The existing wardrobes in the house all have only one high shelf and a clothes hanging rod in them. For the bedrooms that's mostly OK, but it's a problem in my office. I decided to install some custom shelving. Before I started, things looked like this:
After measuring the cupboard, I pulled out the hanging rail and supports, and sketched out the shelving I wanted to build. Then, everything sat on the floor for weeks until my Christmas present finally arrived, and I could get to work:
First, I located the wall studs and marked them with some small pencil marks. There are 2 studs at standard 450mm spacing across the back wall, and the studs at the corners of the frame. Perfect for installing battens
Next, I installed the central vertical partition. It has a notch cut at the bottom to fit around the skirting board, and is attached at top and bottom with some small angle brackets:
I added the first two large shelves, which rest on battens at the back and left, and are attached on the right to the vertical MDF partition with angle brackets:
The lower vertical partition is for installing a small set of drawers:
I used a reasonably simple rabbet/dado box design for the drawers, cut with my new router mounted on the Triton workbench. It was a bit awkward to cut the correct depths, and I broke one bit after about the first half dozen cuts. I need more experience with the router to improve my joinery skills clearly. The cheap pine from Bunnings is also a bit warped which doesn't help, and I don't (yet) have a planer to fix that. In the end the drawers worked out OK though:
Finally, I installed some half-depth shelves on the right hand side. They're supported at the back by a batten. Since there was no convenient stud in the wall to attach to on the right wall, I added a support pole, bracketed to the skirting board at the bottom and to the batten for the original high shelf at the top. There's a notch cut out of the front right corner that fits around that support pole, and attached (again) with some small angle brackets.
I made the right hand shelves half depth because it's a good size for books, and because I'd like to hang some things on the inside of the right door - like my electronic component trays.
Now, to tidy up some of the junk stacked in there :)
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