I’m designing a built-in closet (10 x 11 overall) in the California Closet style. I will be building dresser drawers right into the system, so we will have no other dressers. My first question is this: how deep should I make these these drawers?
Most closet systems, such as California Closets, use vertical partitions of about 14 inches wide. That creates a drawer depth of about 13.75 inches with an overlap drawer front. That seems small to me.
I need to use dimensions that will work with drawer slides, too. On my bathroom vanity cabinets, I used Blum full extension undermount slides, but want to go with something less expensive here.
I plan to make my vertical partitions out of veneered plywood, edged with strips of cheery.
I’d love to learn from the experience of anyone out there who has made a closet system like this before.
Thanks. This is my first time post.
Cheers,
George Le Masurier
Replies
My only advice is not to go with cheap slides in your closet.. or anywhere else near a bedroom. They're noisy and don't give you the fit and finish you like when a drawer is closed.
Good luck with your project.
Hi George ,
My guess is most modular systems use the 14" deep partition walls to accommodate the closet rods at about 12 " from the back wall .
Imo the drawers should be as deep as possible , so as not to interfere with any other components . Most store bought dressers have only 16" deep drawers on average , why limit them to a shallow depth ?
Most slides come in 2" increments 14, 16,18,20,22" are all readily available .
hope this helps
good luck
dusty
I am about to do something similar and I plan to make a wall of drawers on one wall and a wall for hanging shirts, dresses, etc. on the opposite wall. The closet has a door on one end into the bedroom and on the other end into the bathroom. I plan to make the drawers 24 inches deep (outside dimension) and the hanging areas a little deeper, with doors over them. 14 inch drawers won't hold much and given the minimal cost involved in making bigger ones, why scrimp, especially since you have lots of space.
As far as hardware is concerned, given the time and effort, as well as money for materials (are you planning solid cherry fronts?), I'd go with the Blum. Years from now, you'll be glad you did.
Thanks to all who replied.Yes, I am planning solid cherry fronts. My thought is to rip 3/4 x 3/4 inch strips of cherry and glue to the plywood edges.I've been trying to convince myself that a 14-15 inch inside drawer depth is sufficient, so that I can rip three verticals out of a sheet of plywood. I measured drawer depths at some furniture stores and found them all within the 13 3/4 to 17 inch depth.It does make sense to go deeper as long as the space is usable. A normal sweater folds up to about 16 inches in depth.I could go with overlap drawer fronts, instead of inset, and gain another 3/4 inch in drawer depth.The Blum slides are $39 a set a Rockler and I've got 20 drawers (10 each on both sides of the closet). I was thinking of something cheaper.Cheers,
George
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