Design for built in bedroom cupboard.

[Mark]

Hi,

I want to make a built-in type bedroom cupboard in a corner of a bedroom. I've not done much woodworking before so I hoped that somebody here would give me some ideas on how it could be done.

The cupboard should go in a corner and span an area up to a small chimney breast. Ideally I wish to hide the chimney breast by putting bookshelves in front of it and edging it with something that matches the cupboard.

Now: After:

--------+ +----------------+ --------+ +----------------+ | | | | | | +------+ | |------| Cupboard | | | Books| | | +----Doors-------+

Can anyone help with ideas for the design detail and suggest some materials? The whole thing could be white in colour and I don't want to spend much on this ;-) The cupboard will have shelves used for storing children's toys.

If there are any guides on the web with similar projects I would be very interested. (I did consider buying a B&Q wardrobe but rejected the idea as I could not find a suitable part for going on the left on the chimney.)

Thanks for reading this.

Regards, Mark

[Stuart Noble]

Essentially 2 freestanding boxes bolted together. If you're using contiboard, get the pieces cut to size from standard widths so you have a finished edge for the front. If the doors can be a standard width (12", 15", 18" etc) you won't have edging to do. Carcass screws are good for assembly if you can live with black screwheads everywhere. Personally I'd go for the B&Q or Ikea wardrobe and build something to match for the books. Doors and hinges are a pain if you haven't done this sort of thing before but you can't go wrong with the shelves. Bear in mind that the wardrobe bit should have a rigid back or you'll never get the doors to hang straight

[The Natural Philosopher]

Faily easy. Use 12mm MDF and 1 1/2" x 1" batten to form the corner braces, and 2x2 or bigger to form the frame, and screw the lot together and paint with emulsion. Screw screws (use about no 6, various lengths: These will sellf drive through easily) below MDF surface, and fill with polyfilla. May be worth using carpenters white clue on edges to bond securely.

Use decorators caulk on the corners as the MDF will typically shrink a few thou - enough to crack paint - as it comes up to internal humidity.

Sand before painting, and use either several coats of emulsion sanded between, or a coat of acrylic primer on exposed MDF edges.

[Lobster]

Have you considered spanning the whole room with sliding wardrobe doors? I suspect those may be the B&Q ones you mentioned. I've done this with Stanley doors:

Lobster's: --------+ +----------------+ | | | +------+ |

+-----------------------Doors----+ | |

Dead easy to do: three or four of them across the room, built about 6" out from the front of the chimney breast. which has shelves across it. Depends if you're a chimneybreast/alcove fan or not, so may not be exactly what you're after, but it provides lots of storage space and a clean modern look and feel. If you believe the property makeover programmes on the telly, you also have some or all of the doors as mirrors, thereby doubling the apparent size of your room... [/beenymode]

David

[Mark]

Thanks for the reply.

Two boxes - do you mean one of the cupboard and one for the bookshelves? What is a good way of fixing these boxes (remember I am a newbie at this).

Contiboard - is this a good material to use? (I am not experienced in choosing suitable materials). Can this be painted easily?

Doors - I was hoping to have some suggestions on where to get some doors (at low cost) or how to make them :-)

I would go for a B&Q wardrobe but there are three issues:

- They are too expensive for this job. (i.e. >£100)

- I'm not sure they will be strong enough to support shelving.

- They are for a children's room so they will get a lot of damage (I doubt they would be easy to repair).

Cheers, Mark

[Mark]

It may be easy for you ;-) Anyway thanks for the reply. I've no idea about building cupboards (yet). Please can you tell me a bit more about how to do this? I don't know exactly what a corner brace is (I guess it goes in a corner ;-). How do I build a frame? Is there any diagrams on the web which might help - I did a search but could not find anything useful?

Cheers, Mark

[Mark]

Ugh! :-) I've just ripped out the very same thing from that room. The room's not big enough for it and there is a radiator in the way. Thanks for the suggestion anyway.

Mark

[Guy King]

The message from Mark contains these words:

Make the shelves the right size to take easily obtainable plastic boxes. It increases the amount of stuff you can put in there, and makes it easier to get the kids to tidy up if you pull the box for the Lego out and say "Put all the Lego in there" instead of having to get it in the cupboard.

Ikea do rather nice drawers on plastic runners which are intended to fit into several of their wardrobe units, but they sell them seperately too.

[Stuart Noble]

I would keep the 2 things separate. Much easier to construct and handle. Forget doors for a kids' room and go for baskets. The units won't need a lot of fixing to the wall. You could use metal plates on the back. See here (3rd one down) and probably available in the sheds. >

<With 4 of these on each, you may not need a back. As for general construction, screws are easy and the heads will be hidden if they're being painted. Basically you have 2 sides and however many cross pieces to do the top, bottom, and all the shelves, and you just screw em together (but they must be identical, so have them cut to size). If you get that far, come back and get some help with assembling the things. If that wardrobe bit is over about 3 ft wide I'd break it down into 2 separate boxes. Neater, stronger, and a bloody sight easier to move about.

No, go for mdf.