How to make a closet. How to make a wardrobe with your own hands: drawings, assembly, examples of successful solutions. Sliding cabinet door installation
Sliding wardrobes are popular regardless of the footage of the apartment and the income of the owners. Attracts the convenience of their use, the ability to adapt to the conditions of the room. It is quite possible to make them yourself if you know the design features, calculations and installation.
Types of sliding wardrobes - from what material, where to install
It is easier to make a rectangular wardrobe with your own hands, radius ones with a curved surface are within the power of professionals. The most convenient place for installation is a niche. The attractiveness of this location is that an inconvenient place becomes useful, practically without affecting the living space.
Installation in the opening between rooms saves the cost of the partition and its finishing, and the built-in closet separates the rooms. The coupe can be installed in the corridor near the wall, which is especially beneficial for small apartments: it does not take up much space, which is not enough.
Cabinet sliding wardrobes are also used for zoning rooms. They do not have a back side, they have two front ones, access to the wardrobe from both sides. A small room should not be overloaded with furniture, use the standard one. In the hallway of a large size, you can install a spacious closet. If the area allows, then you can easily realize the dream of every woman - the closet turns into a dressing room. Costs increase with size. Below is a diagram of a large closet for the hallway.
Many materials are suitable for the compartment, among them - laminate, lining, MDF. Only in this case, you will have to make frames for the door leaf from wood. They use chipboard, which is convenient for installation due to its large size. The use of drywall is possible, but the material is fragile, does not withstand heavy loads, sags noticeably without reliable fastening. A simple option is to use an old closet with swing doors replaced with sliding ones.
Room measurements - how to avoid installation difficulties
Making furniture requires right angles, and the walls of rooms with such accuracy are rare. Deviations from a rectangular shape can be centimeters, but even a few millimeters can cause installation difficulties. This is especially true for niches, where builders very rarely maintain a right angle.
Measurements are carried out at several points, the results are recorded. We retreat 20 cm from the back wall and mark the measurement points on parallel walls. We consider the height from the floor: the first points are at a distance of 0.8 m, the second - 1.4 m and the third - 2.2 m. Then we retreat from the first measurements by 30 cm and take another one at the same height. Deviations will have to be corrected with plaster. Walls in a niche can be primed with a water-based emulsion, and then painted with acrylic enamel and forget about dust on the surface for many years.
We check the horizontalness of the floor and ceiling with a level, and there may be problems with the rectangularity of the opening. You can’t measure it yourself with a lace, and the accuracy is too low. We use a simple fixture of two rails with pointed ends. We fasten them in the middle with rubber rings, insert them diagonally into the opening, at the point of convergence we make a continuous mark with a pencil on the surface of both rails. We check another angle and look at the marks: the difference in the thickness of the risks is 0.3–0.4 mm.
Dimensional calculation - influence on cabinet design
Before installing the cabinet in a niche, we determine its width, which furniture makers mean by length. It should not be made as close as possible, it is better to deviate from the minimum niche length of 6 cm, then the cabinet is guaranteed to enter the opening. If the structure is located autonomously against the wall, we reduce the tolerance.
When determining the length, we also take into account the dimensions of the material, which must be known in advance. Using chipboard, we mean that the size of the plate is 1830 mm × 2750 mm. Drywall 2.5 or 3.0 m long, 1 m wide. We try to make the width of the cabinet equal to the width of the plate or less. Then there will be no difficulties with installation. As for lining and MDF, we try to ensure that the length of the cabinet is a multiple of the width of the strips.
Sometimes it is required to make furniture that exceeds the standard sheet material in its width. The easiest way is to increase the missing length with a segment. At the junctions of the bottom and the ceiling, we get a weak spot, which can be deformed under loads. To avoid this, we put supports at the joints. You can make two cabinets, and then connect them into a single whole. The only drawback is the overspending of materials on an extra wall.
When calculating the depth, we take into account the usable space used for storage, then add 100 mm to it for the sliding system. We choose the height of the cabinet 10 cm less than the distance from the floor to the ceiling, excluding the height of the roof. This will allow you to assemble a massive product in a horizontal position, then lift it up without touching the ceiling.
Rigid frame and strong base - a condition for the stability of furniture
With insufficient rigidity of the frame, the cabinets sway, and the main reason for this is the lack of stiffeners. A fiberboard sheet for the back walls cannot provide it. We add transverse screeds from chipboard 25 cm wide to each section at different levels, fasten with confirmations. This arrangement will provide maximum rigidity.
For a drywall cabinet frame, only a metal profile with purchased fasteners is acceptable.
Incorrect location and insufficient number of supports will cause the bottom to deform under load. To avoid this, we install supports 30–40 mm from each bulkhead. The sliding wardrobe can be installed on through supports 25 mm high with the possibility of adjustment through the holes in the bottom. The only inconvenience is the gap between the bottom and the floor, which will be a garbage collector. The second option is to use kitchen legs 100 mm high.
Filling - installation of shelves, drawers and clothes rail
If the shelves are located in separate sections at different levels, there are no problems: the use of confirmations will do. Where it is impossible to screw them in, corner furniture ties are installed. When installation on the same center line is required, a "helicopter" can be used for fastening with confirmations. In the middle of one of the shelves we screw in a confirmation, turn it along the axis. We screw two confirmations into the shelf opposite, return it to its place. On opposite sides, we also fasten each shelf with two confirmations.
When calculating the installation of drawers, do not forget about the height of the lower rail so that the drawer does not rest against it.
To store clothes on hangers in the closet, we install a bar in a longitudinal or transverse arrangement. The classic longitudinal rod requires a minimum depth of 60 cm. The transverse version uses a retractable rod. Its fastening is carried out with four screws, which is unreliable. Instead of a lift rod, it is better to install a regular one. We fasten two longitudinal boards of chipboard vertically to the top shelf, we attach a shortened bar to them in the usual way.
Calculation of the door width - the principle "so as not to interfere"
When the door is moved to the side, it should completely open access to the section and not interfere with the pull-out of the drawer or lowering the pantograph lift. Consider an example with a three-section compartment with a width of 2100 mm:
- 1. We measure the width of the inner opening. In our example, using chipboard, it will be 2068 mm.
- 2. We take away the double width of the buffer tape pasted on the outer doors of the cabinet. The thickness of each is 6 mm, for a total we get 2068 minus 12 - 2056 mm.
- 3. We take into account the overlap of doors, which in a three-section cabinet is 26 mm on both sides, which is 52 mm in total. The total width of all doors is: 2056 mm plus 52 mm, 2108 mm comes out. We divide the total width by three, and it comes out 703 mm.
Such a simple calculation will provide free access to the sections.
Door suspension - features of different systems
There are suspension systems, where there are two guides, and with a monorail. The bottom rail system is the most widely used. The top rail only serves to support the doors. The system does not jam, the touch of the wings is excluded. Mounting is simple: insert the top into the groove, lift it, put the bottom in place.
The system based on the upper rail is simple, the fittings are cheap, and the installation is simple. The movement of the wings is quiet and smooth. It has significant drawbacks, so it is rarely used. If you carelessly press the door, the rollers can come out of the grooves, the door goes inside the cabinet. The upper rail does not have great rigidity; a perfectly flat ceiling and reliable fastening are required.
In a monorail system, each door runs on paired rollers on separate rails. They keep the doors from staggering to a certain extent, the lower guide is not used. The suspension is precise, rigid, well regulated. But they install the monorail mainly in the bedroom, where only adults will use the closet, since handling such a system requires accuracy.
Door structures - step by step assembly guide
- 1. We calculate the length of the profiles and cut them. The height of the wings depends on the clearances required for normal operation, they are indicated in the instructions for the suspension elements.
- 2. We drill holes for fastening the vertical handle profile: outer 10 mm, inner 5.5 mm. We drill 5.5 mm holes in the inner and outer wall, then drill up to 10 mm in the outer wall. Mounting and adjusting parts freely pass through the outer hole and are attached to the inner one.
- 3. We install the profiles on the filler: first horizontal, then vertical. It happens that the profile is tight, then we use a rubber mallet, with which we apply neat blows, but not directly along the profile, but through a piece of wood.
- 4. We connect profiles. In the upper part, we screw the self-tapping screw into the profile, but not completely, so that there is space left, install the roller and tighten the self-tapping screw. We tighten the profiles from below, insert the lower rollers into the horizontal profile, screw the adjusting screw through the hole in the vertical profile.
- 5. Install the top guide. There are no nuances here, the only thing to observe is the absence of gaps with the side walls.
- 6. Before installing the lower rail, we lay it from below, setting the stoppers, and hang one sash. We shift the bottom rail by 20 mm inside the cabinet and fasten it. Built-in wardrobes diagrams and drawings
The most popular coupe designs are built-in and separate. Collect them from ready-made kits or order cutting to your own size. To facilitate calculations, we offer universal drawings of sliding cabinets. You just have to take them as a basis and adapt to the required size.
If you are tired of always looking for a place to put your things, and the options for purchased wardrobes do not match in color, style and even size.
Of course, you can try to order a cabinet according to your drawings, but if you want to save money and get really the cabinet that you wanted, it makes sense to make it yourself.
Location selection
First of all, you must decide in which room the closet will be located, and what approximate dimensions it should have.
It is better to take a tape measure for this and simply measure the place where your future cabinet will stand, write down the width, length and height of the furniture on a piece of paper.
Advantages and disadvantages of a sliding wardrobe
Advantages:
You can choose any color that suits you;
· Any exterior finish, you choose the material for the cabinet;
· Any number of branches that you choose yourself;
· Individual planning;
· Space saving;
Saving money (a wardrobe will cost you much less than a purchased or custom-made one);
Possibility of installation of internal illumination;
The ability to mask the shortcomings of the premises (roughness of the walls, and so on);
· The wardrobe can easily fit into any interior.
· Saving free space due to sliding doors.
Drawer Disadvantages:
Disadvantages are directly related to the standards.
Do not make a cabinet longer than 5 meters;
· Definite door width;
· There is a restriction of access to things that are at different heights (it is more difficult to get to the top ones).
Drawings for wardrobe
Having measured what space your future closet will occupy, you can begin to develop a plan.
If you have any difficulties in decorating your furniture, then we offer you several samples:
To implement the plan, you will need:
Chipboard pre-sawn
Drill (for self-tapping screws) and for drilling holes
Perforator (if you need to make holes in the walls)
· A hammer
・Rubber mallet
Construction level, tape measure, meter ruler
· PVA glue
Wooden and steel corners
· Self-tapping screws, expansion bolt shields, guides, castors.
The sequence of installation of the wardrobe
It is relatively easy to assemble a closet for a hallway or another room, the main thing is not to make a mistake in preparing the components for it, which must be exactly in accordance with the drawing.
The assembly of the cabinet must begin by counting the required amount of material and sawing it. Then we install the bottom bar of the chipboard, which is better to pre-treat with an antiseptic.
Check by level that the surface is perfectly flat, if not, then put wooden stands and level it.
Interesting! Showcase from an old suitcase.
When the lower part is leveled and installed, you need to deal with the side (all vertical) parts, and then the partitions.
We install them with the help of corners and self-tapping screws (metal corners give greater strength).
Also, do not forget about the verticality (using the building level) during installation, it can still be changed a little.
When the top sheet of chipboard is installed, the basis of the structure can be considered finished. Pay attention to verticality.
During installation, it can be adjusted.
Then you need to install and fix all the small shelves with corners (exactly according to the drawing), with shiny metal pipes for future hangers with clothes.
Now let's deal with the doors for the wardrobe
Doors can either be ordered separately with any coating or made from this material yourself.
Please note that the width of one sash should not exceed 1 meter.
If we have a cabinet length of 240 cm, then we make three wings (240 divided by three and it turns out 80, and add 2 cm for an overlap). In total, we get 82 cm each sash.
We calculated the width, now let's deal with the height.
We have the height of the entire cabinet according to the plan 260 cm, from this we must subtract the height of the linings (top and bottom) by 1.6 cm and the clearance for the wheels by another 1.5 cm at the top and bottom.
260-3.2-3 = 253.7 cm
But when calculating, you need to take into account that the width of the linings and the height of the wheels may differ.
We take guides prepared in advance in width, and fasten two pieces at the top and bottom of the cabinet, watch for parallelism.
First, we fasten the upper guides with self-tapping screws, then, using a plumb line, we place and fasten the lower ones. Stoppers must be inserted into the lower guide.
After installing the stoppers, let's take care of the doors (it's better to do this together). The upper far sash is inserted into the groove first, and make sure that the wheels go in until they click.
We do the same with the bottom of the door, immediately check if the door moves freely. By the same principle, we put the second door and the third. Lastly, we glue special tapes on the side parts of the doors so that the doors do not hit the sides of the cabinet.
By itself, the technology for creating a cabinet is very simple, you only need suitable tools and well-sawn chipboard sheets.
Video how to assemble a sliding wardrobe with your own hands
How to glue the furniture edge on chipboard, in detail. (Do-it-yourself wardrobe. Part 2)
By assembling a closet with your own hands, you will not only make a nice gift for your wife, but also save almost half the cost of the finished product.
A do-it-yourself built-in wardrobe can be modeled in online programs that are equipped with the resources of large furniture manufacturers. The most popular materials for self-manufacturing of built-in furniture are:
- drywall - a budget option, facilitated the creation of curved wall surfaces, easy integration into the interior;
- solid wood - an elite option that requires the basics of owning a variety of tools, its availability from a home master;
- wood-based boards - an economical option, a wide range of colors, textures, additional, consumables, accessories, individual parts.
The built-in closet is very spacious and visually expands the space of the room.
The cabinet is often built from furniture panels that do not require cladding, OSB with kraft paper pasting. For the complex architecture of the cabinet configuration, only drywall is suitable, which bends according to patterns to any shape (Fig. 1).
An example of the calculation of the wardrobe
Figure 1. Drywall for the cabinet is bent to any shape using templates.
Internet resources will not only tell you how to make a built-in wardrobe with your own hands, but will also help you calculate the quantity and cost of materials, accessories, and consumables. For example, for furniture of this type with a depth of 0.6 m, a width of 1.9 m, built into the corner of a standard apartment (ceiling 2.5 m), you will need:
- doors - taking into account the adjustment gap in height of 45 mm, the overlap of the sheets for the wardrobe is 20 mm, the thickness of the materials is 16 mm, we get the size of the plates 2439x952 mm;
- two-way guides - a set of two pieces of 95 cm each;
- side panel - sheet 2484x600 mm;
- partition - detail 2484x500 mm;
- shelves - dimensions 934x500 mm;
- roof - slab 1900x600 mm.
The design of the built-in wardrobe allows you to accommodate a sufficient number of things.
The front edge of all parts is processed with decorative PVC tape. In addition, you will need a hanger rod 934 mm, a mesh for shoes of the same length, fasteners (32 corners, 64 hardware).
After assembly, positioners, anti-dust brushes-schlegels are mounted. If ready-made parts are used, the cabinet is half the price. When designing original structures, the dimensions are obtained individually, therefore, sheet material is purchased - furniture board, chipboard, OSB, plywood, cut waste is present.
Furniture requires decoration, but even in this case it turns out much cheaper than finished counterparts.
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Cabinet making operations
Figure 2. Scheme of the dimensions of the furniture board.
A feature of built-in furniture is the rationalization of space. Savings, increased strength is achieved by replacing several parts of the cabinet with the planes of the supporting structures of the building:
- bottom - floor cladding;
- roof - floor slab;
- side wall - wall;
- the back wall is the plane of the wall.
A wardrobe without two side walls is rare, since niches are not present in all apartments. However, the savings are already significant, in addition, the absence of these parts frees up additional working space.
The technology of self-manufacturing of embedded structures consists in a sequence of operations:
- sketching / designing - a drawing, sketch, sketch or a full-fledged project with visualization of the cabinet allows you to avoid mistakes in cutting, installation, marriage, overspending of materials;
- transferring the drawing to the wall is the most crucial stage, on which the resource, the cost of furniture depends;
- installation of a side wall, partitions: if the cabinet has a height from slab to slab, the shields are attached to the floor, ceiling, back wall, if the structure is lower, the upper part is fastened with a roof;
- shelves, drawers, rods: shelves are usually mounted on special fittings (removable option) or corners (hard fixation, which adds rigidity to the structure);
- doors - traditional hinged structures, sliding modifications of wardrobes are used.
Example 1. Drawing of a sliding wardrobe.
Self-installation of swing doors in built-in furniture is much more difficult than hanging sliding canvases on rails:
- if a wall is used as the side wall of the cabinet, it is impossible or very difficult to make a selection for fittings of furniture hinges in it;
- not every home master has in his arsenal a milling cutter for sampling a large diameter blind hole;
- sliding door guides are fastened with self-tapping screws, rollers are screwed to the canvases, the design is easy to assemble.
When designing, it is important to consider the type of construction material, since most of them require cladding. For example, GKL will have to be treated with putty, painted or pasted over with kraft paper, self-adhesive. For a furniture board, it is enough to process the front ends of the parts with PVC tape; in most cases, OSB boards are completely decorated or covered with a colorless varnish (Fig. 2).
For cutting materials, in most cases, an electric jigsaw is used, since the tool is universal for gypsum boards, wood-containing boards, and natural solid wood with the usual replacement of nozzles.
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wood board product
The traditional cabinet has blank vertical partitions that add rigidity to the structure. In modern modifications, these partitions are replaced by profile racks, adding workspace. To support the shelves, brackets are used, which are fixed on the racks. The manufacturing technology of a traditional cabinet is as follows:
- transferring the drawing to the walls - the thickness of the plates used is taken into account;
- profile fastening - the industry produces a galvanized profile, which ideally includes furniture panels (for each size its own profile), so it remains to fix it according to the markup, measuring out the horizontal, vertical;
- assembly of the power frame - the parts are inserted into the profile, attached to it, to each other;
- installation of doors - when installing doors, a pair of guides (aluminum or steel), side decorative strips are used, into which the canvases enter;
- decoration - if unfinished materials are used, after assembly they are pasted over with roll facings, painted, varnished.
The built-in wardrobe can have its own panel floor or use the existing flooring as it. In the first case, aesthetics are improved, the second option is more practical, since there is more working space behind the ennobled doors.
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Assembly of the structure
When choosing an oval, semicircular cabinet, it is difficult to make a structure from rigid, rigid sheets of wood-based boards. For this, GKL is optimally suited, which is enough to roll on one side with a spiked roller, soak it with water through a rag, install it in the template until it dries completely. The frame of the structure is a supporting galvanized profile, to which drywall sheets are attached on both sides.
The profile is easily attached to the surfaces of walls, ceilings, floors, connected into rigid spatial structures, relying only on the floor.
Figure 3. Due to the thickness of the drywall, a massive structure of the built-in wardrobe is obtained.
It easily takes curvilinear forms, so the cabinet will always be exclusive. The price of drywall is much lower than wood-containing analogues, however, high-quality finishing is required, strengthening the interfaces of planes with a perforated corner.
Unlike wood-containing boards, gypsum board is not a self-supporting material, therefore, after marking the walls, a metal frame is mounted for racks, shelves, and ceilings. After that, it is sheathed with 12 mm drywall - sheets and pieces are fastened with self-tapping screws every 15-30 cm in a checkerboard pattern. In large rooms, the length of the sheets is not enough in height. When installing the GKL on the metal frame, the horizontal seams are necessarily shifted. Sliding door rails are fixed at the points where the profile passes through the drywall. If the profile in these places is not used when creating the structure, it is additionally laid under the GKL sheets.
A technological gap is required in each seam; a new chamfer is made at the edges of the cut sheets. After installation, all seams are pasted over with sickle, puttied, the heads of self-tapping screws are smeared with putty. Then the entire structure is covered with the finishing composition, after drying, wallpaper, textiles, kraft paper, self-adhesive film, tile, stretch PVC film. Due to the thickness of the profile, which is summed up with the thicknesses of the double-sided cladding with drywall sheets, the structures are massive. However, their artistic value compensates for this shortcoming (Fig. 3).
Organizing enough space to store everything you need and at the same time arranging the maximum space for free movement around the apartment and the location of other pieces of furniture can be an overwhelming task, especially when it comes to small rooms. The corners and niches remain the most unclaimed. For their rational use, it is best to make a built-in wardrobe with your own hands.
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Features of built-in wardrobes
Sliding wardrobes are widely used due to the design with sliding doors, which eliminate the need for additional space for their comfortable opening. They may be located in narrow corridors- where for standard furniture it is necessary to leave a passage space no less than the width of the door leaf.
A sliding wardrobe in a niche or corner practically does not take up space. Due to the variety of designs of facade doors, you can create the most complete composition in the interior.
The main feature of the built-in wardrobe is the absence of walls; the guides are mounted directly on the walls of the niche. You can also install a built-in wardrobe in the bedroom, where one corner remains free. The product is equipped with one side wall, the functions of the other and the back will be performed by the adjacent walls of the corner of the room.
Since the niches have strictly individual dimensions, the furniture built into them must be made according to individual drawings, and by doing all the work yourself, you can save money and control the quality at each stage of production.
Materials and tools
To make a built-in wardrobe that will last for many years without the need for repair work, you need to carefully choose the materials for its manufacture. At the same time, the opinion about natural wood is erroneous. The atmosphere inside the cabinet is different from the outside, so the filling will constantly change its structure depending on the level of humidity and will quickly lose its original properties.
The best materials for a built-in wardrobe are MDF and chipboard. They have all the properties of wood, and a special coating protects them from impact. environment. At the same time, working with plates is much easier.
Sliding doors can be purchased ready-made if the width of the leaf satisfies their installation. In the case of self-manufacturing, an MDF or chipboard board is used, a set of vertical and horizontal metal profiles with assembly screws and sealing tapes. To install the doors, you will need upper and lower guides, 2 rollers for each leaf, limiters that will fix the movement of the rollers strictly in a given area.
If the walls need pre-treatment, putty and paint will be needed. Some craftsmen advise simply sheathing them with fiberboard sheets, which are thin. Their surface fully ensures the safety of things. In addition, to securely fix the guides and align the horizontal planes, it may be necessary to create a frame from wooden bars.
From the tools you need to prepare:
- drill or screwdriver;
- a manual hacksaw for metal and an electric jigsaw;
- building level, square, tape measure;
- pencil or marker;
- Screwdriver Set;
- file, sandpaper.
To drill holes in concrete walls, the drill must be with a hammer drill.
Design and drawing development
Before you design your own future wardrobe, you need to accurately measure the dimensions of the niche, taking into account the need to align horizontal and vertical lines. Based on the data obtained, drawings and diagrams are developed.
At this stage, you need to decide on the number of valves and their size. To avoid strong pressure on the guide rollers, the doors should not exceed 60 cm in width. The overlap of two adjacent parts is approximately 5-6 cm for full access to things inside.
The scheme of the built-in wardrobe should include filling (shelves, drawers, bars, etc.). Relying on the dimensions of the niche, we calculate the depth of the components, which should be 10 cm less than the total figure, and the width of each element, taking into account the partitions.
Sawing and fittings
You can cut the material into blanks at the time of purchase. Many stores provide such services for relatively little money. The same swings accessories (guides, profiles). However, the master will make cuts strictly according to the drawing, and if mistakes were made, such details will not be used in the future.
Since built-in wardrobes practically consist of doors and filling parts, it is better to cut blanks on the spot, with constant monitoring of the conformity of the resulting dimensions with the necessary ones.
Frame fixing
As such, the frame of the built-in piece of furniture is missing. Its role is played by the walls of the niche. The only thing you may need to assemble a built-in wardrobe with your own hands is to prepare the frame for guides made of wooden beams. This procedure will simultaneously simplify the further fastening of fittings and allow you to level the surface horizontally. You should not worry about the aesthetics of the structure, because in the future it will be closed with a slatted decorative strip.
Under the frame, some craftsmen mean framing the door leaf with profile strips. At the preparatory stage of this process, you need to prepare for each door 2 vertical handle bars (the length is equal to the height of the leaf), 2 horizontal bars (the length should be 50 mm less than the width of the door, 25 mm on each side for handles), a set of fittings for assemblies.
First, all the elements are located next to the door leaf to see the accuracy of the dimensions. The horizontal parts are provided with round elements for screwing fasteners. It is necessary to measure the distance from the edge to its center and put a mark on the handles, along which a hole with a diameter of 5 mm is drilled.
First, a profile is installed on the door from above and below. Then the installation of vertical parts is carried out. A self-tapping screw is screwed through the holes made, leaving a small gap for installing a positioning support in the upper profile with wheels. Only after that the mount is screwed to the very end.
Support wheels are inserted into the lower profile on the sides and fixed with the bolts included in the kit.
Shelf fixing
Installation of all filling is carried out before the installation of doors. If partitions are provided, they are made of chipboard. The front cut is protected by a rubber pad, planted on any construction adhesive.
Shelves are fixed with dowels or metal corners installed from below. For mobile boxes, sliding bearing-type mechanisms will be required. This ensures the possibility of stretching to the very end.
If the depth of the cabinet allows, the clothes rail is mounted parallel to the door, otherwise a special holder is purchased, which is fixed to the ceiling.
Increasingly, people are trying to replace ordinary wardrobes in their apartments, houses and even offices. But, what is the reason for the popularity of this type of furniture, what are its pros and cons, what is it made of and is it possible to make it yourself? Our today's review will help to deal with these questions and find out how to make a sliding wardrobe with your own hands (the drawings attached at the end will greatly facilitate the task).
Read in the article
What is a sliding wardrobe and is it really needed in the house
Before continuing the analysis of this type of furniture by "bones", let's turn a little to history. The first wardrobes, if one could call them that, were in the apartments of Napoleonic officers, which was supposed to hide the place of storage of clothes, shoes and other things from prying eyes. In our usual form, sliding wardrobes appeared in America in the 20s of the last century and since then their popularity has only been growing.
So, what is a closet? In a nutshell, this is a box with a back wall, drawers, hanger bars and most importantly:. It is the sliding systems for sliding wardrobes, which allow you to save space, that have made this furniture so popular. Sliding wardrobes can be installed either separately from other furniture or built into niches.
What are good and what are bad wardrobes
In general, as we have already mentioned more than once, each device or device has its own advantages and disadvantages. There are also wardrobes.
The advantages can safely be attributed to:
- ergonomics:
- wide range of colors;
- diversity interior decoration and functional content;
- the possibility of individual planning and lighting;
- the possibility of embedding in niches;
- capacity;
- fit into almost any;
- universality;
There are fewer drawbacks to wardrobes, but still, they are, namely:
- restriction on sliding and width of doors;
- relatively limited access to cabinet shelves (freestanding design);
- price.
What are wardrobes
All sliding wardrobes can be conditionally divided into two types: cabinet or free-standing and built-in (usually in niches). Each of these types has its pros and cons.
Cabinet cabinets
The main advantage of cabinet or freestanding cabinets is their mobility. They consist of the same basic elements as, namely: sidewalls, roof, bottom, shelves and doors. In addition, this design allows you to significantly save space due to sliding doors.
Materials used
Sliding wardrobes are already good because they can be made from almost any material. In particular, for the manufacture of such structures is used:
- natural wood;
- chipboard and MDF;
- furniture boards;
- glass and s;
- metal profile for compartment doors.
Wood
Sliding wardrobes made of natural wood are the most expensive option. Sliding doors are mainly made from now, and the base and shelves are made from cheaper, but also durable materials. Sliding wardrobes made of natural wood look very beautiful, expensive and presentable. However, furniture made from other materials is no worse.
Drywall
If you hear the expression "plasterboard wardrobes", then you know that this is just a niche in which the walls, top and shelves are made of drywall. In fact, this is a dressing room in which all the "insides" are hidden behind sliding doors.
MDF, chipboard and fiberboard
Cabinets can be a free-standing structure, completely made of, and. They can also be made in the form of a niche with sliding doors made of these materials or mirrors framed with a special metal profile with a roller mechanism. You can buy such wardrobes in furniture stores or do it yourself.
Plywood
A wardrobe made of can be most often found on or. Usually they are made in pantries, where appearance does not play a role, but what matters is the practicality that the sliding door system provides.
Furniture panels
Furniture panels cannot boast of high decorativeness, but the strength and durability of the material, with proper processing, justify its use for the manufacture of furniture that can be installed in the country house, in the pantry, etc.
Placement of sliding wardrobes in the room
Any furniture in the house should take its place in the interior, be practical and not create obstacles for free movement around the room. Since the sliding wardrobe not only performs a function, but also serves as a worthy decoration of the room, it must harmoniously fit into the overall design. Therefore, we will consider the location of the cabinet in various rooms and the design features associated with the installation site.
Hallway closet
Sliding wardrobe, designed for installation in, is mainly used for storing outerwear, shoes, umbrellas, etc. When buying or making a do-it-yourself wardrobe in the hallway, you should provide for the presence of two compartments for clothes and. Thus, it is possible to separate the things that are used at the moment and those that will be needed soon. In addition, the closet should have a sufficient number of shelves and drawers. They will help in organizing the storage of smaller things that are necessary in everyday use - care products, shoe care products, brushes for clothes, etc.
As for the doors for the closet located in the hallway, at least one of them must be mirrored. The mirror allows you to visually increase the size of the room, and also makes it possible to see yourself when leaving the house.
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In the article, we will consider in detail the advantages and disadvantages of the design, materials and fittings, the average cost, the secrets of proper placement in the hallway and recommendations for caring for furniture.
Arrangement of furniture in the living room
The closet in the living room is mainly used for storage, light clothes, documents, household appliances, items intended for interior decoration and much more. The closet for the living room should have a section for clothes on hangers, a compartment with shelves, drawers and a place for shoes. If the design of the cabinet provides for the presence open sections, then they contain decorative elements, and household appliances(music systems, TV, DVD player, etc.).
As a rule, the cabinet roof is made protruding. LED lamps are mounted in this ledge. Doors are best done according to the principle of symmetry, that is, the number of mirror doors should be equal to the number of "deaf". If there are three doors in the closet, then there should be only one with a mirror.
Children's room
In addition to a straight-line design, you can also make a corner cabinet with a sliding door system with your own hands. True, when designing it, there are some nuances.
Cutting material and selecting fittings
After the calculation of all the details, you need to draw up a cut map, which will reduce the number of costs. In order not to bother, you can provide a list of parts with dimensions and their quantity to the company where you plan to buy the material. Most companies selling laminated chipboard, MDF also provide cutting and sawing services.
As for furniture fittings, the bulk of the cost falls on the purchase of a metal profile, rollers and guides for the wardrobe, mesh baskets, tie holders, rods, etc. You also need to purchase guides and handles for drawers.
Filling the cabinet
The filling of the closet largely depends on the needs and financial capabilities of the owner, since the installation, for example, pantographs, and shoes, tie holders, etc., will cost a decent amount. Functionality should be thought through by us at the design stage. The closet must have a section for outerwear, a compartment with shelves for light items and bedding, drawers for small items and underwear, as well as a place for shoes and a mezzanine for rarely used and bulky items.
To place clothes on hangers, both longitudinal and transverse retractable bars can be used. You can also make stationary inclined shelves for shoes or install special movable trellised baskets. The same applies to shelves for linen. In general, manufacturers annually, if not monthly, offer more and more new and improved devices for storing clothes.
All about doors and sliding systems
Doors for a wardrobe can be the simplest (frameless), which is a piece of chipboard of the required size, equipped with plastic wheels. This is the simplest and cheapest option, which is now practically not used.
There are more complex and expensive sliding door systems for wardrobes. They consist of upper and lower metal rails, a frame made of steel or aluminum profiles, rollers and filler made of chipboard, MDF, glass or mirror. Such systems are more reliable, durable and quite presentable. The most popular systems are Komondor and Braun.
How to choose the right system for sliding doors will help this video:
Assembling the wardrobe
So, there is a drawing, the material has been ordered, sawn and even delivered, as well as the necessary fittings, it remains only to assemble our built-in wardrobe. Yes, we completely forgot about the tools. We will need the following:
- tape measure, metal ruler and square;
- electric drill and;
- confirmations;
- screws 3.5×16 mm, 3.5×25 mm;
- screwdriver;
- confirmation drill with a diameter of 5 mm;
- cross and hex nozzles for a screwdriver;
- a hammer;
- furniture nails 20÷25 mm.
Assembling boxes and boxes
First of all, you need to inspect and mark all the details of the wardrobe. First, mark the sidewalls, placing them with their backs facing each other. When marking, be careful and consider all the nuances. So, for example, the sidewall has a width of 600 mm, and the shelves are 500 mm, and during marking, some of the "parking" make the same indentation of 70 ÷ 80 mm on both sides of the barrel and shelves. As a result, we get a mismatch of holes and extra holes. To prevent this from happening, with different widths of parts, the marking should start from the rear edge, that is, with a barrel width of 600 mm and a shelf of 500 mm, the holes should be at a distance of 70 and 430 mm.
If there is no experience in assembling on a “live”, then it is better to drill holes right away.
The crates are best assembled as shown in the picture below. Two sidewalls, in our case, it is better to make a length of 450 mm. The height of the sidewalls of two drawers can be 140 mm, and one drawer can be made twice as deep. The guides must match the length of the barrels or be smaller. In order to correctly install the guides, you can use the template, which, in principle, is in the instructions for the product or search on the Internet.
Assembly is carried out with the help of confirmations, and the facade is first attached to double-sided tape and then additionally fixed with 3.5 × 25 mm screws. After the boxes are assembled, you need to check the diagonals, nail the bottom of the fiberboard and install the guides.
When calculating boxes, follow the following formula. Let's say we use 16 mm chipboard, and the width of the upper shelves is 450 mm. So we subtract 24 mm from 450 mm. on the rails and 32 mm on the sides of the drawers. As a result, the length of the middle sides of the box will be 394 mm. It is very important when calculating openings, shelves, etc. take into account the thickness of the materials. Often beginners make these mistakes, which leads to damage to the material.
Important! Be sure to check the diagonals before filling the bottom on the drawers or the back wall on the cabinet. If this is not done, then the drawers may enter with friction or not completely, and the doors will be skewed and will not dock normally with the sides of the cabinet.
If the upper or lower shelves are divided into several separate sections, but should be on the same line, then they must be fixed according to the principle of a helicopter. In the lower figure, red dots mark the attachment points of such shelves.
After the box with shelves and drawers is assembled and the back wall is stuffed, you can lift and install the cabinet in the planned place. If there are gaps, then you can close them with raised panels made of the same material as the entire structure. The decorative strips are fastened to the frame of the structure. After that, you can proceed to the manufacture of sliding doors.
A better understanding of all the processes of making furniture at home will help the video "How to assemble a wardrobe with your own hands":
Do-it-yourself compartment doors
In order not to make a mistake and not spoil an expensive profile, you can use the special Aristo program for calculating compartment doors. Before making facades, you need to decide on their content, that is, whether they will be glass, mirror, chipboard or combined.
After doing the calculations, you can start assembling. First you need to mark out to make holes in the side profiles for fasteners. If the filling is glass or mirrored, then we put a silicone gasket on the material and put a long piece of the profile on it. Next, we fix the upper and lower blanks, and in the end we “dress” the last element of the frame. After that, you can begin to tighten the parts together with the screws that come with the kit, but you need to do this carefully so as not to pinch or strip the threads.
We install guides for the wardrobe on the bottom and cover and fix them with screws. Now you can install the doors. If a loose fit of the facade to the sidewall is found, then you need to adjust the wardrobe doors.
Rollers for wardrobe
The roller system for sliding wardrobe doors plays a very important role. It depends on the choice of system and the comfort of operation of the facades, as well as the weight that they can withstand without compromising performance.
So, for example, a roller system for a frameless door can withstand a weight of about 15 kg, while more serious and expensive mechanisms can withstand facades weighing 60÷100 kg. It is better, of course, to choose expensive systems from a trusted manufacturer, especially if the doors are made of mirror or sandblasted glass.
After the doors are installed on the rollers in the guides, you need to install a shunt on their long sides. In fact, it is a chipper and softens the impact of the facades on the sidewalls, and also prevents dust from entering the cabinet.
In principle, the installation and adjustment of sliding doors completes the manufacture of the wardrobe. It remains only to wipe the marker or pencil, brush off the sawdust and wipe it with furniture care product and you can enjoy the creation of your own hands.
The presented video shows the assembly of wardrobe doors with your own hands:
Photo gallery of interesting wardrobe options
We examined what a closet is, what it consists of and is made of. We also found out that you can make such furniture yourself. However, most people still prefer to contact specialized companies that make kitchens, living rooms, children's rooms and wardrobes to order. Let's see what makes people happy cabinet furniture manufacturers.
PVC film decorative stickers
The easiest way to decorate facades for wardrobes is to use vinyl stickers. The film can be easily glued and, if necessary, replaced with a new one. Vinyl films are available in various patterns and different shapes. This decor is affordable for anyone.
What to consider when choosing a closet
Before you buy or order a wardrobe, you need to consider a few important points, on which the durability of the product, the comfort of use and the aesthetic enjoyment of this piece of furniture will depend in the future.
- Materials and accessories. It is clear that they must be of high quality, durable and have all quality and safety standards. It is best, of course, if they are from well-known proven manufacturers, since furniture is not a household item that is bought for 1-3 years.
- Shape and dimensions. When buying a sliding wardrobe, of course, it is best to find out in advance the dimensions of the place where it is planned to install it and focus on them accordingly. It is also necessary to take into account the shape of the cabinet. If it will just stand against a wall or in a niche, then you should choose a straight-line design, but if you intend to install it in a corner, then purchase a corner model, and if there is a large room, you can order a combined model - angular + straight.
- Content or functionality. This of course depends a lot on your needs and budget. It is hardly necessary to have a pantograph, mesh laundry baskets or tie holders in a small closet. A longitudinal bar for outerwear, shelves for linen and drawers for small items is quite enough.
- Quality systems for sliding doors. Since sliding facades in the closet make up almost the lion's share of the cost, it is natural that their quality should be taken seriously. The comfort of their use depends on the quality and reliability of sliding systems. It’s worth saying right away that the simplest system, the so-called “Polish” one, is not a very good option - it “crashes” literally after a year of use.
Where can I buy or order sliding wardrobes and how much does this pleasure cost
Sliding wardrobe can be purchased in a store or in a specialized furniture company. It should be said right away that the price of a custom-made wardrobe differs significantly from the finished product. But what else affects the cost besides individuality?
The cost of the cabinet also depends on the manufacturer. A model that is from a well-known manufacturer costs, for example, 50,000 ÷ 70,000 rubles. You can get half the price from the copy makers.
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