Hey all!  Coming  at you midway through my master closet makeover. I have been working around the clock  on my master closet makeover and it is paying off! Last week I cleared out the closet and got it down to ground zero. All the holes are filled, and I have a beautiful window casing. All it needs now is some storage and organization.  So this past week I have been working on some dresser that will house all the clothing that will not be hanging in the (future) built-in wardrobe space. 

To create this custom space I am teaming  up with the great folks over at DAP to create this completely custom dresser! The thing I love about this design, is it could EASILY be built as a stand alone dresser, or you could take a page out of my book and build it specifically  for a gorgeous walk-in closet.

So let’s get started!

Sides

When designing this dresser,  I wanted to maximize the drawer space without loosing my design aesthetic.   I opted for a frameless style dresser. (Which means it does not have a wider face frame attached, and typically means the drawers are inset.)  I used 3/4” paneling as my dresser sides.  A nice plywood is perfect for this type of build, the only drawback is the exposed ply on the sides.  Seeing as the sides would be visible I opted to band my edges.

This  is a fairly straightforward process. I prefer the “ pre-glued Iron-on” variety.  As you can see in the image below the bottom board has the edging applied, whereas the top does not. 

The edging is great but I find every once in awhile there is a seam  in the banding! Most of the time I try to work around these seams but every once in awhile one sneaks in there and I don’t notice it until after the fact. Now, I suppose I could rip it off and start again,  but I have found an option that works fabulously.  DAP Plastic Wood to the rescue!  Just add a small amount of DAP Plastic Wood to the seam and allow to dry. Once dry, lightly sand with a fine grit sanding sponge.  It makes the seam all but disappear! BOOM BABY! Next up?  The Rails for the dresser.  I love how quickly the carcass of a dresser goes together! Just a few boards and it reallly starts to look like a dresser. When attaching my boards, I prefer to glue them up and use pocket holes to secure.

Once the dresser carcass was complete it was time to move on to the boxes.  I like a very simple sturdy approach,  I  use 1/2” plywood for the bottom and the sides.   I utilize pocket holes on the bottom of the drawer boxes to attach them the drawer box sides.
I hate to admit it but I am really rough on our drawers, so I make sure to reinforce  all my joints with wood glue.  I have also found that  to save myself clamping, I can use Rapid Fuse to  glue up the entire drawer box and then come through and add pocket holes to reinforce.  It’s awesome and I don’t have to use any form of right angle clamps!

When using  plywood for drawer boxes you will have an exposed ply on the edges.  Again, I like to just add a fine layer of DAP Plastic wood.  Once it is dry,  just smooth over it with a sponge sander. Voila,  a nice smooth finish.

Drawer glides are installed and ready to go!  When installing drawer glides I always use Rockler Drawer Glide Jig. It makes the entire process go much smoother.
Now it’s time to add the drawer box fronts.  Typically,  I would use  a Kreg Jig to drill the handle holes, but with these extra long handles that I selected, I needed a wider set jig. So I measured and carefully marked the placement and then used a jig to ensure that the holes were square.

G When installing drawers, I like to use the ol’ trusty card trick. It’s a quick way to get even spacing when installing an inset door. If you want to see how I do this, just watch this short clip on my InstaGram Stories.

Once all the drawer fonts are attached,  I then added hardware.

Here is where  you can get creative!  By making a few simple changes you can COMPLETELY  change the look of this dresser!  Seeing as I built this to go in my closet as part of a built-in series,  I designed it to be cohesive with the rest of the closet.  So instead of putting a  foot on it,  I put it on, a raised platform identical to the ones I plan on using for the rest of the closet.

That being said,  you can easily add any number of different style legs to make this dresser fir your needs!

The last thing I needed to add before  painting and staining,  is the dresser top!  I just used a piece of 3/4″ birch plywood for my top!  I wanted to create  just a LITTLE bit of visual weight to the top so I banded the edge with a strip of wood I ripped down on my table saw.  Banding the edge with iron-on edging would have sufficed, but the strip of wood added  the weight it needed and also by using wood glue, and some Rapid Fuse  I can rest  easy knowing this susceptible edge is secured!

 That pretty  much  sums it up!  If you want to build one of your own,  I can help you with that!   The build plans will be up and available shortly.  In the meantime make sure you follow along on Instagram Stories for more behind the scene sneak peaks of the master closet makeover!

The post Built-In Dresser Closet appeared first on Sawdust 2 Stitches.

Hey all!  As you probably know, I have an inability to leave well enough alone. Take my master closet for example.  It is a decent size, ample amount of shelving, high ceilings, AND plenty of natural sunlight. Most people would consider this a win in regards to closets.  Me?  I see potential!  Sure it has decent size;  but is it being utilized? Yes, it has standard shelving that serves its purpose;  but is there a better option in regards to material and layout!? Yes, it has high ceilings,  but could that height be better accentuated?  Yup!  There is definitely  room for improvement. I definitely have my work cut out for me,  but right now we are going to focus on the latter of the aforementioned list.  The natural lighting.  Yes, this closet has a large window that allows for plenty of natural light,  but it is not much to look at. In my head I have dreams of this window being a focal point, and so I must beautify that window!

In order to tackle this project, I am teaming up with the great folks over at DAP.  If you have ever considered  upgrading the trim in your builder grade  home, then. you are going to want to head to you local Home Depot and stock up on DAP products.  They have you covered from drywall repair, to exterior window sealant!  Today I will be showing you how you can take a knock down textured window jam,  to a high end custom look.

 Remove Pre-existing Trim and/or Sill

In our home there were not any window casings at all.  In it’s place was just textured drywall that wrapped where the window jam would be. However,  we do have standard marble window sills.  You can deal with this however you would like.  I don’t like them and chose to rip them out instead of working around it.  They are typically installed with just a little bit of adhesive and with a little coaxing (and by “little coaxing” I mean beat it out with a hammer).   Lot’s of times if you hit the underside lip with a rubber mallet you can remove it in just a few pieces. Careful marble shards can be sharp!

Covering Window Jam

Ok, this is the step a lot of people  don’t address  when they advertise  “DIY window casing”.   They often times will leave the interior of the window casing the same texture of the wall. I find this very unattractive.  There are other more professional alternatives ( knocking out the drywall completely and replacing it with a board), however  I have used this system quite a bit and I am happy with the results.  It is more of a happy medium result. With  novice on one side, and professional installer on the other.

So to cover the textured knock down I am going to use a piece of 1/4″MDF paneling.  You can pick this up in 4′ x 8′ sheets at your local Home Depot

Before you  start cutting  you are going to need to take lots of measurements.  Now in an ideal world where all home builders are perfect and all walls are level and square, this would not be necessary.   One would think that the same width and height would apply to both sides of a window.  Not so.  So again,  I would  take your measurements very seriously.  I even measure at several different points in regards to the width! Again, not all walls are perfect and sometimes it shows drastically when trying to do something detail oriented like casing a window.  Next I took the measurements and transferred that to my 1/4″ MDF board and cut them down on my table-saw.

Once the width is cut you can move on to the lengths.  I like to cut these to fit.  As we discussed before,  sometimes a home isn’t square so the measurements are a little off.  Well  I found my windows to not be square so I had to make some minor adjustments.  I actually prefer cutting to fit.  So I brought my handy little trim miter saw and just cut everything in place. 

Install MDF Trim

Once everything has been dry fit (checked that it fits before installing)  I moved onto the actual installation process. In cases like this where I am working with a somewhat flimsy board I like to secure it with a good construction adhesive.  I have recently gotten hooked on DynaGrip by DAP.  This stuff is thick and it means business!  It is great especially when I am working by myself (which is 95% of the time).  This adhesive is so thick  that it literally just GRIPS the wall.  I can put it up on the wall and can grab my finish nailer and tack in a few nails just to hold it while the adhesive cures.  It is awesome. (HIGHLY recommended when  installing Faux Shiplap)Once in place, I like to tack it in place with my finish nailer.  At this point it should be looking a little something like this. 

Install Sill

To create a sill I used a piece of primed 1″x 6″ finger board from The Home Depot. Now,  this is all a matter of preference.  I wanted this to be low profile and not have a lip that extended  out and over the lower apron (the trim piece that will go around the perimeter of the window. Instead I wanted this to be mostly flush with the window casing.   The reason being,  this window is not a standard window casing, this is going to be apart of  built-ins in the closet.  So I do not want to have any corners and edges that I need to cut around. I need a nice straight edge to butt my built-ins next to. Make sense ?

Ok, so I begin my cutting my window sill board to fit. Once fit I have a few other dimensions to work around.   In this case the window itself was a double window and there was a center rail that cut right into the middle of my sill board.  So while in place I transferred the dimensions to my board using a pencil. (Pay no attention to the look of absolute filth in the window.   That was where the sill was and below is concrete and residue.  All is hidden or cleaned up  now. ) Many prefer to cut out notches with a jigsaw.  I prefer a tablesaw set to the right depth, and use a series of cuts.

Next, I needed to cut this board to fit.  As of right now it fit in the width and sat flush against the window. With it sitting against the window I measured to the outer edge of the window and cut my sill to that measurement.

Then drop it in place and add some DynaGrip and you are good to go!

Add Perimeter Casing

Now to case the window.  You have seen this a million times before.  You can add craftsman style trim, you can dress it up,  you can dress it down.  But as for this project we are going super minimal. As I said earlier,  I merely want to make this window look a little more polished seeing as it will have  fancy closet shelving built up to it.  So instead of a typical 1″x 4″ and something beefier on top, I use 1″x 3″ all the way around.

I like to start by tacking a board on the top and bottom of the window.  I place them exactly where I plane to put them permanently, this should literally take 2 seconds to put up and take down.  This will serve as a a marker for the length and cut of the side casings. As we have discussed earlier,  one would naturally think that both of these side pieces would be the same, or at the very least square. Nope.  That is what I  like to temporarily install my top and bottom pieces first.

Once the side  1×3’s are cut and dry fit,  I attached them using the DynaGrip and then attaching with 2″  18 gauge nails.   Repeat on all sides. 

Make It Pretty

At this point the window casing might be looking a little less than perfect.  That is OK!  We still have quite a few tricks up our sleeves.  First issue we want to address is the holes we created when nailing any of the trim pieces to the wall.  This is a quick fix with DAP Plastic Wood.  It is filler that is shrink and crack resistant,  sand-able and paint-able.  All of which are non-negotiable when it comes to finish work.  Once all the holes are filled allow to dry. 

Once the Plastic Wood is dry use a foam sanding block to level the surface. So long as you didn’t slather it on too heavily this should be a fairly quick and painless process.  Then wipe it down thoroughly with a clean damp cloth. 

As I have said repeatedly,  our walls and windows were not installed straight. With that  there were quite a few in-discrepancies.  That is where DAP Caulk comes to the rescue.  Believe me,  even the most seasoned worker relies on this stuff.  It is a magic eraser for trim work.  It can make a huge gap completely invisible.  Check out the image below.  There we are few fairly noticeable gaps where the trim met the wall. With a quick pass with caulk it was all but disappeared.  Once you add paint  the gaps are completely unnoticeable.  Which is a great segway into our last step. Just add paint!

 I taped it up with some good ole’ Frogtape and painters paper and sprayed it.  It took about  3 coats and it looked fantastic.
 In between coats of paint I took the opportunity to start preparing the rest of the closet for renovations.  I wanted to get it down to “ground zero”.  In order to do that I had a lot of holes to fill. I mean  A LOT!  So. I pulled out some  Alex Plus Spackle and had them all filled in no time flat.
   I must say with just filling the holes and casing the window this place is already looking infinitely better, but we aren’t stopping there!  No, no,  I have so many great pans for this space so stay tuned because this makeover is going to mind blowing in epic proportions. 

Seriously though,  just look at this picture.  See the texture of the wall?  The window jamb use to be THAT!  Night and day difference and it only took an afternoon.  Time well spent by every account. 

 Thanks so much for following along, and stay tuned.  The party is just getting started.

  Take Luck,

 Corey

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