Creating a Functional Mud Room – Part 1 – Shoe Cabinet

Shoe Cabinet Supplies:

• Plywood
• Screws
• Pocket Hole Screws
• Drawer Slides
• Face Frame Trim
• Drawer Face Trim
• Wood Filler
• Sandpaper

Tools for the Shoe Cabinet:

• Pockethole Jig
• Drill
• Nail Gun
• Table Saw OR Jig Saw (OR have your hardware store cut your plywood)
• Miter Saw
• Orbital Sander

The first thing I did was build the cabinet shell. To do this, you will need some plywood – enough for a back piece, two side pieces, and a bottom piece. You will also need two strips of plywood for the top.

To assemble these, you can either nail directly through one piece of wood into the other (which will leave exposed nail heads) or you can do pocket holes, which will be easier to hide. Where you put this will determine which direction you go. I did a little of both. On the side that will be exposed, I did pocket holes, and for the rest, I just nailed straight through.

First, you will attach the two sides to the back piece. Then, attach the top pieces to the sides. I put one along the back and the other towards the front. Check out the video for more details!

Step #2: Drawer Slots

This is a quick and simple step. I cut out three pieces of the plywood to be the “walls” dividing the four drawers. From there, I attached it to the shell on the back and bottom. I also put a screw through each of the top pieces to secure them to the drawer dividers.

Next, I trimmed out the face frame of the cabinet to hide all the raw edges. To do this, I got some nice 1x2s. I cut them to fit all the way around the front of the cabinet. Then, I nailed directly through the trim into the raw edge of the drawer “walls” with a brad nailer. Thankfully, these holes can be covered quickly and easily with wood filler!

Step #5: Build the Drawers

I always remind people who are building drawers not to overthink it. You are just creating a box with an open top. Easy peasy!

For this, you will need two sides, a bottom, and the front and back. Be sure to measure your drawer openings and account for how the drawer slides will attach. In my first attempt, I made the drawer too large, so I had to cut it down and make it smaller. That’s okay!

I used pocket holes on the drawers. Put the pocket holes on the OUTSIDE of the box. You want to make sure all your exposed edges, pocket holes, and other not-so-pretty things are on the front, back, and bottom – NOT the sides. The front, back, and bottom will be covered or hidden, so we want to try to keep the sides “clean”. Be sure to plan and cut your wood accordingly.

I’m not going to go into much detail about how to install the drawer slides here, mainly because not all slides are made the same, and they all have their own way of being installed. I recommend reading the instructions or watching the manufacturer’s videos on how to install them.

I will say, make sure everything is super level and even. You may even need to install a bump-out. Just make sure it’s super straight and level!

Step #7: Drawer Fronts

There are so many ways to make a drawer front. I decided to do it the easy way, because they still look great and it’s way less difficult. We will be using the front of the drawer you already created as the center of the drawer front, and we will attach a “frame” to it to look like shaker cabinets.

First, get 1×3 trim pieces. You will cut two long and two short pieces. The long pieces go on the top and bottom of the drawer, and the short pieces go on the sides. Using your nail gun, secure the top and bottom pieces directly to the front of the drawer. We are doing the overlay method, so the backs will rest on the front of the drawer face frame. See the video for a visual on what I mean! After the top and bottom pieces are on, secure the sides in place the same way.