How to Build Custom Walk In Closet Built Ins

[Music] hey guys it's shara from woodshop diaries and today i'm going to show you how i built my walk-in closet when we moved in all that was in here was just a single shelf with a rod on each side of the closet wall redoing the closet really wasn't high on our priority list until we got moved in and realized that living out of boxes on the floor was just not going to cut it for very long so i bumped this project a little bit higher on the to-do list and went ahead and tackled it i am so excited with how this turned out but i will warn you that this project took place over the course of about two weeks and in that two weeks there were a whole lot of other things that were going on outside of this that caused building this to be a little chaotic that said i built all of these pieces separately and in no logical order whatsoever but don't worry i've done my absolute best to organize this video into sections that make a lot more sense than what i did in reality so i hope that despite the chaos you enjoy the build and if you're ready to get started let's go let's kick off this walk-in closet video with a quick glance at what it looked like before okay so i know that the camera is wobbly please forgive that for a second but i just wanted to like give you a little tour of the closet we have here so this room is almost nine feet deep and it's almost eight feet wide and it's got two shelves and three not even three full racks for clothes but that's it the entire closet there's nothing else in here the first thing i did was remove the closet door and take down the existing shelves and brackets oh the camera's in the way i'm gonna damage something here i also removed the baseboards and the trim since i was going to be taking these new cabinets wall-to-wall once the room was empty i patched the holes in the wall and painted it white to give me a clean slate to work with then i started building i built everything here using cabinet grade plywood i had to use a combination of birch and maple since my store ran out of birch and i switched over to maple mid project i use my circular saw and craig rip cut to start making my cuts i'll link a guide for how i cut down full sheets in the description below this closet consisted of five main parts i built everything in the shop separately and then carried them all inside to install them the first section was the clothes rack cabinets with drawers at the bottom so these are the main cabinets there's going to be two of these on each side of the closet for the depth right here i actually cut these 19 inches deep so i can cut two 19 inch pieces from a sheet of plywood and then i have about a 10 inch wide strip left i can use that 10 inch wide strip to build the drawer boxes and then also for these shelves right here i actually did 17 inch deep shelves because i have 16 inch door slides and the drawers are going to be in set so i needed about 17 inches to be able to do that down here at the bottom if i cut two 17 inch pieces from a sheet of plywood i have a 14 inch piece left which i can actually build some i'm going to build some shelves in between these two cabinets on one side of the closet so while it's not really the most efficient use of plywood as far as the dimensions go i kind of accounted for that inefficiency in trying to find places to use those like leftover pieces elsewhere in the build normally i would share detailed plans and dimensions for my projects but since this particular project was custom fit to my space it's very likely that the exact dimensions i used won't work for you however i have linked step-by-step details with diagrams in the description below so that you can follow the same idea but figure out your own dimensions to fit your own space for each of these four cabinets i use my craig accucut and circular saw and trimmed two 80 inch long side panels into 30 and a half inch long shelves that made the cabinet's overall width 32 inches i also ripped some plywood scraps three and a half inches wide and cut two pieces one for the toe kick and one for the back support i applied iron-on edge banding to the fronts of the side panels and the shelves and then sanded all of my pieces before assembling once my pieces were ready i pulled out my craig 720 pocket hole jig and drilled pocket holes along the ends of the shelves and the two small strips to assemble each cabinet i used pocket hole screws to attach the bottom shelf three and a half inches from the bottom edge then installed the toe kick strip three and a half inches from the front edge i measured and installed the top shelf about 52 inches down from the top edge and i'm really just picking numbers here 52 inches seemed like a good height to be able to hang most of our clothes notice that i did keep these shelves flush to the back edge of the side panels so that they're inset a little from the front there's really no reason for this except that i just like the way that it looked so you can make them all the same depth if you wanted then i screwed the second plywood strip at the top back corner i'll use this strip to secure these cabinets to the wall once they're in the closet while i had the cabinet on its side on the workbench i went ahead and installed two drawer slides into the bottom section i was installing inset drawers here so i made sure to install these three quarter inches in from the front edge of the shelves i have a guide to installing door slides that i will link below for details if you're interested [Music] once the slides were in place i flipped it over to attach the second side panel the same way and also the two drawer slides at the bottom [Music] i was able to reuse the dowel rods that i removed from the original closet and cut them down to install into these cabinets i screwed these in through the side panels about two and three quarter inches down from the top edge and centered front to back this left enough room to be able to add some standard size hangers at this point it's time to add the drawers now i mentioned at the beginning of this video that i built this in no logical order i built and installed the drawers in the first two of these cabinets that i made before carrying them inside to install in the closet but for the second two that i made i went ahead and carried them inside before adding the drawers either way works totally fine but it was a lot easier to add these in the shop than cramped in a tight closet to build the drawers i used my leftover 10 inch wide plywood strips to cut down the pieces to make two drawer boxes for each cabinet if you've seen many of my videos you probably know the drill by now but i cut these pieces to length then cut dados to install the quarter inch drawer bottoms i assembled the boxes using pocket holes and screws edge banding on drawers is totally optional but i do think it looks a lot nicer so i did edge band the top of these pieces before putting them together then i installed the drawer boxes into the cabinets i have an entire tutorial that i'll link below that walks you step by step how to measure build and install drawers and drawer slides after i got the drawers installed i could push the cabinets into the corner where i wanted them and install them to the wall i'm going to switch sides of the closet here to show you how i actually installed these i screwed both cabinets together through the side panels then used a level and a stud finder to drive one screw per cabinet through the back support into a stud making sure that the side panels were straight up and down to finish these up i cut two 3 4 inch plywood drawer fronts to install on each cabinet i edge banded these drawer fronts brought them inside and screwed them in through the front of each drawer box leaving an eighth inch gap on all sides now again i have a complete guide on how to figure out your door front measurements that i will link in the description i went ahead and added the drawer pulls here too because if i didn't go ahead and add these now i wouldn't be able to open the drawers again since they are in set now that these main sections of the closet were in i can move on to the next part this narrow cabinet at the front left side before we dive into that i want to take a minute to share about our video sponsor craig academy you guys know that i love craig and you have and will see me using several of their tools jigs and guides in this closet build project but besides the fact that they make cabinet and furniture building easier with their tools they also provide so many helpful resources to inspire educate and encourage people from every skill level to get building i was given the opportunity to work with them to create a few project video courses packed full of information craig academy also offers over 40 skills videos breaking down basic foundational information that you can use in every project that you build people tell me all the time that they want to get started but they just aren't sure how and this is a great way to dive in learn some foundational building skills and tackle a project with detailed step-by-step videos and project support from actual people if you get stuck if you want to learn more about craig academy i will leave a link to check it out in the video description okay now let's get back to building that cabinet this tall narrow cabinet was a special request that danny wanted for some of his smaller items to keep stored and organized [Music] i built this cabinet the same height and depth as the clothes rack cabinets but cut a narrower divider panel to split the top section in half because this cabinet was so narrow i knew i wouldn't be able to get the shelf pin jig and the drill into the space to drill holes after it was assembled so i drilled these first before screwing anything together i used my shelf pin jig to drill holes up and down the panels making sure to keep them lined up this will allow me to add adjustable shelves up and down this cabinet later as needed once the shelf pinholes were drilled i assembled this cabinet the same way as the others using pocket holes and screws and just like the others i added a three and a half inch toe kick piece at the bottom after the main part of the cabinet was together i used some wood screws and scrap blocks to evenly space and attach the divider panel between the top and middle shelves this was a super basic little cabinet and it went together really quickly i carried it inside to secure it in place in the closet since this cabinet was so narrow i knew that there wasn't going to be a stud behind it to attach to so i actually just used a screw through this side panel to secure it to the stud that way once the rest of the closet was complete i came back and added some narrow shelves and the door i'll talk about the door a little bit later but now that the actual cabinet was in place i could move on to the third main part of the closet these top boxes these are obviously one of the simpler pieces of the closet as they consist of just four pieces screwed together i could have saved some lumber here by adding a single shelf across the top of these cabinets on each side but i really just wanted the look of these boxes going all the way to the ceiling so that's what i did i measured and built a simple plywood box to fit over the top of the two clothes rack cabinets first i cut the four pieces to assemble the box added iron on edge banding then screwed them together using wood screws you could use pocket holes here instead and you could also build these so that the top and bottom span the entire width versus butting them up to the sides it doesn't really make a big difference here either way i slid the box on top of the cabinets and used wood screws to secure them in place i drove a few screws at an angle on each end at the front used a few in the middle and also used a couple at the back to secure it to the back supports of the cabinets below after that box was in i measured and built a second one to slide in right beside it i secured the second box to the one beside it and to the top of the narrow cabinet in the front corner as a general note none of these walls were perfectly square and they got narrower in the corners so i had some small gaps around the edges of each cabinet in the closet i left these gaps as they were small and they didn't really bother me but if they do bother you you can always add some trim around it at the end to cover them up i repeated this process for the other side of the closet and i got a little help from danny to help me install the box that didn't have a cabinet below it for this side of the closet since there wasn't anything underneath that front box i used a couple screws through the side to secure the box into the wall studs just like i did with the narrower cabinet earlier the fourth part of the closet was adding these shelf boxes on the left side this again was a super simple part i used some of the leftover plywood the 14 inch wide pieces that i mentioned earlier to assemble these three boxes i cut pieces to fit perfectly in the open space on the left side of the closet and cut 12 inch long pieces for the sides of each box i edge banded the front edges of each piece and assembled the boxes using pocket holes and screws notice that i faced the pocket holes on the outside here so that they won't be seen once they're installed on the bottom box i also added a three and a half inch toe kick across the bottom side just to keep things consistent between all of the cabinets [Music] please let this fit please yes sometimes you have to ask yourself the question lou are we helping or are we in the way do we need to hold hands do we need to hold hands i don't think we really need to hold hands i slid the bottom box in place and made sure it was level and square then screwed it in between the two existing cabinets on each side i removed the drawer to put the screws where they wouldn't be seen in this side cabinet then i added the top box the same way and finally the middle box each shelf was spaced 12 inches apart now you could save some lumber here by using shelf pins and adding adjustable shelves or simply screwing in single stationary shelves and not assembling a whole box there are a million other ways to do this but i really just liked how this looked and it was simple to put together so i did the boxes now the closet is almost done but the last piece was adding the dresser cabinet for the bottom right side i built this to fit perfectly in the space that was left i cut two sides a top a bottom a divider and a toe kick and edge banded the front edge of everything except the toe kick i tried to use whatever leftover plywood that i had for this since it was the last piece of the closet i drilled pocket holes into both ends of the bottom panel and into only the top end of the sides and divider panels this is definitely not how i would typically assemble a dresser or a cabinet i wouldn't normally use pocket holes to attach the top panel where they'd be seen if you want to see how i would normally build dressers i do have several videos on that already but since this was going into a little nook and the sides won't be seen i did things a little simpler in this case i screwed this dresser together so that the bottom panel was three and a half inches up from the bottom edge of the side panel then i attached the top using pocket holes on the outside of the side panels once the main body was together i attached the toe kick then installed the middle divider i decided which side that i wanted to put the door and made sure to hide the pocket holes in that side of the dresser i only use pocket holes at the top here and then just use wood screws at the bottom making sure to keep the divider panel square i use my craig shelf pen jig to drill shelf pins along the sides of each section to be able to add adjustable shelves later as needed so the shelf and jig obviously have these holes and they are not centered they are closer to one edge than they are the other so on the front here because i was going to have a door in this section that was going to be inset i wanted to make sure and i even thought about this i don't know what's wrong with me but i even thought about this i need to make sure that these holes are as far away from this front edge as i can so that it needed to be turned this way when drilling my holes but i accidentally thought that and then didn't do it when i first started drilling the holes so i drilled a few holes right here oh well mistakes are inevitable so just sometimes you just have to accept them then i carried this cabinet inside and installed it in place in the closet i secured it to the cabinet next to it and to the wall stud to the right now all that was left was the finishing touches i added a baseboard to the back of the closet and replaced the door trim that i had removed at the beginning and i have a separate video on door and window trim that i will link below if you want to know more about that then i cut two inset three quarter inch plywood doors one for the tall narrow cabinet and one for the dresser cabinet i have a guide for how to size your cabinet doors that i will link below if you want more information on how to cut the doors to fit i edge banded each of these sanded them well and then pulled up my kreg concealed hinge jig to drill out holes to insert the hinges i installed soft closed concealed inset hinges into each door then brought them inside to install them into the cabinets i also have a guide for how to install and adjust concealed hinges that i will link below if you want to know more about that as well at this point all that was left was adding a couple shelves where i had drilled shelf pin holes and filling it up i'm sure over time we will figure out how best to use this closet and add more shelves as needed but for now i just added a single shelf in the dresser and a few shelves in the tall cabinet compared to the previous closet we have tons more storage in here so there's actually plenty of empty space for now and i do kind of like it that way just a note i didn't bother finishing these cabinets i may later but for now they're unfinished and i'm fine with that i'm so happy to finally have my clothes unpacked and out of the boxes and to have things better organized and hidden away i really hope you guys enjoyed seeing this closet come together and i hope it's given you some inspiration for your own space don't forget to head to the description for plans links and guides to help you in your own builds and to check out craig academy if you're interested and if you aren't already subscribed be sure to follow along so you don't miss out on what's coming next thanks so much for watching friends and until next time happy building

Channel: Shara Woodshop Diaries

Views: 189,267

Keywords: custom closet build, custom closet build out, walk in closet diy, walk in closet diy plans, walk in closet built ins, closet built in drawers, closet built in cabinets, how to build built in closet cabinets, building custom closet cabinets, how to build closet shelves & clothes rods, how to build closet organizer with drawers, how to make custom closet cabinets, diy built in closet cabinet, closet built in ideas, closet cabinets, plywood closet cabinets, walk in closet cabinets

Id: uJBSOt6KXsc

Length: 20min 17sec (1217 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 18 2021