Closet Components

This new closet is built on the idea of repeating components. The core of this system rests with 2" thick vertical dividers with wall cabinets and shelves in between. This exploded view of the design helps to explain how this will all fit together.


To start, each cabinet is built 1/2" plywood sides that attach on the ends of the top and bottom panels. The bottom panel is exactly the same width as the shelf, which will determine the spacing between two vertical panels.

Each pair of panels will be secured to the fixed shelf with pocket screws drilled from the underside of the shelf. Alignment of the shelf will be assured using biscuit slots cut during fabrication.

With the two panels standing up and the shelf attached, the cabinet can be placed to fit on top of the 1/2" plywood panels, again using biscuits to align them. The biscuits prevent the panels from towing out from under the cabinet.

To further conceal the joint, a piece of 1/4" plywood (stained) is glued to the bottom of the cabinet, behind the face frame, which will sit below the joint between the cabinet and vertical panel, creating a notch.

After everything is positioned and screwed to the wall, a piece of 3/4" hardwood will be secured to the front of the vertical panels (using glue and a few brads), overlapping the cabinet face frame. This final element will create a nice offset while concealing the joints. Since we have 9' ceilings in this room, this is the only part that needs to be 9' long without a seam (at least on most of the panels.)

This approach allows me to build a modular closet system from floor to ceiling, using easily handled, pre-finished parts. At the same time this design allows me to create the illusion of seamless 9' tall panels without having to actually buy oversize (and VERY expensive) plywood.

In 4 places I will need seamless 9' panels, those will be build using the same system, with the addition of wood veneer to create a seamless face.