Small Wardrobes

[phil p]

Hi,

Would anyone know where I could buy a small wardrobe?

It's a very unusual size, however it's for a loft and unfortunately there's only one piece of wall it could really sit against.

It would be 1200 high x 1000 wide.

I realise the height is very small, and I was thinking about trying to build something myself, however I haven't really got the time, and to be honest I'm not sure I have the skills to build one, again though if I can't find anywhere that sells them it may come to me having a go at something.

Tried most places online, even children's shops to no avail.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

 

[Chrispy]

Make it, go on, you know you want to. ask away there is all the help here that you need.

 

[phil p]

Hi Chrispy,

I don't realise what you would be letting yourselves in for!!!!

Phil

 

[Chrispy]

Well I have made quite a few wardrobes!

 

[petermillard]

Me too! Still, if you don't fancy it or don't have time, how about adapting e.g. a linen cabinet - something like this? Trimming the feet down would probably bring it into your height specs, dump the shelves and fit a hanging rail, trim the overhang on the top if it's too wide, put a solid panel in those doors and stain it a better colour, and you'll have something that's almost as good as the one you would have made, but at twice the price, lol!

Seriously, wardrobes are easy peasy - MDF boxes with doors on. Get it done.

Pete

 

[phil p]

Right you are lads.

Looks as though the gauntlet's been thrown!

I would still rather go down the purchase route, however if I can't find anything and when this bad weather clears, and I sort my garage of all the rubbish that's in it, I might give it a go and try and put something together!

What would be the best material to use, as Pete suggests, MDF?

Phil

 

[Chrispy]

Painted furniture is very much the in thing at the moment, mdf is very easy to get and use so make sense to me.

 

[petermillard]

Yep, +1 to painted MDF; cheap, stable, readily available,easy to work with.

 

[phil p]

Right lads,

Just so I can get a head start if I don't get sorted.

Where, and how would I start?

How would I make the doors?, how would I hang the doors?, would they be inset or close against the front (if you know what I mean)

How would I put the carcass together?, screw and glue?

Basically any tips or advice would be appreciated.

I do have a good range of tools, table saw, router table etc

Thanks
Phil

 

[ColeyS1]

Screw the top down to the sides and the bottom up to the sides. Screw and glue will work fine. A piece of 6mm or 9 mm mdf for the back ( will keep it nice and square) kitchen cupboard hinges will probably be easiest and offer plenty of adjustment - not that you'll need it If you put the doors on the front of the frame you want have to worry so much about having parallel gaps around the doors ;-)

 

[ColeyS1]

Something like this ?

 

[phil p]

Thanks for that Coley, spot on.

Very much appreciated for taking the time to post that.

Phil

 

[ColeyS1]

No probs. Probably easiest if you can find a picture of something you like and then take it from there....

 

[Chrispy]

First things first!

If you where my client and you gave me that brief my first question would be to ask what is the wardrobe for? is it large enough to do the job, here the customers first ideas are not always right. :roll: is it all hanging storage or shelves or both? how about drawers? :idea: is this for a child or adult or quest room?

So what kind of storage is needed and is there enough in the space that you mentioned? we might have to think outside the box as it were and make some space else where.

Once we know what it has to do then we can start to see what it might look like.

 

[phil p]

Hi Chrispy,

I would be for hanging space really,no shelves, however I'd like, again also if I had the skill to do it, have a drawer on the bottom but with the height being so tight I don't mind being without it.

The loft is for general use really, sometimes me and the wife kip in there (as it has the better TV) however it was really intended for my daughter, however she's never really been up there yet, possibly through a lack, or rather no storage!

The loft itself is quite an awkward space to start with as it's a detached bungalow the eaves come from the 4 pitched sides (hope I'm explaining this right) so the only decent part of wall space is where the entrance door is. It is floor to ceiling height, however one of the pitches comes across the wall and I have a TV mounted on the upper part of the wall hence the size of the unit I need is quite precise, and moving the TV is not really an option and even if you could it really wouldn't give you that much more wall height with the pitch.

So basically the floor height to the bottom of the TV is the 1200mm.

Again this is where I would have rather bought something as I would also need bedside cabinets and a set or two of drawers for round the eaves, however some sort of hanging space is more important at the moment.

Thanks
Phil

 

[Baldhead]

If your using MDF don't buy the rubbish sold at some of the sheds, a search on should tell you which type to buy, also the dust is very nasty, if you can, work outside and wear a mask. I have found it best to pre-drill screw holes, this stops the MDF splitting especially at the edges.

If you check out some of Mailee's posts you will find he is well informed regarding working and finishing MDF.

Baldhead

 

[petermillard]

I'll just add that you'd be wise to lift the unit off the floor on some kind of low plinth. Also that with e.g. a mans suit needing ~1000mm of hanging space and you having a max 1200mm to play with on the height, I don't think you'll manage to fit a drawer in there. You typically need a depth of ~550mm to hang e.g. a jacket in btw.

You asked earlier about doors - simple panel doors on clip-on concealed hinges would do the trick nicely; easy to make if you have a router table, easy to fake if you don't

Pete