Linen cabinet plans, sized to your space

Parts

Cut list

Kerf 1/8″ included. Every cut runs edge to edge.

Steps

• Tape measure
• Speed square
• Pencil
• Drill/driver
• Clamps
• Safety glasses
• Hearing protection
• Dust mask
• Circular saw and a straight edge (or have the store cut the sheets)
• Hammer
• Stud finder
• Level
• Sander, 120 and 180 grit

Underlined words have a short explanation: hover or tap them. All of them are on the glossary page.

1. 1Before you start

   Read every step once, start to finish, before you buy or cut anything. Each step names the parts it uses by letter; the parts list gives their sizes.

   Set up somewhere flat with good light. A pair of sawhorses with a sheet of plywood on top makes a fine work table.

   Wear safety glasses whenever a tool is running, hearing protection for saws, and a dust mask for sanding and for cutting treated wood or sheet goods. Tie back long hair and loose sleeves. Keep children and pets out of the work area.

   • Tip At the store, pick straight boards: hold each one up to your eye and look down its length. Skip boards that bow, twist or have big knots near the ends.
   • Tip Measure twice, cut once. Most mistakes are a misread tape, not a bad cut.

2. 2Cut and label the parts

   Cut every part on the cut list. Cut the longest parts first: if one goes wrong, it can still become a shorter part.

   To mark a cut, hook your tape on the end of the board, make a small V with its point exactly at the measurement, and draw a square line through the point with a speed square. Put an X on the waste side.

   Cut on the waste side of the line, so the blade's kerf (about 1/8″) comes out of the scrap, not your part. Cut sheets with the good face down when using a circular saw: the blade splinters the top face.

   Write each part's letter in pencil on a face that won't show, and stack the parts by letter.

   Sand the faces before assembly while they're flat and easy to reach: 120 grit, then 180.

   ✓ Lay the parts out and count them against the parts list. Measure a few: if one is off by more than 1/16″, recut it now.

   STOP. Let the saw reach full speed before it touches the wood, keep both hands clear of the blade's path, and never reach under a board you're cutting. Support long boards on both sides of the cut so the blade doesn't pinch.

3. 3Check the space and the plywood

   Measure the spot three times across, at the floor, the middle and the top, and use the smallest number. The cabinet is 18″ wide, 72″ tall and 14 11/16″ deep with the doors.

   Look at the baseboard: the cabinet back has to sit flat to the wall, so either take the baseboard off behind it or pull the cabinet forward and shim behind the top.

   At the store, sight along the edge of each plywood sheet and pick flat ones: a bowed sheet makes a door that won't close flat.

   • Tip Most stores will rip the sheets into strips on their panel saw for free; ask for the side and door widths so the pieces fit in your car.

   ✓ The narrowest measurement is at least 18 1/4″.

4. 4Edge-band

   Iron edge banding onto every front edge that shows, and all four edges of each door and drawer front. Trim and sand.

   Set a household iron to "cotton" with the steam off. Cut each strip of banding about 1″ longer than the edge, lay it glue side down so it hangs a little past both faces, and slide the iron along it slowly, about 10 seconds per foot.

   While the glue is still hot, rub the banding down hard with a scrap block. Let it cool, then trim the ends with a sharp utility knife and the overhanging sides with an edge-banding trimmer or a sanding block held at a slight angle.

   • Tip Band the parts before assembly. Once the case is together the iron cannot reach the inside corners.

   ✓ Run a fingernail along every banded edge: nothing lifts and nothing overhangs. Re-iron any loose spot.

5. 5Drill the shelf-pin holes

   Two rows per side of each shelf bay, 2″ from the front and back, 1/4″ holes 3/8″ deep every 1 1/4″ (32 mm): bay 1: 6 11/16″ to 31 13/16″; bay 1: 38 1/2″ to 68 5/16″.

   Use a shelf-pin jig so both sides match.

   • Tip Mark the bottom end of each side and always hook the jig on that end. If one side is flipped end for end, the holes will not line up.
   • Tip Wrap tape around the bit as a depth flag, or use a stop collar. Test the depth on a scrap first.

   ✓ Push 4 pins in at the same row and lay a shelf on them: it sits flat and does not rock.

   STOP. A hole drilled through a side shows on the outside and cannot be hidden. Check the depth stop before each side.

6. 6Build the case

   Work on a flat floor with the front edges facing up. Stand the bottom between the sides first; clamp a square scrap block inside each corner to hold it at 90° while you drive the screws.

   Drill a pilot hole with a countersink bit for every screw, 3/8″ in from the edge so the screw lands in the middle of the plywood edge. Wipe glue squeeze-out with a damp rag before it dries.

   Glue and screw the bottom between the sides with its underside at 3″, and the top flush with the top ends. 1 5/8″ screws, 3 per joint.

   Screw in the fixed shelves with their undersides at 34 13/16″ in bay 1.

   Screw the kick board under the bottom, 1/2″ back from the front.

   Square the case and nail on the back.

   • Tip To square the case before the back goes on, push on the long diagonal until both diagonals measure the same, then nail one corner of the back and work around it every 6″.
   • Tip Plywood edges split if a screw is closer than 3/8″ to a face. Keep the drill straight.

   ✓ Diagonals match within 1/16″.

7. 7Hang the doors

   Drill 35 mm hinge cups 1/2″ deep, 7/8″ from the hinge edge: 2 per door, at 3″, 29 1/16″ from the door bottom; 2 per door, at 3″, 33 11/16″ from the door bottom. Screw the plates to the case 37 mm from the front edge, clip the doors on and adjust the gaps to 1/8″.

   Clip each door on, then adjust: the three screws on each hinge move the door in and out, up and down, and side to side. Turn them a quarter turn at a time.

   • Tip A hinge-boring jig or a drill press keeps the 35 mm hole square. A hole that wanders leaves the door crooked.

   ✓ Closed doors sit flat with even gaps all round, and they open without rubbing.

   STOP. Set a depth stop on the 35 mm bit before drilling a door.

8. 8Set the shelves

   Glue a strip under the front of each adjustable shelf, flush with the edge.

   Push in 4 pins per shelf and lay the shelves on.

   • Tip Set heavy things on the lowest shelves. Shelf heights can change later: the pins just pull out.

9. 9Stand it up and level it

   Stand the cabinet in place and set a level on the top, side to side and front to back. Slide shims under the low corners of the kick until the bubbles are centred.

   Open and close each door. If a door rubs or the gap is wider at the top than the bottom, the cabinet is twisted: shim it, don't bend the hinges.

   Score the shims with a utility knife where they stick out and snap them off.

   ✓ Level both ways, doors even, and the cabinet doesn't rock when you push a top corner.

   STOP. Anchor it before you put a single towel in. A tall narrow cabinet tips easily with the doors open.

10. 10Anchor to the wall

    Slide a stud finder along the wall behind where the piece will stand and mark the studs.

    Fix the anti-tip kit's bracket to the back or top of the piece, then screw its other end into a stud with the screws supplied.

    Do not load the piece until it is anchored.

    STOP. Confirm the wall type first. Drywall on studs: use the studs. Plaster or masonry: use the kit's matching anchors or ask a pro.

11. 11Finish

    Ease every sharp edge and corner with 120-grit sandpaper so nobody gets a splinter.

    Sand all over with 180 grit, always along the grain (the direction the wood fibres run). Scratches across the grain show through stain.

    Wipe off the dust with a barely damp rag and let it dry.

    Paint, stain or a clear coat (water-based polyurethane is the easiest). Apply thin coats with the grain, let each dry fully, and sand lightly with 220 grit between coats.

    Let it dry for the time on the can before using it.

    • Tip Try your finish on a scrap of the same wood first: stain looks different on every board.