When planning repairs and redevelopment in your apartment or house, be sure to consider different options for saving space, rational placement of furniture. It is important that it is not only practical, but also beautiful. One of the options for solving this problem is built-in furniture. Making built-in wardrobes with your own hands is not as difficult as it might seem. Consider the basic rules for such work.
Why built-in closet
The main difference between built-in furniture is its originality. Individual dimensions are calculated taking into account the placement of walls, windows and ceilings. Such furniture helps to hide the shortcomings of the overall layout, as well as save money on the purchase of ready-made cabinets.
Main benefits of DIY built-in wardrobe:
- Usually a low-functional area is filled - a niche, a corner, a ledge.
- Occupies the entire area, without exception, from wall to wall, from floor to ceiling.
- Opportunityuse in the design of the facade, in addition to chipboard, various other materials: a mirror, colored glass with film drawings, sandblasting drawings, plastic, stained glass, photo printing.
As you can see in the photo, a do-it-yourself built-in wardrobe with sliding doors performs an aesthetic function and forms a single whole in the overall image of an apartment or house. Furniture with doors that open in a classic way does not look so stylish. In addition, it requires more space to install.
Varieties of built-in wardrobes
How to make a built-in wardrobe with your own hands step by step? Note that it is very important to have a clear idea of the end goal from the very beginning.
You need to decide on the shape and location of the future cabinet. Consider several design options:
- Full length. A feature of the design is the facade compartment doors moving along the cabinet. This door design supports the principle of saving space.
- In a niche. If the room has such an architectural element, then a do-it-yourself wardrobe built into a niche will be the best interior design solution. This design consists of internal components (shelves) and the front side of the doors (other frame elements - bottom, top, side and rear walls, as a rule, are absent).
- Corner wardrobes. They have proven themselves as an excellent solution to the problem of a small room. Such designs are quite versatile and are perfect for the interior of the living room, hallway, nursery or bedroom.
- Round cabinet. This variety is distinguished by an unusual and complex facade, in most cases it is one of the options for a corner cabinet. Their installation is recommended in spacious rooms without much shortage of space.
Material selection
To make a built-in wardrobe with your own hands, it is advisable to use two different types of materials, one of which is intended for the lining of the cabinet. It should convey all the beauty and elegance of your creation. The second material is needed for interior decoration. In this case, the selection criteria should be reliability, strength, durability.
The front is the visible part of the cabinet when the doors are closed. Basically, these are the doors themselves. They may consist of the following materials:
- Chipboard panel. This is not entirely original material, but it allows you to save a lot. Embedded fragments that are different in color can embellish chipboard. Here you can show your imagination. Chipboard pairs perfectly with mirror, stained glass, MDF, leather, acrylic and many other materials.
- Mirror. This is one of the most popular materials for wardrobe doors. A variant of the product is the budget type of mirror "Silver". Doors can be solid or with separating inserts. The frame for the mirror in most cases consists of an aluminum profile.
- Frosted or colored glass. Such a material is perfect for any interior and has a variety of options. Sandblasting drawings are the best method of decorating a mirror or glass. Drawing is carried out using various templates. It can be from the front or from the inside.
- Plastic. Their main advantage is lightness. These doors can be easily opened and closed. Plastic is valued for being durable, easy to use (easy to clean), economical.
Shelf materials
You need to take care of the internal materials, making a built-in wardrobe with your own hands. Installing shelves and partitions in it is easier if you make them from chipboard, MDF or plywood. All of them are easily machined. These materials, with their strength characteristics, are not inferior to natural wood materials, but are much cheaper.
The main disadvantage of the most common interior material (chipboard) is the need for edging, which leads to additional costs.
Measuring
When creating a built-in wardrobe with your own hands in a step-by-step instruction, the first item is sizing, because these cabinets are individual and have non-standard dimensions. Please note that the minimum depth dimension must be greater than 450 mm. This will allow you to freely hang clothes on the trempel inside the closet.
The walls between which the cabinet will be located, as a rule, are not perfectly even, therefore it is necessary to take measurements in many places, preferably every 30 cm, the height is measured in a similar way. For calculations, choose the smallest dimensions. If necessary, minor wall irregularities are corrected for a tighter fit between the wall and the cabinet.
Schematic drawing
What needs to be done after measurements of a built-in wardrobe created by one's own hands? The instruction suggests planning the inner frame.
It is best to use drawings widely available on the Internet for built-in sliding wardrobes with the indicated dimensions. The only thing that will need to be done is to choose the model you like in size and fit it to the dimensions of your apartment. You may need to increase or decrease the internal compartments or rearrange the design. All sizes must be practical to use.
Drawing methods
The work of creating a drawing for a do-it-yourself built-in wardrobe can be done with a pencil and a ruler. A more advanced method of creating drawings is to use various programs on a computer ("Basis-Mebelshchik", "Astra Furniture Designer"). These programs are simple, do not require deep knowledge, have an acceptable interface, which will allow even beginners to use them.
When developing a drawing, it is necessary to take into account the thickness of partitions and shelves. As a rule, chipboard is used for them, the thickness of which can be in the range of 10-16 mm. The back wall is traditionally made of fiberboard.
Detailing and cutting the inner frame
Telling you how to make a built-in closet your ownhands, we note that the preparation of absolutely all components and their drawings will be an important step. It is advisable to make a pattern of these elements according to the size of a chipboard sheet (the most common is 2750 x 1830 mm, but there are other options - 3500 x 1750 mm, 3030 x 1830 mm). The thickness and dimensions of the sheet must be immediately clarified with the sales assistant even before the development of the drawing.
It is necessary to place individual elements on the cutting sheet taking into account the width of the saw cut, which is usually 4 mm. This cutting will help you save money, because in the workshop where the components for the internal structure of the cabinet will be cut out, they charge a separate fee.
If you cut parts not at home, but in the workshop, we recommend that you take the remaining trimmings with you. They can be useful for replacing accidentally damaged elements or for finalizing the design by installing additional elements that were not previously provided.
Edge sticker
All the necessary details are cut out. Now you need to trim the ends. This procedure is necessary for the following reasons:
- Protecting the raw end surface from moisture and odors that chipboard absorbs like a sponge, which negatively affects the service life.
- The protected surface prevents the evaporation of formaldehyde resins, which are in the composition of the chipboard adhesive, which are harmful to he alth.
- To hide a cut that differs in color from the rest of the surface.
- An additional design touch to enhance the look.
Selection of material for edging
The most common materials for these works are:
- Melamine edging with adhesive backing is the most economical edging option. The disadvantage is the vulnerability to moisture. Over time, it peels off itself, becomes covered with cracks and erases in the corners.
- PVC is a fairly strong and most stable edging tape. Its only drawback is the possibility of gluing exclusively in production or in furniture workshops on a good edge-working machine.
- ABS plastic is the most environmentally friendly material for gluing edges on chipboard. It has significant impact resistance and can withstand short-term heating up to 100 degrees. The disadvantages include the possibility of cracking or breaking. The most common gluing method is with dichloroethane. This material melts ABS plastic, forming a reliable one-piece joint.
- T-profile - a plastic or aluminum T-strip is mounted in a milled groove at the end of the chipboard plate. The positive properties include the ability to easily repair when damaged.
Selection of fittings
The main factor in the quality and suitability of the cabinet is the process of movement of the door in the process of opening and closing it. On the modern market, there are dozens of different models of motor devices, differing in the feature of work, components and price. When deciding how to make a built-in wardrobe with your own hands, you must definitely chooseyour preferred option for fastening doors from the following options:
- Monorail system. Differs in a suspension bracket of each leaf of a door on an individual guide. For better stability, the carriages are equipped with paired rollers. The main disadvantages are the difficulty of installation and adjustment, as well as the high cost.
- Top rail design. Built-in wardrobes typically have door heights all the way to the ceiling, which is made of concrete slab and does not flex. Doors suspended from this surface move smoothly and easily. The disadvantages include the unsteadiness of the doors due to the lack of a lower guide, which can lead to their displacement inside the cabinet with a sharp movement.
- Design based on the lower rail. The simplicity of the system, reliability and its low cost make this method of attachment the most common. The only thing you need to pay attention to when choosing is the quality of the rollers, since they bear all the load from the doors.
Assembling the frame
For an example, consider the procedure for mounting a built-in closet in the hallway with your own hands. We adhere to the following sequence of work:
- Initially, we mark up the shelves, be sure to use the level. Using a puncher or impact drill, we drill holes in the wall and fasten the corners with dowels.
- We install and attach to the corners of the shelves, which, if necessary, we adjust to an uneven wall (cuts must be carried out on the shelves from the side of the wall).
- Kto these shelves, using confirmation screws or self-tapping screws, we attach a vertical inner panel. It is advisable to attach it additionally with dowels to the wall for greater stability.
- On top of the vertical panel we install a horizontal one, which we also attach to the panel and walls from all adjacent sides, using the corners screwed with dowels.
- Attaching the outer panels. Initially, we fasten the side, and then the top and bottom. It is necessary to raise the doors above the floor level.
- Attach guides for mounting doors to the top and bottom panels.
- Install the doors in the tracks, fix them and make adjustments.
Corridor furniture
A built-in closet made in the hallway with your own hands can look very nice. The photo clearly demonstrates this. Such furniture will decorate your home, give it a feeling of homeliness and comfort. If you are confident in your abilities, proceed. Creating interior items is not only cheaper than buying them ready-made, but also much more interesting!
