that was going to be a quarter inch so took it downstairs took about 3 8 inch off the back made the adjustments and everything fit just fine so now i could actually install the bottom shelf into that piece remember that dado that we cut i kind of made a big mess here with the glue but i was surprised that it fits so nicely at a nice 90 degree angle and i started getting excited that you know i can do this this is my first huge build i did build a bathroom vanity several years ago that turned out pretty good to be my first attempt but this was the first time of making something so large so excited to see it come together so once i got this piece in place well not really in place but it was it was together i wanted to put some edge banding edge banding is good for covering up those raw edges of plywood and it just gives it a more finished look the only thing you have to do is cut it to size use a hot iron to apply it and then use a utility knife or an edge band cutter to remove the excess so now we've got the right piece connected to one of the center supports remember those pieces that i joined together with wood glue well they were now connected by a shelf on the bottom so now that they were connected i could add these support brackets the problem is that i didn't have a large enough clamp to hold this in place so i had to use my hand now if you're trying to get an edge to be flush holding it with your hand guys is not going to work so i did have a little bit of overlap in the end it didn't kill the project but it would have been nice to have the materials that i needed to get it done so on the bottom i added the other support bracket now remember i already pre-finished these pieces you can't use wood glue on finished pieces so i found a glue called rue glue that i'm hoping will hold this together with the pocket screws it was a little messy but it came together pretty nicely and it seemed like it was secure also too you might want to check the level of your floor to see if it's even i was right in the middle there in between those two marks but it's good to know in case you have to get some shims to level it out okay the next thing was to actually cut the piece of backing this is something that when i planned this project i didn't plan for it to have a back i thought you would just look through to the wall but i wanted to have more of a finished look so cut a piece of quarter inch plywood again added some of the wood conditioner and then tried to get into the closet and as long as i'm here i sound pretty awful but it's still a lot of fun to sing while you work right anyway this wood was going to be flush to the back and i'm going to be using the arrow fastener pneumatic brad nailer this is the pt 18g you will need a compressor for this and a hose don't worry i have links down below and this is the same one that i use for doing my upholstery projects now here's a tip when you're doing projects and you're not sure how it's going to go together do a test do a sample for every step you see here that i'm testing out different ways to attach the back and making sure that i knew exactly where i was going to be securing these brad nails so that it wouldn't come through the other side and ruin my project so once i did this i was ready to go on to the next step which was attaching the back to this carcass i didn't want the backing to come all the way down to the floor so i put these two five inch pieces of wood underneath so that the backing the quarter inch backing could just sit on them and then i could secure it this wasn't heavy but it was kind of awkward thankfully i did have some clamps that fit so when i clamped it and with my husband's help i was able to secure it now here's a tip about using a brad nailer be very careful because a lot of times you think you're securing it but all you're doing is shooting the nail straight through at a crooked angle and ruining your project so make sure that you've got enough of an edge to staple together and that it's not coming through the other side now you'll notice here on the right hand side i don't have the wood coming all the way over the reason why is because i want that seam to meet right there on that wood board so you'll see in just a moment how i'm fitting that together and some of the problems that i ran into but overall it went pretty smoothly with this pneumatic brad nailer and it's definitely a tool that you want to have in your toolbox and you can find out more about it at arrowfastener.com now let's move on to how i secure this to the studs you will need to find the studs using the stud finder which i did didn't film that but i did so i knew exactly where they were located and i measured where they were from the wall we're going to be using two and a half inch screws cabinet screws and also a countersink bit this makes the screws sink below the surface so that they're not sitting flush with the wood surface and this is good if you ever want to put wood filler over them or just give it a more finished look now where that stud is located you need to know and then you need to subtract the thickness of your wood so for example let's say my stud here is at seven and a half well i know my back is quarter of an inch so i know when i'm measuring out i've got to measure out seven and a quarter so if that doesn't make sense click on my link below or up above you can read the blog post and it'll have more of an explanation so that you know how to do what i did same thing for the brackets i wanted to secure this to the studs i measured and made sure that i i'd accounted for the thickness of the wood from the right hand side all right so now we needed to put together the next section and this was hard to do in a very small space so i tried to move it out onto my bedroom floor where all the closet contents are just spread out everywhere put a little bit of wood glue put that piece in place the quarter inch backing and then use my pneumatic brat nailer to secure it and i think where i kind of messed up here is that i should have left the bottom unstapled because i needed that wiggle room in order to get it to fit together so later i ended up removing these bottom brad nails and then fitting it into place but my husband came in to help and we could not turn this thing upright the backing was too big and i mean i was just very scared for a moment but thankfully we were able to get it upright but then i ran into this problem how am i going to get this shelf into this dado it was not fitting you see how the back is just sliding behind that panel that's what i wanted but i think that was creating sort of a barrier so that's why i removed those brad nails and you'll see that there's a little bit more wiggle room here when i'm trying to fit it in there you see it's not really attached and i have a little bit more freedom here so took my mallet banged it out and tried to get it to fit but also too my dado was a little on the skinny side at this point there was no way i was going to be able to make that dado bigger other than sand in it and i feel like this project should have been called what it could have shoulda because there were so many things that i should have done like not waiting until the last minute to put the edge banding on before installing the bracket but this is how diy is you learn as you go especially if it's a type of project that you've never tackled before and i was worried about this you know is this going to work am i going to mess something up what is the sequence of events that have to happen in order for this to turn out properly so i learned some things and next time i'll definitely have a better idea of what to do first second and third and while everything wasn't assembled yet i thought this would be a good time to go ahead and use some wood glue in those pocket holes and put those plugs in there these are plugs that are designed for the pocket holes and once they're dry you should be able to just sand them down should be able to in quotations we'll talk about that in a minute but i did cut a piece to fill the back for the left hand side this is for dresses for longer dresses and coats and i did put the top piece on now fitting this right hand side oh my gosh it was a pain in the butt i could not get this thing to fit finally i just had to take it out to the garage cut a larger dado instead of throwing it out the window which is what i wanted to do and it did slide right in after that fact and to attach the top piece to get that into place i needed to remove the light i was changing this anyway so it wasn't really a big deal this was the best time to remove it and to replace it with an led light and then you know i was done and then this happened ow lesson learned don't walk through doorways when you're on a platform just putting it out there for you anyway you'll notice that the upper boards these partitions are sliding in pretty easily that's because i cut the dados a little bigger and i'll discuss that a little bit more in the blog post you can find the link down below but i went ahead used some pocket screws attached those center partitions to the top board and filled them with the plugs i had the worst time guys trying to shave these off i had to go and buy a special little bit to shave them down and then i had to sand them down smooth and remember my boards were already finished and because i sanded so much some of the finish actually got removed so we'll talk a little bit more about that in the blog post here on the left hand side i had a gap improper measuring but you know gaps are kind of a thing when you're doing built-ins and that's why you've got trim to hide those so with the wood inside of those gaps i just went ahead and used my brad nailer to secure it in place so now it looks like a true built-in you don't see that gap so it's not really a big deal but you'll see that i had those pieces of wood in there so that the brad nail had something to attach to i also added a little bit of trim to the top to cover the gap that was there and to give it a more finished look which i thought it looked pretty amazing with that trim on top all of the other exposed edges of the wood got edge banding and then it was time to cut the metal rods for the clothing this was done with a hacksaw and let me tell you it was tough listen to how excited i was when i made my first cut more like relief yes thank goodness i was also thankful that my husband was available on the weekend to help me install these closed rods you really need two people one to mark and hold and one to actually put the screws in so big thanks to him for helping me finish this off just right so last year this is what our closet looked like i mean there wasn't a lot of space in this 35 square foot walk-in but it feels like it's got more space of course i still need to go through all of my clothing and get rid of things that i don't wear anymore and you'll see here that i made a change to the design to accommodate my mid-size dresses and so i lowered the bar on the bottom so literally a year ago i was cleaning everything out and had a plan for a new closet but i didn't know if i could execute it well i just proved to myself that i can and i am freaking celebrating what do you think baby it looks nice whoa i captured that i mean maybe with the closer and it gives you a different perspective you know now you see the picture yes okay and this was the before this is what he told me why are you changing it i like it the way it is so for him to say oh wow okay this does look nice it feels like a huge win we still need to donate some clothes and clean things out but right now this is pretty much a successful project in my book it looks even better than i imagined on paper so be sure to come back and subscribe to this channel if you're new here be sure to come back and watch because this is only one part of it guys i still have this part to do with drawers a little desk all of that in a five by seven square 35 35 yeah 35 square foot space but we are making it happen guys i love this i like being able to find my clothes and know that it looks good and that it's right where it belongs yes i love this you

Channel: Thrift Diving

Views: 63,312

Rating: 4.9484129 out of 5

Keywords: DIY, Thrift Diving, thrift stores, home improvement, crafting, thriftdiving, master closet, dream closet, build closet, closet makeover, walk-in closet, walk-in closet ideas, walk-in closet makeover, building wardrobe, custom closet installation, master closet built in cabinets, walk-in closet diy, diy closet, woodworking, master bedroom closet, build a closet, closet organizer build, closet organizer diy, closet organizer ideas, master, small closet ideas

Id: ynND-ZCBMJ4

Length: 18min 31sec (1111 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 10 2020