Garage storage

The space

A 60" wall, 96" high. In Gus’s first step: Cabinets, Run width 60, Wall to wall. Two cabinets at 30 each fill it with nothing left over.

The decisions

• Stock. 3/4" birch plywood for the boxes and doors, 1/4" for the backs. Swap in a cheaper sheet good for the shop in Stock.
• Two cabinets, each 30 × 84 × 18, frameless, full top and bottom, on a toe kick notched into the sides, 4" high and 3" back.
• Back: in a rabbet along each side.
• Shelves: four adjustable in each, on shelf pins.
• Fronts: two doors per cabinet, Full overlay, nearly 80" tall.
• Joinery: the Dado & rabbet preset: top and bottom in 1/4" dadoes, the back in a 1/4" rabbet.

Step back through Gus’s answers

Open the example, then choose Edit design in the top bar (on a phone it is in the More menu, the ⋯ button). Gus opens on Review with every answer in place. The steps sit above it: 1 What are you building, 2 Sections, 3 Configure sections, 4 Stock, 5 Joinery and 6 Review. Tap any step to see the answer behind each number.

Change an answer and the drawings follow as you type. Generate cut listPro makes the parts again. If you have moved parts by hand, Gus asks first: Keep my changes updates the sizes and leaves your layout, Find the best layout again starts over. Back to planner closes Gus and keeps your answers.

Free can open every example and look through its answers; changing a Gus example and generating it again is Pro.

The cut list

Each part is named after its cabinet, such as Cabinet 1 — Side, then the install notes.

Install notes

1. Cabinet 1, left side. Dado for the bottom; rabbet along the back edge for the back.
2. Cabinet 1, right side. Dado for the bottom; rabbet along the back edge for the back.
3. Cabinet 1, bottom. Sits in a dado in both sides, raised 4" for the toe kick.
4. Cabinet 1, top. Sits in a rabbet in both sides, flush with the top.
5. Cabinet 1, bay 1, adjustable shelf. Rests on shelf pins.
6. Cabinet 1, back. Sits in the rabbet.
7. Cabinet 1, bay 1, door 1. Full overlay: covers 21/32" on the left, 21/32" on the right; 1/8" reveal. Hinges on the left.
8. Cabinet 1, bay 1, door 2. Full overlay: covers 21/32" on the left, 21/32" on the right; 1/8" reveal. Hinges on the right.
9. Cabinet 2, left side. Dado for the bottom; rabbet along the back edge for the back.
10. Cabinet 2, right side. Dado for the bottom; rabbet along the back edge for the back.
11. Cabinet 2, bottom. Sits in a dado in both sides, raised 4" for the toe kick.
12. Cabinet 2, top. Sits in a rabbet in both sides, flush with the top.
13. Cabinet 2, bay 1, adjustable shelf. Rests on shelf pins.
14. Cabinet 2, back. Sits in the rabbet.
15. Cabinet 2, bay 1, door 1. Full overlay: covers 21/32" on the left, 21/32" on the right; 1/8" reveal. Hinges on the left.
16. Cabinet 2, bay 1, door 2. Full overlay: covers 21/32" on the left, 21/32" on the right; 1/8" reveal. Hinges on the right.

The sheets

Nested with Max yield and a 1/8" kerf. The sides and doors are locked to the grain, so it runs up the cabinets.

The drawings

The front of both cabinets, a section through the first, and the plan.

Build order

1. Break down the plywood from the sheet layouts and mark each part off in Cut mode. Rip the 84" sides with a helper or a track saw.
2. Notch each side for the toe kick, 4" high and 3" deep.
3. Cut the dadoes for the top and bottom and the rabbet for the back, then drill the shelf-pin holes.
4. Glue up each box, square it by its diagonals, and fit the back.
5. Stand both cabinets, level them, screw them to each other and to the studs.
6. Hang the doors on four hinges each and adjust for an even reveal. Set the shelves.

Make it yours

Choose Edit design and change the run width, the depth or the number of cabinets.

• Work out the sizes from a bare wall
• Pick your joints: dado, rabbet, groove, butt, pocket screws
• Print the shop report and part labels
• More cut list templates

Open this example