# Maximizing drawer space - built in closet dresser



## JohnWP (Jan 18, 2011)

I have a question - After I finish the wall unit I'm putting together for our TV area, I am going to start on a built in closet so we can get rid of the dressers that we have in our bedroom. The dresser portion is going to be 80" wide, approx 20" deep and maybe 37" high (Before feet/kick panel). I can't go much higher than that as my wife is 4'9" tall. Above that will be some cubbies in the center, flanked by hanging rods. The sides of the closet will be more hanging rods, with one full length dress styled, and a few more drawers/cubbies.

Any good suggestions on maximizing space, or a good book to pick up for this? What I'm envisioning is a typical box, with a face frame and just enough "skeleton" to put all the drawer slides on. I was thinking of one center set of 14" (face length) drawers, with two 30" drawers on either side, 5 high, flush face mounts.

Any input is appreciated, thanks!

John


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

I'm assuming your closet is 80" wide (wall to wall). If that's the case, you might consider making the dresser in 3 units that can be just put in place. Your two outside drawer units could be the same and screw to the center unit. You could make them without a toe kick, which when figuring panel cut out sizes would maximize cutouts on full sheets.

You then could make one continuous toe kick to set the three cabinets on. To save you time and money, consider making the cabinets frameless. You don't need a face frame. It can be a PITA, especially when mounting side mount drawer slides.

Doing it this way might be easier as far as materials, size of cabinets to handle and work on, and ease of installation. A plus would be if you ever move, you could take them with you without a lot of hassle.

An easy way to do the cubbies above the dresser and the hanging rods are to make a box for the center. Then pick up a chrome tube at the home center. They are like 1" in diameter. Cut them to length. Get yourself a collar for each end. One end of the collar screws to the box...the other to the wall.












 









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## JohnWP (Jan 18, 2011)

It's a bit of a weird closet, actually. 

As you look into the closet from the front, the door width is ~ 78" (I measured it but don't have the measurements here). The closet itself is about 40" deep, and is about two feet wider on each side than the door entry, which currently has two sliding doors hung on rails.

The side cabinets will be facing towards each other, perpendicular to the dresser cabinet. I plan on making different sliding doors and moving them just inside the frame so that they can slide completely out of the way.

In addition, the left side of the closet has an extra indentation towards the bathroom/vanity area (The closet is in the bathroom/tub side room. One medicine cabinet is right there, I'm going to take that out, mount a shelf and a smoked glass door and put a bookcase music system there.

|-----------------|
|.. _____________|
|_|

That's roughly the shape of the closet.

Oh, and one thing I was thinking was to actually have the toe kick set in back far enough to be a stop for shoes, and possibly hinged so we can get underneath to dust/clean/retrieve cat toys.

Dang. should have thought this through more, save me all these edits: A good read for cabinets then? Would you veneer the ends for a faceless? Or mount dividers and attach the slides to those?

John


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