Yes You CAN: Ultimate Storage Cart Tutorial

Hi! This is Candy from Candied Fabrics. I’m a textile artist working exclusively with fabrics I dye myself. I began dyeing fabric for my art quilts over 13 years ago, and today the art I create ranges from wall hung art quilts to 3-dimensional art houses and everyday art (journals for jotting, bags for carrying, silk scarves for wearing). I am the ultimate Do-It-Yourselfer and love to spruce up and organize my house. My husband enables this and is often the brute force behind my schemes.

Nicole has graciously agreed to let me guest post about my home decorating adventures here – we’re calling this series “Yes you CAN!” Some of the things I do may seem beyond the reach of the everyday blog reader – but I’d like to show you how it IS possible, with limited funds, skills and tools. I hope you find these posts educational or inspirational, and would love to see your take on what I post! So, without further ado, I’d like to show you how the hubby and I built the ultimate storage cart!

As an art quilter, it’s very hard to part with scraps of fabric… you never know just when you’re going to need a small scrap of just that color in the future. I dye all my own fabric, and I’ve dyed a LOT of it. I’ve been working in my current studio for six years now, and have stored all this fabric in different ways.

Organizing (for me) is always a work in progress – trying to store the things used most often in the easiest to reach spots. Before I commit a lot of time or money to a particular storage solution, I try to make do with what I already have, in case a particular solution doesn’t work. When I’ve finally figured out what will work, I may then invest some time and money into making it the best that it can be. Over the years my husband has built a few incredibly functional pieces of furniture that suit my needs perfectly. This cart is the latest in a series of functional pieces we’ve built, and I thought I’d share the design and building process with you, in hopes of inspiring you to create one that meets your own specialized needs!

One storage solution I’ve used and found to be successful is to store the fabrics that I’m working with in bins according to color palette, or for a particular project. They lived in neat little stacks in my closet, which works, but it’s seemed like I always wanted the one at the bottom of a stack.

For the smaller bits of fabric, I have an inexpensive set of small drawers. These work well except for the dust that collects in them, yuck! The most common way I work is to have my cutting table next to the huge ironing board we’ve constructed (2’ x 4’ piece of particle board with layers of batting and water proof curtain liner stapled around it). The ironing board rests on a small baker’s rack, which works well IF the board is balanced just right.

I realized that I wanted to combine the storage functions of the small open drawers and the plastic bins into one larger cart that could serve as a sturdy base for my ironing board. And then I mentioned it to my hubby… several times. ;-)

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INSPIRATION

“A place for everything, everything in it’s place” – Benjamin Franklin

These are words I try to live by. I have always been inspired by the furniture and built-in storage of the Shakers.

Shaker Cupboard / Built Ins

I also love the visual excitement of shelving and cabinetry built with Baltic birch plywood, ends exposed, rather than faced which is awesome… because using plywood and keeping the ends exposed makes this project easier and less expensive – double bonus!

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TOOLS
Table saw (or circular saw and straight edge) (alternatively, a good hardware store could make these cuts for you)
Router with 1/2” bit
Straight edge
Clamps

Hammer (we have a pneumatic nail gun, but it’s not necessary…but it is faster!)
Screwdriver

MATERIALS
(2) 4’ x 8’ sheets 1/2” plywood (we used A-C)
(4) wheels and screws for installation
Glue
Wood Filler
Finish nails
Sandpaper (we have an orbital sander – again, not necessary, just faster)
Finish (I used a wipe on polyurethane)

PLANS
I began the design by measuring three of my containers lined up side by side adding a little wiggle room – this gave me a space of 36” wide by 7 ½” tall by 17” deep to plan for. I wanted the finished cart to be 37” tall (to match the height of my already present cutting table). The wheels we bought were just under 4” tall, leaving 33” for the height of the cabinet itself. There’s room for 4 rows of my containers, 16 qt Sterilite.

I also wanted some smaller boxes to hold very small bits of fabric, and found some more containers that fit in the same foot print, Sterilite large clip box. So with all these decisions in place, we sketched out a plan on how to construct the cabinet, which I’ve made all nice and pretty for you. Click here or on the picture below to download a PDF of the plans:

The basic construction is a box that is ½” deeper and 1” wider than the intended spaces, with ½” grooves routed into the sides for the shelves to fit and ¼” grooves routed in the back for a panel to drop in and stabilize the entire cabinet.

Step 1: Cut your plywood

The hubby and I also drew up plans on how we cut the plywood. Click here or on the picture below to download a PDF of the cutting diagram:

You should end up with the following pieces:
(2) Sides: 33” x 17½”
(2) Top/Bottom: 36½” x 17½”
(3) Shelves: 36½” x 17”
(1) Back: 36” x 32” (you may need to adjust these for final fitting)
Optional Dividers: (6) 7½” x 17” and (2) 8” x 17” (customize these for your final shelf spacing and storage needs)

We used a table saw with rollers – that first cut is very awkward – I had to help stabilize the plywood without pulling it the wrong way. If you don’t have a table saw, you can use a circular saw and straight edge to guide it, or a good hardware store could make these cuts for you.

Step 2: Rout grooves for shelf placement

Both sides are going to have ½” grooves routed to hold the shelves in place, these grooves should be identical and (if you used A-C plywood) on the rougher side of the plywood. There is a groove at the very top and bottom of the sides – this is to hold the top and bottom. Then mark the placement of your shelves – we placed both the sides next to each and marked them at the same time. You could evenly subdivide this space, or choose to make the shelves different heights, depending upon your needs. I marked three lines 8” apart, leaving the bottom space a bit taller.

Note: If you don’t have a router you could get small strips of pine or poplar and make supports for your shelves.

Step 3: Glue and assemble

“Glue and assemble” – Hah! Easy to type, harder to do! Place a moderate amount of glue in the side grooves for the horizontal shelves and then insert the top, bottom and shelves (good side of the plywood facing up); you’ve now got a very wobbly set of shelves. The inner shelves should be flush with the front of the cabinet, leaving a gap along the back, this is where the back will drop in. Nail through the sides into the shelves to steady it, and then make sure the whole thing is square.

While this is drying, measure the space for the back and cut it to fit. Glue the backs of the shelves and the grooves in the top and bottom and slide your back into place. More nails through the back into the shelves will keep everything steady.

Let this dry and toast your wonderfulness with a lovely beverage – you’ve earned it!

Step 4: Wheels and dividers

The wheels were screwed into place ½” in from each corner. I then brought out some of my containers and played around with the placement of the dividers until I was happy with the arrangement. They were then “toenailed” into place (see the picture, but it’s basically nailing at an angle through different layers of wood, in this case a shelf and divider).

Note: These dividers were wedged in there pretty tightly – if you didn’t want to commit to subdividing your shelves permanently, they’ll stay in there pretty well without the nails.

Step 5: Finish and enjoy!

The final steps are to fill the nail holes with wood filler, sand the whole piece, and then finish it.

There’s nothing very exciting to photograph during this phase, so I thought I’d show you my faithful companion Stirling who kept me company and barked at the sander! Then I thought I’d get a couple of daylight photos before I moved it into the studio.

Now that it’s in place in my studio, I am very happy with it! It holds a ton of stuff, right where I need it, covered from dust and easily rearrangable. (I still have a few of the larger boxes in my closet – I can see me rotating boxes in and out of the closet as my needs change.)

COST

This really was an inexpensive project – of course it helps that we had things like glue, wood putty and sandpaper on hand. If you didn’t need wheels this project would be extremely cheap!

Plywood = $62
4 wheels = $22
Total Cabinet Materials = $84

Plastic boxes 4$/each = $48
Entire Project = $132

Well, I certainly hope you’re inspired to build your very own ultimate storage cart. I know that creating in an organized studio is so much easier – in fact, I’ve found that when I’m blocked creatively, a good de-clutter and reorganize is what I need to get my “making” juices flowing.

> Click here to download a PDF of the full project

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Speaking of de-cluttering, I did a huge de-clutter of my sons’ bedroom and playroom and we just replaced nasty old brown carpet with bamboo flooring. I thought that next month I’d show you how to install bamboo/hardwood flooring, saving yourself lots of money and giving you major bragging rights with your friends and neighbors!

Until then! ~ Candy