file cabinet closet

File Cabinet ClosetHome With Stefani – Stefani Terry

www.HomeWithStefani.com

Introduction

I’m walking you through how to turn your tiny, unorganized closet into a beautiful, built-in, file cabinet closet!

This closet is in our home office, and it was nothing more than junk storage. We now have five sturdy shelves for books, two large file cabinet drawers and one smaller drawer for miscellaneous office supplies.

I know not everyone’s closet dimensions will be the same as mine. But you can take the concept from this closet build and apply it to your own.

Before After

Closet Plans

Tools | Supplies | LumberMATERIAL USE

4’ X 8’ X 1/4" Sander Plywood

Bottom Of Drawers Bottom Of Shelves

Drawer Face Insert

4’ X 8’ X 1/2" Sande Plywood

Drawer BoxesFile Storage Supports

4’ X 8’ X 3/4" Sande Plywood

Top Of Shelves

1” X 3” X 8’ Primed Pine Board

Drawer FaceDoor FaceShelf Trim

2” X 4” X 8’ Pine To Build Out Drawer Slides

MY WORKSHOP TOOLS

Miter Saw

Orbital Hand Sander

Table Saw

Circular Saw

Brad Nailer

Drill / Impact Driver

Level

Hammer

Tape Measure

Wood Filler / Spackling

Sanding Supplies

Caulking Supplies

Painting Supplies

ROCKLER TOOLS

Shaker Rail/Stile 2pc Set

Rail Coping Sled

Bosch 2-1/4 HP VS Router

2-1/2" Router Table Dust Hose

Hpl Router Tabletop

Rockler Pro Fence

Rockler Router Table Steel Stand

Snap Lock Router Lift

48" Aluminum Sure-foot Clamp

Silicone Project Mat Xl

Small Silicone Glue Container

Master Glue Kit

4-piece Safety Kit

Safety Power Tool Switch

Bench Cookie Master Kit

ROCKLER CLOSET SUPPLIES

Restoration Textured Glass

28" Series 757 100-lb. Over-travel Centerline® Lifetime

Slides

Non-Mortis Finial Hinge 4 1/4 Brass

Mag Catch For Inset Doors

Hanging File Drawer 48"

Ashley Norton Rear Mounted Modern Cabinet Bin Pull

Ashley Norton Round Cabinet Knob

Space Balls – Raised Panel Door Spacers

Step 1: Prep Closet

• Clear your belongings.

• Remove door.

• Remove any old material & shelving that you aren’t going to use.

• Be careful removing any material that you’re going to repurpose. I ended up reusing the old wall cleats for my new shelving.

Step 2: Install Drawer Slides

• Before installing your drawer slides, determine the size of your drawers

• To determine drawer slide length, only measure the box, do not include the drawer front. Round the measurement off to the lower number on the tape.

• My drawer boxes are 28 1/2” deep so I’m using 28” drawer slides.

• For the drawers to slide in and out properly, the drawer slides need to be built out so that they are even with the opening of your door. To do this, I took scrap 2x4’s, cut them down to act as shim to build out the slides and screwed them into studs in the wall using 3 ½” wood screws.

• Once these shims were secure, I secured my drawers slides to the wood shims with the screws provided.

• I made inset drawers with a ¾” face frame, so I set my drawer slide back ¾” to account for the drawer face.

• Be sure that your drawer slides are perfectly level and perfectly even with the opposite drawer slide

¾”

**Rockler: 28" Series 757 100-lb. Over-travel Centerline® Lifetime Slides

Step 3: Build Drawers (part 1)

• Your drawer boxes should be 1” smaller than the distance between the drawer slide shims to account for the 1/2” slide on each side (depending on the type of slides you use).

• I used ½” plywood for my drawer boxes and ¼” plywood for the bottom panel

• I cut a ¼” dado on the inside of each ½” drawer panel which will hold the bottom ¼” panel in place.

• To cut the ¼” dado using a table saw, take two 1/8” passes. • Set your blade depth at ¼”• Set your fence at ½” so that your dado is ½” from the bottom of

your drawer.

Step 3: Build Drawers (part 2)

• Dry fit all your drawer pieces together first.

• Before assembly, sand each of your drawer pieces until smooth.

• To assemble your drawer pieces, use wood glue and brad nails.

**Rockler: Bench Cookie Master Kit **Rockler: Silicone Project Mat Xl, Small Silicone Glue Container, Master Glue Kit

Step 4: Install Drawers

• Disconnect the drawer member from cabinet member of the drawer slide. Secure the drawer members to the drawer boxes. If you’re doing inset drawers like me, your drawer slide will sit flush with the front of your drawer box. Refer to drawer slide instructions for additional details.

Step 5: Build Shelves (part 1)

• My bottom shelf comes out flush to the outer closet trim.• The next two shelves go ¾” past the door jam.• The upper two shelves are only half the depth of the closet

in order to easily store items higher. • My shelves are 2” thick and are spaced 10” apart


• Measure and mark where you want your shelves to go

• I used ¼” plywood for the bottom of my shelves,1” wall cleats and ¾” plywood for the top of the shelves.

• Secure your wall cleats to studs in the wall if possible.

• Secure the top and bottom plywood to your wall cleats using a brad nailer and brad nails.


• I ripped 1”x 3” boards down to 2” so they fit the face of each shelf. • Add some blocking if necessary to nail your 2” trim into.

• I cut a 2” board for my base trim and secured it to the door jam using pocket screws.

Step 6: Build Drawer Fronts (part 1)

• I built Shaker style drawer fronts.

• Your drawer fronts should be 1/8” smaller than the opening of your closet (1/16” gap on each side).

• Cut your rails and stiles down to size.


• I used the rail / stile 2-piece router set and my router table from Rockler to cut cope and stick joints for the Shaker style drawer fronts. Refer to the Router bit instructions for set up details.

**Rockler: Shaker Rail/Stile 2pc SetStile bit (left) – Rail bit (right)

Use the Stile bit to rout the groove in the inside edge of the rails and stiles.

**Rockler: Hpl Router TabletopBosch 2-1/4 HP VS Router

Rockler Router Table Steel StandRockler Pro Fence4-piece Safety Kit

Use the Rail bit to rout the tenons on the ends of the rails. I used Rail Coping

Sled to safely secure the rails while routing the tenons.

**Rockler: Snap Lock Router LiftRail Coping Sled

Rockler Pro Fence2-1/2" Router Table Dust Hose

Safety Power Tool Switch


• Dry fit your rail and stile pieces to make sure they fit.

• Measure and cut the ¼” inside panel piece.

• Dry fit the entire drawer front to make sure everything fits.

• Sand down your panel piece until smooth.


• Secure your drawer front pieces together using wood glue and clamps.

• Sand your drawer fronts until smooth.

**Rockler: Silicone Project Mat Xl, Small Silicone Glue Container, Master Glue Kit

**Rockler: 48" Aluminum Sure-foot Clamp

Step 7: Build Glass Door

• I built the same Shaker style door using the rail / stile 2-piece router set to cut cope and stick joints.

• Carefully slide your glass into the groove.

• Use space balls if necessary to ensure glass is secure and not loose.

• Use wood glue and clamps to secure your rails and stiles together.

**Rockler: Space Balls – Raised Panel Door Spacers

**Rockler: Restoration Textured Glass

Step 8: Install Drawer Faces

• Use playing cards to get your drawer front spacing perfect. • Make some temporary drawer pulls

using scotch tape.

• Clamp the drawer face to your drawer and secure on the back side using wood screws.

Step 9: Fill Holes & Sand

• Use scrap lumber to fill any previous hinge holes.

• Use wood filler and spackle to fill any nail holes or holes in your walls from previous shelving.

• Sand entire closet once the spackle & wood filler have dried.

Step 10: Caulk

• Caulk any visible seams in your shelving and trim.

Step 11: Paint

• Paint your drawers, doors and closet your desired color.

• I used a flat white paint inside the closet and a satin white on my door, drawers and closet trim.

Step 12: Install Door

• Secure the hinges to your door and then to your door jamb.

**Rockler: Non-Mortis Finial Hinge 4 1/4 Brass

Step 13: Install Hardware

**Rockler: Ashley Norton Rear Mounted Modern Cabinet Bin Pull

**Rockler: Mag Catch For Inset DoorsAshley Norton Round Cabinet Knob • Install your door and

drawer hardware

Step 14: Install Folder Hangers

**Rockler: Hanging File Drawer 48"

• I used Rockler’s ½” Hanging File Drawer inserts and attached them to scrap ½” plywood pieces.

• Secure the ½” plywood to your drawer box with wood screws or pocket screws.

• Make sure your file hanging supports are low enough so that any file tabs will clear the drawer above.

file cabinet closet

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