# Closet organizer plans. Opinions requested.



## mae-ling (Dec 9, 2011)

Mkae the uprights wider then the shelves, that way the roundover works where it joins.
Uprights say 16" shelves say 15.5" or whatever to be behind the roundover.


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## 1910NE (Sep 5, 2010)

I've never heard of sanding/staining MDF. Most would either buy the stuff with laminate already attached, or plan to laminate it after making the cuts.

Are you referring to plywood of some kind? If so, 3/4 is a good bet. I like to use the stuff with the poplar veneer, as it reduces the amount of finish sanding, and paints/stains very nicely.


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## Millertyme (Apr 20, 2010)

i usually use the melamine stuff. i make a box first and attach it with particle board screws or confirmat screws. depending on the height i will attach one or two dividers in the middle to keep it stiff. Then i drill holes for adjustable shelves (or you can buy the melamine with the holes already drilled.) you will also need cleats at the back of box to attach to wall.


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## Toronto (Jul 13, 2012)

I built 3 closets similar to this last year for my Mom, having never done it before. The thing with closet shelves is that you want them to be adjustable as your needs change, you buy different clothes, more shoes, etc etc. My Mom has already had me make some new shelves as she's reconfigured the closets a couple times since I installed them and moved shelves up and down.

What I did is I bought this shelf drilling rig from Lee Valley Tools. This is a Canadian company but for sure these things are available in the US too. If not, just buy from Lee Valley and have it shipped across the border. Our country needs the business, lol!

http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=32251&cat=1,180,42311

It allows you to easily drill holes for shelf pins in the vertical pieces of wood that are going to hold your shelves. It was time consuming to drill the holes but very easy to understand and do. I also bought the split depth collars for drills as ensures you don't go farther into the wood than you want to when you drill the hole:

http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=32244&cat=1,180,42311,42335

I also bought sleeves to go into the holes and shelf supports to put in the holes to hold the shelves (although the sleeves are not absolutely necessary as you can put the sleeves into the bare holes - just make sure you don't oversize the hole for the support as I think the hole has to be slightly smaller if you don't use the sleeve):

http://www.leevalley.com/US/hardware/page.aspx?p=67955&cat=3,43648,43649

My Mom is very pleased with the versatility and configurability of the closets I did for her. Adding the sleeves (which don't cost much) gave the closet a real finished look. And, also, remember that you don't have to drill the holes all the way up the vertical pieces and down. You can just have a few at each vertical position, that will then allow you to adjust the shelves just a few inches up and down (but I found it less complicated to just run the holes all the way up). 

Good luck!


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## newcougar (May 12, 2012)

Thank you guys so much for the replies!

mae-ling: I like that idea. I was thinking the rounded edges wouldn't look right when you matched the vertical & horizontal pieces together. This should solve that nicely. Thanks!

1910NE: You're right. After a little research, staining MDF seems challenging at best. But I will now paint the MDF instead. I'll also look at those other types of wood too. Just so hard to decide on what to use.

Millertyme: I'm not familiar with melamine. I'll have to research that.

Toronto: I'm from Canada too! And I also love LeeValley website. Good stuff there. My hopes was to learn from this project and carry over to building a floor-to-ceiling built-in bookcase for the living room. But I do see your point about the adjustable shelves. Maybe I should go this route instead.


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## Toronto (Jul 13, 2012)

You're welcome. What I did is I bought oak veneered plywood at Home Depot. I didn't want to go to the extra trouble of painting wood and the veneer finish looks very good (and plywood is lighter and easier to handle than MDF). For the front edges I used the iron on oak edge veneer that Home Depot sells. You can also do it in maple or birch and remember for the back of the closet you can use a thinner veneered plywood or just have the back wall there. You buy an edge veneer width that is just slightly wider than the wood thickness and use the tool they sell to cut off the slight excess that overlaps each edge. The finished product way better than painted wood and hardly much more expensive, if even.


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## mae-ling (Dec 9, 2011)

Or you can use solid wood edging with oak or maple or whatever plywood


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## Millertyme (Apr 20, 2010)

Agreed.oak ply at home depot is 45 per sheet and mdf is 35. 
I don't now if you have your mind set on mdf, but if you do, they make a lightweight mdf now which is easier to work with.
THe melamine plywood is nice though because y can buy it in pre ripped sheets


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## newcougar (May 12, 2012)

I've updated my design and did a 3D image in Google SketchUp (I was bored @ work one night). The vertical dividers will be slightly smaller in width (15.5" as oppose to the top horizontal shelf of 16"). I think the rounded edges will look better this way. I've also added a row of cleats on the bottom for the vertical dividers to rest on - which negates the concern for damaging the floor. The bottoms of the vertical dividers have been tapered to allow better use of the floor space, and an overall cleaner look, imo.

I still plan on using MDF, but I will prime and paint it, instead of stain. I was thinking about using Oak Plywood, because it looks soooo nice, but it's almost twice the cost, and this is only a closet organizer. I'll use the oak plywood when I make my floor-to-ceiling bookshelf and fireplace mantel, probably.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts & opinions!! Greatly appreciated!


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## Millertyme (Apr 20, 2010)

like i stated before, oak ply is only $12 more a sheet at Home Depot. Thats not that much


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## Blondesense (Sep 23, 2008)

I've been following this thread because I would like to do something similar someday. 
I like the angled verticals, but I can't wrap my head around how they will work.
If you angle the vertical dividers, how will you attach them to the wall?
Also, I assumed the verticals sitting on the floor carried most of the weight, how will the whole thing be supported?

edited to add: Kreg also makes a shelf pin jig that is a bit more economical.


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## mae-ling (Dec 9, 2011)

Usually with the angles verticles we leave 2-3" before the angle starts, this rests on the floor.
We also use a 1x2" or similar on the inside edge and attached it to the wall and then the verticle to it.


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## newcougar (May 12, 2012)

The weight of the vertical dividers are supported by the lower cleat, but also they will be screwed into the sides of the upper & middle cleats (you can't see the middle cleats in the picture, but they support the rear of the middle shelf that divides the upper & lower racks). I'll pre-drill the holes, as it will be a delicate place to put in screws.

Am I making a huge error in judgment here?

I couldn't find the oak ply in Home Depot. I could only find it at Kent. I'll double check again though.


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## fstellab (Nov 15, 2012)

*Did you consider a all wood - no plywood design*

Folks,

I am starting out with building a closet organizer for a 8X5 walkin. All of the plywood designs turn me off (especially since I don't have Table Saw).

I like the all wood "vented" designs such as:

http://www.theneatfreaks.com/default.asp

I ordered one 24" shelf unit so I could create a plan based on the 
retail version.

JMHO

-Fred


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## woodworkbykirk (Sep 25, 2011)

if your going to go with stain use plywood. if painting use mdf.. dont waste your time with particle board it doesnt hold up long term and sags if the shelf is longer than 30"

as for fastening the shelfs to the dividers and gables. for short shelves just gun nail through the divider and have a cleat at the back. for longer shelves defiintly have them sitting on cleats. be sure to use wood glue and construction adhesive.. glue for wood to wood and adhesive for wood to drywall connections

for your inside corner shelf i wouldnt use that design. your limiting the amount of space you have for storage. what i typically do is make corner shelves that are 16" wide and 30 inches long. then its kind of hard to describe the taper but if i can find my template ill either post a picture of it or do up a sketch. much better use of space


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## fstellab (Nov 15, 2012)

*Closet Organizer - But all Wood*

Hi All,

I have found a few free plans to do the white Organizer in the last post, here is the best one:

http://www.thisiscarpentry.com/2011/09/30/closet-shelving-layout-design/

My wife wanted a all hardwood design, and since I don't have a Table Saw yet, I shy away from working with plywood. She wants some like this:

I could not find any woodworking plan for this type of Oragnizer, so I thought we might break down and buy it. We re-thought that when we checked the prices. Also, buyer beware, on several sites .. they would show you a photo of a whole shelf unit, but when you read the fine print, the cost shown does not include the shelfs, just the frame.

Its very expensive, and the shelfs look so easy, so I am back to trying to build them.

Does any one know of a plan ? Is it hard to make up a plan from a photo ?

Thanks all
-Fred


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## newcougar (May 12, 2012)

It's been a long time, but I finally finished the project. Took me so long cause at the same time I was also planning a wedding & honeymoon.

Overall, I'm very happy with the outcome. It took a lot of planning, and many of the parts for this organizer required many different angles, routing, dado's, holes, etc that all needed to match up perfectly. I ended up ruining a couple long vertical pieces and needed to redo those, unfortunately.

I took my time and made my measurements as close to perfect as I possibly could, but the walls were not perfectly straight & level (of course) so the assembly required some tweaking. The only part I'm upset about is the middle horizontal shelf separating the upper & lower parts of the organizer didn't match up very well at all (as noted in the 2nd picture). But it's a _closet_ organizer, so I'll let it slide.

There are dado's on the sides of all 5 of the shelves, with cleats supporting the rear. The shelves are glued & screwed into the dado's. Everything is screwed, no nails. The vertical pieces are all screwed into the sides of the cleats & shelves. I was worried about splitting the cleats & shelves, but I pre-drilled all the holes and never had 1 split! (Lucky I think).

The entire unit is very sturdy. I'd feel confident putting my entire weight on this. You could sleep on the top shelf, I'm sure!

Now what I'd do differently:
- I used 3/4" MDF which I sealed with primer designed for MDF and then painted it with melamine-finish paint. This was the most time consuming part. The paint took 2 coats, so it was 3 coats in all including the sealer, and you could only paint one side at a time. With so many parts, this took a long while. I wish I used a different colour, something more brown would of looked better, imo. But more so, I probably should of used 3/4" plywood as was suggested above, and just stained that. It probably would of looked better - more like furniture. And no doubt the plywood would be lighter and easier on my bits & blades (the MDF practically ruined every router bit I used). Only having to stain plywood, as oppose to seal, paint & paint again the MDF, if would of saved a lot of time.
- I tried to find metal hanger closet rods, but could only find white ones, and I wasn't about to spend a whole day driving around town finding metal ones. Alas, they would of looked better, imo.

Overall, I'm happy I have the project completed and it actually works. Might not be the best looking closet organizer out there, but I learned a lot by doing it myself, and most importantly - I did it myself 

Thanks to everyone for making suggestions, comments and chatting about the project. I should of listened to those that suggested plywood. Hope this update helps anyone else also doing a similar project.

Cheers!


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## fstellab (Nov 15, 2012)

*Good thought .. thanks*



woodworkbykirk said:


> if your going to go with stain use plywood. if painting use mdf.. dont waste your time with particle board it doesnt hold up long term and sags if the shelf is longer than 30"
> 
> as for fastening the shelfs to the dividers and gables. for short shelves just gun nail through the divider and have a cleat at the back. for longer shelves defiintly have them sitting on cleats. be sure to use wood glue and construction adhesive.. glue for wood to wood and adhesive for wood to drywall connections
> 
> for your inside corner shelf i wouldnt use that design. your limiting the amount of space you have for storage. what i typically do is make corner shelves that are 16" wide and 30 inches long. then its kind of hard to describe the taper but if i can find my template ill either post a picture of it or do up a sketch. much better use of space


Thanks for the tip on the corner shelf, if you can find any drawings I would appreciate it.

I ordered 30 board feet of _Macacauba_ so I don't plan to use any MDF or plywood. I am planning to the number of different parts/cuts to a minimum. I am thinking I can make the with 3 basic parts in various lengths, self slats, vertical supports and horizontal supports.

I am currently working on the plan, and will not touch the wood until I finish the plan, practice on the Table Saw, and practice on the router as I have very little experience on those tools.


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