Cubby Storage Rack

Lets get started!  This tutorial will give you the basic guidelines of how I built my cubby storage rack, and you can build it to fit your needs.

The wood I used was reclaimed wood I had gotten for free.  It is very close to 1×4 boards, except it is only about a 1/4 inch thick and 3 1/2 inches wide, a 1×4 is 3/4 inch thick by 3 1/2 inches wide.

I measured my closet and determined how tall I wanted the shelf.  I also considered how many cubbies I wanted.  I had used an adult size pair of gloves and a hat to determine about how wide and tall each cubby needed to be…  I then cut my boards (see above).  The 54″ boards are for the sides.  The 6 1/2″ boards are for the bottoms of the cubbies, the top, and the ones that are not as wide are for support boards, I actually ended up cutting one more support board, so there total.  The 7 1/2 boards are for the front of the cubbies.

After I cut the boards and sanded them I gave them two coats of poly before building.  I was easier to do it before I built because I didn’t have to get in all the nooks and crannies.  I am glad I did!  The wood I used was naturally dark and so I didn’t need to stain it, if you wanted to stain you would do it before you applied the poly, I am sure you already knew that. 🙂

I used painters tape to mark the boards every 9″ inches so I knew where to glue and nail on the bottoms of the cubbies.  On the right you can see me nailing them on.  The painter’s tape is on the back side so you can’t see it, but it is there, and it was extremely helpful.

Once I finished the first side, I added glue to the bottom boards and nailed them to the second side, again it had painter’s tape as well, I had just removed it in the photo above.

On the left you can see I added my support boards at the top and bottom.  These were scrap pieces that had broken apart, and so they weren’t straight, but I figured it didn’t matter they would be in a closet…  Then I used glue and nails to nail on the fronts of the cubbies.

I ended up filling the nail holes with some dark wood filler.  It is recommended to let it dry for 24 hours because it helps the wood filler take the stain better.  I decided not to wait (impatient) and went ahead and stained them as soon as the wood filler dried, it was close enough of me!   Once the stain finished drying I sealed it with one more coat of poly.

And I was done!  So easy!  I wanted to show where I added the extra support board, so I could screw it into the wall,  see above photo.

I thought about painting on some chalk board labels like I did on my Family File System, but then I remembered my awesome dollar store find.  I got a six pack of chalkboard labels for $1!  They work great!  I did reposition a couple of them and they didn’t stick as well after that, but the others have stayed fine, not bad for a dollar, and it only took seconds to apply them.  🙂  You can also buy these at craft stores, I am not sure if the quality is better, but I would assume so because they are more money, right?

I drilled two holes in the top and middle support boards (the one just above the bottom cubby).  Then I held the cubby on the wall where I wanted it, made sure it was level, and drilled through the holes in the wood right into the wall.  I then removed the cubby and used those holes in the wall as my marks to drill the bigger holes for my screw wall anchors.   I did this on the top and the bottom since no studs were where I wanted to hang my cubby rack, if you have studs you don’t need the wall anchors.  After I hammered the anchors into the holes I held up the cubby rack and screwed right into my anchors through the support boards.  It is nice and solid!

I LOVE it!  Why did I wait to do this?

In this shot you can see the bottom support board and you can “kind of” see the screws.  I had to lay on the floor for this shot.  Your welcome. (wink)

Every thing fits perfectly too.  A pair of gloves and a hat for each cubby.  No excuses not to put it away and easy to find when you need them.  Ahhh, happiness.

They are assigned oldest to youngest, top to bottom, so everyone can reach their cubby.  The numbers have been replaced with names and they all feel pretty proud to have their very own place to store their stuff.  I walked by the other day and saw a cute little stuffed monkey hanging out in my daughter’s cubby, he looked very comfortable.

Isn’t organization wonderful!?  Please share if you love this.  That way everyone can bask in the joy of having a spot for their stuff!  And it doesn’t have to just store hats and gloves…

Hugs!
Mindi

If you like being organized check out more great storage solutions below.  Have a great day!

I will be linking to these parties!