Building a (HUGE) Rolling Shoe Storage - Tutorial

Yay! Hubby and I finished another and very much needed building project. As I have mentioned numerous times before, seeing shoes all over the place in the mudroom does not make my brain happy. While we are definitely getting lots of use with our new mudroom bench, trying to figure out a way to store our shoes has been a challenge. For a while we used a couple of plastic shoe trays. However after the bench was built, only one shoe tray could fit nicely under the bench and the other one started cracking in half. I also did not like seeing all the shoes under the bench. Seeing shoes tossed in a tray took away from the overall look of the bench seat.

After browsing some shoe storage ideas on Pinterest, I liked the idea of using a dresser drawer with casters to store shoes. The only problem is a standard dresser drawer is not that big or tall. Remember, I do not want to see any shoes. Inspired to build some shoe storage, I went to my husband and announced, "I have an idea!" He usually braces himself for what is coming next. ;) "We can build a box without a top and put on some casters and a handle. That will be our new shoe storage! Oh, we will need two of them."

Added rolling shoe drawers to mudroom bench.

I LOVE our new rolling shoe drawers! I LOVE how the front of them blends with the bench seat! Yay!

Look how big these drawers are! Room for lots of shoes.

Rolling shoe drawers open. Lots of room!

We are rollin' deep! Sorry, I could not resist. ;)

I am so excited! Put the shoes in the drawer and roll under bench seat. Now you see the shoes, now you don't. My kind of storage! My brain is happy! :)

Alrighty, lets begin this tutorial.

First, we went to Home Depot to look at some poplar pine wood or MDF. We wanted something smooth and without any knots since the drawer would be painted to match the mudroom bench. We figured we would need about three 4x8 sheets of wood due to the size of the drawers. Immediately, we realized that it was not going to be cheap. It was about $30.00 plus per sheet. That did not include casters and large handles that still needed to be purchased. Maybe I am cheap, but I really did not want to spend about $100.00 for some shoe drawers.

While driving away from Home Depot, I had the most glorious epiphany! Go to IKEA's As-Is section! Thirty minutes later I was walking into IKEA and lo and behold I found some white laminated boards. Some were shelves and some looked like side portions of a bookcase.

IKEA white laminated particle board (as is section) x2

Score! What you see above is enough for one drawer. Wood for each drawer came to $18.00. Not too bad considering how big the drawers are. :)

For the heck of it, I decided to look around to see if I could find any drawer pulls. I knew I would need two large ones. Digging in a bin I found two satin nickel pulls for .99 CENTS!

IKEA Tyda satin nickel handle (as is section)

The regular price for the handles is $11.99. By the way, I did look for some casters, but could not find some.

The next day, H cut the pieces (using a circular saw). Due to the laminate finish, a ten inch blade with sixty teeth was used. Oh, the circular saw was a Christmas present form my mom. Yes, I should be cutting the wood but it was too cold outside for me. My husband is a polar bear. He was just fine out in the cold garage. ;)

Wood pieces cut and ready to assemble drawer.

For those wondering why there is a difference in height for the front face of the drawer, it is because the drawer front is attached to the front of the bottom section. While the left, right and back sides are sitting on top of the bottom piece.

Here are the supplies used to assemble the drawers.

Supplies used to assemble the drawers.

Supplies used to assemble the drawers.

Time to build the drawer.

Using the 1 3/4 wood screws, H attached all sides but the front.

Left side of drawer attached.

Right side of drawer attached.

Back of drawer attached.

Next, L brackets were attached (using the 1/2 inch wood screws) to secure the front piece. At this stage of the drawer I was not sure if I wanted to add molding to the front face. That is why L brackets were used. I did not want to see the screws and I (we) do not have a Kreg Jig for pocket screw holes (it's on my wish list). Otherwise the wood screws would have been fine to use since the molding would have covered the them.

Drawer front attached using L brackets.

 Casters were then placed on the bottom of drawer.

Two inch casters placed on bottom of drawer.

I am sure some of you noticed that not all the edges are finished with laminate. The majority of those edges are underneath and on the back of the drawer. These are two places the will not get seen. Unfortunately, the front sides were not finished. I knew this might happen when I bought these so I made sure I picked up melamine edging (got mine at Lowes).

Melamine Edging

This stuff is super easy to apply. Per the instructions, I placed tin foil between the iron and the melamine. The next few pictures are not the best quality since I was doing this work at 10pm. It is my quiet time. ;)

Applying the melamine edging.

Melamine edging applied.

You can see some seams, but it does not bother me.  It is on the sides.

I was not liking the look of the flat look of the front and opted for some trim. I already had an eight foot strip of trim in the garage. I was able to use that and only had to buy one more eight foot section of trim. 

After the trim pieces were mitered and using my favorite molding adhesive and paintable caulk, I applied the trim.

My favorites. :)

Drawer front without trim.

Drawer front with trim.

I still get surprised at the difference a little trim can make.

In order to make sure the drawer front would blend with the bench, I would need to paint the entire front face. Ironic since the laminate and trim (primed) are already white. Oh well, out came the paint I used for the bench and my Floetrol paint additive. And yes, I know paint does not stick very well on laminate so I had to prep the surface with Gripper from Glidden. This stuff has been a life saver on many projects.

Great stuff to use on shiny / smooth surfaces. Preps surface to be painted.

Love this stuff!

Here is the front of the drawer all painted.

Drawer front painted to match bench.

Add the drawer handle from the IKEA as is section.

Ikea Tyda handle added.

Remove painting tape, clean the drawers using a magic eraser to remove all dirt, saw dust and any scuff marks. Place shoes inside and roll under bench seat. Viola! I am in love. :D

Love these rolling shoe drawers!

 

Lots of storage.

I am thinking about adding one of those very thin door mats to the inside bottom. Something to help catch all the dirt and water from the bottom of shoes. By the way, these drawers are heavy! There are easy to pull in and out, but heavy to carry. They are also very sturdy.

Total price per drawer was about $32.00. More than what I wanted to spend, but then again these are huge and I did not realize how much casters are. Not expensive per each, but it adds up if you need eight of them. Either way, I am still very happy with the end product. :)

What do you think of this HUGE rolling shoe drawer? How do you all store your shoes? I would love to hear.  :)

On a side note, the As-Is section at IKEA is my new best friend. I have been inspired! Yep! I have more projects from the as is section, in the near future. :D

Julie

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