Built-In Entryway Cabinet - How to Build
Our rental home is lacking storage and it desperately needed some more. We decided to sell our rental home and so I knew I needed to add some before we sold it. I decided to add a built-in entryway cabinet. This gives so much more storage to the new owner and I am so glad I did this. Especially because we sold to a best friend of mine that I have known since preschool. She deserves as much as I can give her.
Here is a step-by-step tutorial on how I did this. I know you guys can do it as well!
Here is the before picture - sadly I had to tear down a project I already did.
Materials Needed for Entryway Cabinet
Demo
We wanted to keep the look of the wall, so we just demoed where the cabinets would be going. That meant taking out the bench and shiplap. You might not need to demo anything other than a baseboard.
Built the Base for the Entryway Cabinet
The plan is to make these look completely built in! There just needs to be storage for shoes and coats!
I needed to make a base, this will allow me to use taller baseboards to make the cabinets look more built in. I got two cabinets that will be side by side, so I measured those for the measurement for the base.
I just used 2X4s and screws to hold the base together. You just make a box, with some 2X4s in the middle to hold it together. I secured the base to the studs in the wall.
Secure the Cabinets
Because plywood is so expensive right now, I’m just going to go with prebuilt cabinets. These are actually cheaper than me building them from scratch. I put the cabinets onto the base and attached them to the wall by screwing 3 inch screws into the studs.
Pre-drilling is SUPER important when attaching anything to these cabinets. I’ve split quite a few cabinets, learn from my mistakes!
Make the Entryway Cabinet Look Built In
To make the top look built in, all I did was nail 1X2s against the ceiling, laying flat. I used a level to make sure it was even with the cabinet. I needed it to be a little thicker to fit the mdf board, so I added one more 1X2 vertical to the front.
I brad nailed a 1/2X8 mdf piece to the 1X2s and the cabinet. Then, I brad nailed a 1/2X4 mdf piece on top of that against the ceiling. I also added a 1/2X8 mdf piece to the cabinet on the bottom and the 2X4 base. This left a gap towards the floor, but it will be covered by the 1/2X4 inch piece. I added that after I laid the new floor.
I also added trim to the sides, just to add a decorative element to it. If you want to know how to do this, here is a blog post on how I did it to the kitchen island. I just used pvc trim to make the squares.
Paint and Add Hardware
For the last step, you just need to caulk, prime, paint and add hardware. I used a sprayer, but you can paint it if you want. I left the inside the cabinet color because it had a finish on it that the paint would not stick to. It just dripped down and did not look pretty.
If you want help on getting a sprayer, here is a blog post I wrote about which sprayer to get.
And the Built-In Entryway Cabinet is Done!
This has been one of my favorite transformations, I am so glad I got to add much needed storage to this space. I replaced the wood racks I had earlier and made sure to keep some of the existing feature wall.
If you love this feature wall, but don’t need the cabinet, here is how I made the bench and the feature wall.
If you love it, you can pin it
