DIY Master Closet: Wardrobe Built In (Part 2)

" A wardrobe built in, you'll never forget."

The closet is well underway and we are moving on to the next part in the DIY Closet series; the wardrobe built in. Hopefully, you caught the first part of the series; the Shoe Built in, but if you haven't, go check out that post here first to see how I got my DIY closet started.

"This post is sponsored by The Home Depot"

The Before

I always love looking at the before before starting a project and this time is no different. You saw the other side of the closet in my Part 1 closet post, so here are the other sides of the closet. Check out the final reveal here!

Layout the Design

As you saw on Part 1 with the Shoe Built In, I used the same technique here with the painters tape. This technique is really helpful to me when building out the closet, because I can just reference where the tape is and figure out my measurements on the fly.

While I'm building, I just remove the tape piece by piece and replace it with the real thing; so satisfying.

Here you can see my layout design for my plans for the closet. It's always so helpful to me to be able to see the design beforehand. Even if I change the design on the fly, seeing it beforehand makes the building process that much easier.

Before moving on to building the frame, be sure to remove baseboards from all sides of the wall, see Part 1 for additional info!

Step 1: Build the Bottom Frame

First, you will build out the bottom frame, like we did with Part 1 of the shoe built in. We will use the same technique here; build the frame out by joining 2x4s together with construction screws.

Again, be sure to screw the screws into studs to make sure the frame is secure. Utilize  a stud finder to help if needed.

Once the frame is secure, use a brad nailer to secure your top 3/4" piece to the frame. Being that this wall was on the back of the closet, I knew I could get away with a much wider section, so I decided to make the frame here 24".

Step 2: Build the Dresser

I knew I wanted to build a huge dresser, to have plenty of room to store the clothes that I don't want to hang up, so I made this 23"+ deep.

I built this dresser the same way I built the shoe built ins; I used pocket holes to join the plywood pieces together to form the dresser with the help from my Dewalt Drill combo kit and then I used my  Kreg jig to create the pocket holes. I put my jig on a 3/4" setting and used 1 1/4" pocket hole screws to attach the plywood together.

Once the dresser was built, I added back supports to both the top and bottom and used those pieces to secure the dresser to the wall with wood screws.

In order to make sure my process of securing these built-ins to the wall went smoothly, I am utilizing my impact drill! It always increases my productivity when driving screws!

If you aren't quite as tool savvy, luckily The Home Depot has tons of how-to guides to assist you on which tools are best for your project, like this guide on How to Use an Impact Driver.

If you ever need assistance on how to work a tool or want to see other fun guides on getting household projects done; be sure to check out The Home Depot's how-to library here.

Th best part is that these how-to guides are easily accessible from the mobile app, so you can view them while completing your specific project.

Step 3: Build the Adjoining Sides

Once the main drawer was in place, I started to add the adjoining sides. I knew I would have to make the width of these pieces a little smaller to make room for the corner pieces and 15" was the perfect width for this.

First, I started off with the bottom pieces. I first adjoined two 15" boards to the drawers by first glueing the long sides to the dresser and then secured it to the bottom with pocket hole screws Once the two long side were secure on the bottom, I used a long horizontal board to connect the two boards at the top.

Once that was secured down, I built the top shelf box and then placed it on top of the bottom wardrobe and secured it both to the wall and the bottom piece with screws.

Step 4: Build the Side Wardrobe

Now on to the side wardrobe! This was probably the most medius part for me being that it was in the corner. I really loved the idea of these corner shelves, but it took me a while to figure out the best way to implement it.

Originally, I thought it would be a good idea to assemble the whole shelf at once and put it in all together, but I quickly learned that this was not the way to go.

You can see here my thought process on how I assembled them together.

Once, I quickly realized that putting it in all at once wasn't a great idea, I started installing it in shelf by shelf, and this was a much better approach.

First, I installed the outer shelf, to create the main frame and then moved on to the additional shelves.

I would install one shelf and secure it to both the wardrobe and the wall, and then add in the L shelf to make it look like one whole shelf. I joined the shelfs together with pocket hole screws.

I also made sure to put support boards underneath the shelves. This helps when installing and also takes the pressure off of the shelves, in regards to weight. It makes the shelves feel more sturdy and just increases the integrity of the built ins all around.

Once the left side wardrobe was finished, it was time to move on to the right side. This side was designated for all of my short clothes. This side was the easiest because it just consisted of three big boxes.

I did have a little difficulty figuring out the size for this side though. I wanted it to be wide enough to where it hid the clothes well but also short enough so that there was a good enough clearance in between the dresser when walking through the door, so ultimately, I decided on 19.5 inches wide minus the trim.

Once the right side was all installed, I started building out the corner. I wanted the corners to be identical for symmetry and also wanted to use that corner space for extra storage for my longer clothes. 

Even though I ll be enjoying this closet on my own, I still tried to keep in mind that one day there may be two people using the closet, so I tried to design it in a way that was good for two people.

Step 5: Trim out the Wardrobe Built Ins

I felt such a sense of relief after getting everything built out! Now for the trim. The trimming portion always makes the built-ins look clean! I went back through to add 1x2 trim to all of the sections of the wardrobe.

Step 6: Adding the Drawers

Next up, was adding drawers! When posting this DIY walk in closet on instagram, it seemed like most people were nervous to tackle a project like this because of drawers! But after posting a quick tutorial in my "Closet Pt. 3" highlight, some people seemed to feel a little better about the process. Check it out here.

First, I installed the drawer slides to each drawer opening and then built the drawer box using select pine, based on the sizing of each opening. Once all of the drawers were installed; I started adding the drawer faces.

If you've been following along on Instagram, you've probably seen my little card trick. I use a deck of cards to try and get an even spacing when I'm installing my drawer fronts.

You can play with the spacing by adding or taking away cards until you achieve the spacing that you like. The best part about these drawers is the secret drawer that I revealed recently; an ironing board!

Thats right; I decided to add this fun ironing board drawer to my closet to make it that much more fun and it was pretty simple to install after figuring out the instructions.

Now, with the Shoe Built In and the Wardrobe all built out, it's time to sand this baby down and paint! The next time you see this closet, she will be all finished and ready to organize. I don't want to give too much away, so here is one last look before the final reveal! Can't wait for you guys to see!! 

 and as always, thanks for reading guys, XOXO Ashley.