For a while now, our kids' playroom has been a bit of a disaster. From talking to other parents (and seeing first hand in other cases) it would seem that we're not alone.

So this winter, being on lock down and stuck at home, we decided it was finally time to do something about it. And so, I set out to build a giant toy bin organizer for all of their toys.

If you'd like to build this too, I've got FREE plans available here.

Figuring out what to build

I started by taking some measurements of the space we had available. And then I hopped into Fusion 360 to play around with a model. We knew we had about 2m of space (~6 ft) and that we wanted to use the Ikea Dröna boxes which are 33cm height x 33cm wide x 38cm deep (~13" x 13" x 15").

We wanted these shelves to be super strong so when our kids ultimately climb them (despite being told not to) there's no chance of them breaking apart. For this reason we used 18mm (~3/4") plywood and some cross lap joints (more on that later).

Knowing these dimensions I came up with a design that had room for up to 18 boxes.

 

Getting started

With the model in hand, I was ready to get started on the build. The first step was to get the carcass built. I started by cutting the sides, base, and top pieces to size at the table saw.

Next, I setup my dado stack for 18mm and added the dados to the 2 side pieces. There are 2 for each side, inset 353mm from the top and bottom (I like to make my life difficult). These were fairly straight forward.

The more challenging part was the base and top pieces. Because they're so long (2100mm) I had to come up with a way that would make it easy to do without a helper. I ended up setting my fence to line up the dado stack with the centre of the panel and made the first cut. Then I bumped the fence in by 353mm (335mm + 18mm for the ply), made a cut, flipped the board around, and made another cut. The left me with two equidistant dados on either side of centre. I kept repeating this until all the dados were in place.

Rather than do this twice for the sides and the base/top, I actually cut a single piece for each (one extra wide side, one extra wide base) exactly 1 blade kerf wider than the sum of both pieces and then split it down the middle after. This ensures all the dados will line up correctly.

With the four outer pieces prepped I added some edge banding to the front faces. For this I ended up picking up a kit from FastCap. While it wasn't perfect, it really did save me a bunch of time. Just be careful with the trimmer, I found it was quite aggressive, though that may have been an operator error.

I proceeded to sand all the interior faces with 220-grit sandpaper, being careful not to blow through the veneer.

On to assembling the carcass. I used a few dominos for alignment, some wood glue, and some cabinet screws to assemble the frame. I also added some clamping squares to keep the whole thing square while I was doing this. This could easily be done with pocket holes, or a doweling jig, but I've got a domino so, you know, I uh...used it.

Making the vertical dividers

With the outer frame assembled, I decided to make the vertical dividers before making the horizontal shelves. I thought this might ensure there was less stress on the long top/base pieces during the final assembly when this would be standing upright on its base.

The first step was to cut the pieces to size. I got lucky here and the dimension I had in the model (1059mm) was dead on. With the dividers cut, I needed to add 2 cut outs for the cross lap joint. Because I had to make 14 of these, I went ahead and made a jig out of some scrap ply. This will allow me to use a router with a bushing (I don't like pattern bits) to create identical cut outs in all dividers and shelves.

Using the jig I cut out the first side of the cross lap joints on each vertical divider leaving exactly 192mm of uncut wood. I then had to edge band the front faces of each divider.

After sanding with 220-grit, it was time for assembly. Before standing the cabinet on it's base, I slid the centre divider in place. This was to prevent any bowing or stress on the long top piece.

Then, one by one, I added some glue to the dados, slid the piece in place and added some clamps to hold it all together. During this process I left the clamping squares on the outside corners just to ensure there was no movement and everything stayed square.

Making the horizontal shelves

Ok, on the homestretch. There are two horizontal shelves that will cross lap with each of the vertical dividers and slide into the dados on the side panels.

First, I measured the distance between the sides (accounting for the dados on each side). Not so lucky this time, I was off by 1mm. So I swallowed my pride (tamed my OCD) and cut them to 2117mm instead of the 2118mm I had planned. #mistakesweremade

Next, I inserted the shelf into the dados and cross lap cut outs so I could mark exactly where the mating lap joint needed to be. Then using the same jig from earlier, I offset the mark by 1.5mm (~1/16") to accommodate the bushing offset and routed them out.

Then it was time for the moment of truth. Mashing those joints together and seeing if everything worked the way I had intended. Now I won't lie. This took some filing/sanding and a lot of persuasion with a rubber mallet, but in the end it all went together.

Finishing up

Now for the penultimate step (I still had to move this beast up 2 flights of stairs). I had pre-sanded all of the interior pieces, but now I had to hit all of the exterior with some 220-grit sand paper making sure to break all of the sharp edges. I then used a piece of 120-grit to break all of the edges on the edge banding by hand, just one more time. Just in case. Then, I wiped it all down and vacuumed all of the surfaces.

I applied 3-5 coats (depending on the surface) of General Finish's Enduro Black Poly. I sprayed this on with my HVLP sprayer, thinning it with 5% water for the first coat, and 10% on subsequent coats. 

After attaching some small rubber feet, I got some help from a friend to move this thing to its resting place. Overall, I'm quite happy with how it turned out. Don't forget if you would like to build one of these for yourself, I've got free plans available.