Closet Materials and why did I choose them?

Closet Cabinets

I’ve been asked this question about a thousand times so I thought a special post was in order!

Why did I build half the closet out of MDF and the other half out of Plywood?

First, MDF is my first choice of material for painted cabinets.  It’s smooth and straight and doesn’t warp (unless you get it wet) and paints beautifully.  But, IT IS STINKIN’ HEAVY!  I had to lift and carry all the pieces of MDF and then after I built the cabinets, I had to lift the cabinet up to stand it on end.  That was too much.  So, after building the first half of my closet, my back MADE me make a change.  🙂

(The reason I didn’t switch after just a few cabinets is because I cut the pieces for ALL the cabinets on the first side at one time before I started building.)

The plywood I chose, I would not recommend and will never use for any nice cabinets again.  Workshop, fine.  House, no!  It was cheap and smooth on one side so I got it but some of the sheets were warped which I didn’t realize until after I had them home and was cutting them so I just pushed forward but it was a pain!

It’s Sanded Plywood…which is Pine…which is soft.  It’s got a smooth knot free veneer on one side and the other side is knotty and rough which didn’t matter in this situation as none of the outsides are visible in the end.

Plywood is MUCH lighter than MDF so it’s a good choice for LARGE cabinets.  I usually choose a cabinet grade plywood like Birch which has a nice, hard,  smooth veneer on both sides.  Birch Plywood is about $45 per sheet so it’s esssspensive!  Which is why I went with the Sanded Ply!

So that’s why I switched from MDF to Plywood halfway through the closet.   And, if you didn’t see all my status update photos, you would be none the wiser!

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40 Comments

  1. Hi,
    I was trying to build a walk-in closet, saw your video. Pretty impressive. How much did you end up spending on this project. I was trying to compare this to a IKEA PAX system as to how much would i save.

  2. 3/4″ for cabinetry for sure!

  3. Yes, I wanted a wider faceframe piece there because I intend on doing a ladder down the road when I have time.

  4. my old closet system fell off the wall the other day and I have been thinking about making some shelves and doing a nice custom piece for quite awhile. I was going to use birch ply as you said its doubled sided. I’m stuck on the thickness. Should it be 3/4″ or 1/2″ thickness?

  5. Hi thanks for all the tips, but could you tell me why u left the gap between the bottom box and the top box was it just so u can use a wider face board to give it a better look and on the shelves does your face board hang lower than the thickness of the shelf…. Thanks…

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