We have a small pantry space in our house that is getting very cluttered. My wife and I decided to make some custom shelving and cabinet to store all our stuff in there. The wire rack was not cutting it. Items in the back were always “lost”.
The space measure 28 1/2″ wide, but has a bump out and the bifold door. The bump out and door make the space tough to work with since I lose a bunch of usable width. The depth is about 34″ and the overall height was 9 foot.
Here is a shot of the materials used
- 1 sheet of 3/4 birch plywood
- 1 sheet of 1/2 birch plywood
- 2 sheets of 3/4 Melamine
- Melamine Edging
- 3 Heavyweight brand shelving 76″ standards
- 10 Heavyweight brand 10″ shelf supports
- 5 Heavyweight brand 14″ shelf supports
Lower Cabinet
I wanted to store full size paint cans in the cabinet, they are roughly 7″ in diameter and 8″ tall. So I decided I could fit 8 paint can in the drawer and sized it accordingly. The drawer is made from 1/2 plywood. External dimensions are 16″ x 29″ X 8 1/2″ tall. The drawer has locking rabbets for the corners and the bottom is fit into dadoes.
The drawer slides were heavy duty Knape and Vogt 28″ slides. They measured 3/4″ each, so I sized the outer carcass to 17 1/2″ inside dimension (16 + 3/4 + 3/4). The carcass is rabbeted at all corners and is made from 3/4 plywood. A 1/2 back was rabbeted in place.
I attached a face from made from ash with glue and scraps. The face frame was constructed using half laps, which worked pretty well. I applied a couple coats of shellac and attached the drawer slides, so I could size the drawer face and attach it.
Fastening Cabinet to Pantry
There is going to be quite a bit of weight in this cabinet, so I wanted to securely attach so it doesn’t tip forward when the drawer is pulled out. I probably overdid it, but I placed three strips of 3/4 plywood (about 2″ wide) onto the tile and tapconned them to through the grout lines into the concrete slab. Then, I placed the cabinet on top and screwed it to the 3/4 ply. I also attached it to a couple studs in the wall. One in the back and one on the RH side. You can make out the front 3/4 strip of plywood in the lower picture.
Shelving
Unfortunately, the rear wall only had one stud in the wall, so I couldn’t use two standards. I was forced to attache cleats to the RH wall, so the shelving won’t be as flexible.
I chose the shelf spacing that made sense to me (~12″) and set up the shelf brackets according. Then I used a level to set the cleat height on the RH wall basing it off the shelf bracket height. The left hand wall had two studs to mount the standards on so that one is a bit easier.
Shelving Pieces
The LH wall shelves are about 34″ long and 12″ wide. I cut them to size and applied edge banding to the two “show” surfaces. I also notched the rear of the shelf around the standard so the shelf sat closer to the wall.
I also cut the short shelves and edged them with the same process. Edging was also applied to the cleats on the RH wall. After I was done, I wish I would have scribed the shorter shelves to the longer ones so there wasn’t any gap between them, but oh well.
Lower Platform and Fill Panel
I also cut a large lower piece to sit on top of the cabinet. A ledger was applied to the LH wall to support it. Finish carpenty still eludes me. Notice the gaps against the wall. You can also see the lowest ledger board in the below picture on the RH wall. The large opening next to the cabinet was filled in with some ash boards edge glued. I had a ledger added to the wall and cabinet to attach the fill panel. The lower platform also acts as a step to to get to the top two shelves.
Finished Pictures
You can probably notice the gaps between the back shelf and LH shelf. Like I said, I should have scribed the small rear shelf to fit perfect. I was happily surprised that the shelves were at the same height. The L shaped shelving helps ensure I can reach and see everything withing the pantry. It also allows me to stand on the lower platform to reach up to the top two shelves.
