Home Center Storage Cabinets: How they get you.

[DerbyDad03]

I bought a 48" ClosetMaid wardrobe cabinet at Home Depot this weekend.

Here's how they get you...or at least how they got me:

At $108 the price was very comfortable. I read the description and looked at the pictures so I had a general idea of how the shelves were laid out.

However, once I put it together I realized how much wasted space there was. The fixed top shelf is over 20" from the top of the unit. How much stuff do you have that needs a shelf that's 20" high?

The same holds true for the 2 adjustable shelves. It really could use

3 or more.

I know that they want to keep the price point low so people will buy it. Less shelves means lower cost, lower weight, less packaging, etc. I get that.

In the end, I ended up buying two 2 x 4 sheets of MDF, a roll of white Contact paper and some shelf supports so I could add more shelves.

One more full shelf across the top and 2 half shelves in the adjustable area. An extra $25 and a few hours of work.

Would I have bought the unit if it was $133 and had the extra shelves? I can't really say, but seeing the unit as it is now, it was worth the extra time and money.

That's all...just sort of venting.

[Joe]

You'll remember this and next time I'll bet you build your own and it will be far more useful. And the price will be lower, too.

Joe

[Ed Pawlowski]

"DerbyDad03" wrote

Everyone is different and has different needs. I just measured a couple of things I have on a shelving unit and that 20" would just be comfortable for two items that are 18". I'd use the extra adjustable though. I have a cabinet I use at work that I modified to get 24". It has a total of 3 shelves and cannot fit any more.

Spare shelves should be readily available though, for everyone's particular needs.

[DerbyDad03]

I agree that large shelves are sometimes needed, but this is sold as a "Wardrobe Cabinet". It's designed to use 1/2 for hanging items and half for shelves, although the holes are there so you could put shelves on either/both sides. Based on it advertised use, 20" shelves seem a bit tall for stacking folded clothes.

As far as spare shelves, maybe they're available from ClosetMaid (Eureka) for this unit, but not at HD. The unit is 20" deep and all of the white laminated shelves I could find in the store were either too narrow or too wide. There were no shelves specific to this unit, so I made my own out of MDF and contact paper. A bit more labor, but at the lowest price.

One other point: I'm using the hanging side to store winter jackets. The 20" depth is just a little shallow for bulky items and the door wouldn't close all the way on that side. I added a heavy duty magnet closure to keep that door closed tight.