Understairs Storage Unit

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pulleyt

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Nottingham
This is the last of my projects I'd like to share with you. We've had a 'glory hole' under our stairs for longer than I care to remember. I'd even asked a couple of companies to come and quote to build something from my sketch plans but they never came back to me after their initial visit.

Nothing for it but to have a go myself. I was very nervous about this one given the 'fitted' nature of the project. As ever, I trawled the internet for inspiration and eventually came up with a design that used a lot more plywood than I thought possible.

The starting point.
02%20-%20Understairs_Before_Small.jpg


After very many measuring, re-measuring and just-to-make-sure measurings I ended up with the carcass below. This was cut out with a track saw which proved very accurate. The assembly used domino alignment and pocket hole screws to hold it all together - the dominoes for strength and stability and the pocket hole screws instead of using glue, just in case it went pear-shaped.
03%20-%20The%20carcass_Small.jpg


After, trying it in position, I added two rails along the top and use white faced hardboard to finish the back and top for rigidity and set it in place. Gravity seemed to be enough to keep the base in place as it was pretty heavy by now.
04%20-%20Carcass%20in%20situ_Small.jpg


I added a strip of softwood to the face of the stair string? that sat flush on top of the carcass to complete the built-in look and painted it to match the existing woodwork. I also added three LED lights to help view the contents of the drawers when opened as it is quite dingy in the hallway of an evening.
05a%20-%20with%20lights_Small.jpg


I made all the drawers using dominoes to add strength to the joints and pocket hole screws to 'clamp' the components of the larger drawers when gluing them up. the pocket holes would all be hidden eventually.
06%20-%20Drawers%20fitted_Small.jpg


And finally, the drawer fronts were fitted.
07%20-%20Drawer%20fronts%20fitted%20and%20finished_Small.jpg

08%20-%20And%20the%20other%20view_Small.jpg


Of course, all the drawers were filled very quickly and we could do with the same amount of storage again :)
I was very pleased with the way this turned out but I wouldn't want to rush into a similar project again. I do prefer to work on smaller, stand-alone items.

Thanks for looking at my projects and I'd love to hear your comments/advice.

trevor
 
Really nice work!! Looks nice and even, and very professional. The carcass is not glued up then?

What did you make the fronts out of?

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk
 
Thanks.

Using the track saw to cut the ply boards for the carcass meant the cuts were dead on 90° and using pocket screws pulled all the joints together very well. It was pretty solid even before I braced it by adding the hardboard backing and top. After the hardboard was added it was rock solid.

The drawer fronts were made from solid maple frames with a rebate on the back for a 3mm maple-faced ply finished flush with the back edge of the frame so that there was no gap between the ply panel and the drawer unit when they were attached. I'll be honest, the drawer fronts worked better than I'd imagined :)

Trevor
 
Very nice, I'm sure the companies who came out to look and never got back to you would not have made such a good job.
 
Doug71":2a5531b6 said:
Very nice, I'm sure the companies who came out to look and never got back to you would not have made such a good job.

Thanks, although I suspect they probably saw me as a overly fussy client who would eat away at any profit margin :)
 
That looks amazing - really good quality. Did you enjoy the different shapes and angles?

Based on my family. I reckon you have half of one of those drawers for your stuff - and they're already trying to force you out of that space!
 
Thanks Stanleymonkey

Stanleymonkey":173027lv said:
Did you enjoy the different shapes and angles?

Once I'd convinced myself that I had the correct angle I did enjoy that aspect. The agonising before convincing myself it was correct was less enjoyable!

Stanleymonkey":173027lv said:
Based on my family. I reckon you have half of one of those drawers for your stuff - and they're already trying to force you out of that space!

Lol. I'm allowed in most of the drawers - it's really a question of whether I want to or not. The one on the left is my favourite and the one on the right is least favourite. The others sit somewhere between in terms of preference but are generally near to the 'right' end of the scale :)
Drawers.jpg

Oh, and now I can put my hand on the first aid kit in a hurry when I come rushing in from the shed :oops:

Trevor
 
I'm even more impressed now I've seen inside your drawers!!

The ironing board storage drawer is a great idea. But having a wine rack and beer storage drawer is the mark of genius. Never seen one like that before.
 
Stanleymonkey":3cznew5m said:
But having a wine rack and beer storage drawer is the mark of genius. Never seen one like that before.

Sadly I've never seen it full :(
My own fault of course!
 
Well mate, if that work was mine I'd be over the moon. Let me just remind you (and others) what you said at the start of your post, QUOTE: Nothing for it but to have a go myself. I was very nervous about this one given the 'fitted' nature of the project. ...... UNQUOTE:

Well you may have been nervous (so would I!) and those 2 companies must have decided "too difficult" (or similar), but IMO what you've ended up with is not only a VERY clever design that makes the fullest possible use of the available space but you ALSO turned out a job which to my eyes anyway is every bit as good as a company would have produced - and no doubt a helluva lot better than many!

I reckon you have every right to be really proud of yourself, and if you haven't earned a HUGE bunch of brownie points from Mrs/Ms pulley then I can't think why not! =D>

Very well done
 
Thanks AES

My partner was very pleased and she kept opening all the drawers to show any unfortunate visitors that came by. I took that as approval :)

Because the drawer slides were all heavy duty I couldn't fit any soft-close hardware (at least I didn't find any) so now I find myself pushing one or two of the drawers fully closed each time I walk by just to keep the lines looking right!

Trevor
 
Marineboy":33mwe73u said:
Lovely work. How did you cut the holes for the wine rack?

After a lot of research into wine bottle shapes and sizes (just reading and looking of course) I settled on an 86mm diameter hole and bought an Erbauer holesaw from our local Screw fix store.

I used it in a drill press cutting from both sides to get as clean a cut as possible. It was slow cutting and the teeth needed regular clearing of sawdust but it did a nice job and needed the minimum of sanding before finishing. Being the hoarder that I am all the cutouts are saved for that wheeled project that may come my way :?

So far we've only had one bottle that wouldn't fit.

Cheers, Trevor
 
Nice job and as said pro looking too, saved quite a bit and also satisfaction of diy.
 

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