Build Home DIY Office Storage Cabinets For Cheap
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One of my favorite hacks for home building projects is to use existing pieces of furniture as a base for what you’re trying to build. This is a great way to get the bulk of your materials for cheap and then you can modify them into whatever you need! For this project, I used pieces I found at the thrift store to create DIY storage cabinets for my home office. My goal was to complete this entire home office makeover for less than $300. Keep reading to see how I did it!
It’s worth noting the before pictures because it makes the transformation of this room that much better!
Because this is a very small room so it was important to create a functional and stylish home office space within this limited area. I wanted to maximize the storage without compromising the functionality of the room. I did a quick sketch on Instagram to help me visualize a rough plan.
How To DIY Office Storage Cabinets Using Thrift Store Items
I just happened to come across all of the furniture pieces I needed to get going on this project within a week which NEVER happens but the thrifting gods were shining down on me. I found this amazing, Ethan Allen desk in great condition for $40, desk chair for $20 and two (very hideous) cabinets for $19 each at my local ARC Thrift Store. The desk has a lot of built in storage features itself – 5 drawers, two file drawers and two shelves in the front. Facebook Marketplace came through for me with the other pieces I needed – two bookshelves, $15 each and a beautiful, solid wood file cabinet, with the tags still on it – $40!
How To Make Them Look Like a Built In Cabinet Design
After I painted the cabinets and shelves, I built base frames for the cabinets to sit on that way I could add some height to the overall structure and be able to trim them out at the end to make them look like built in cabinets. I attached the base frames to studs in the walls and then screwed the cabinets onto the frames. I placed the bookshelves on top of the cabinets and screwed them into studs in the wall as well.
Painting the Walls
After assembling and installing the storage cabinets and shelves, I painted the walls and the ceiling. This room has two, big windows so it gets a lot of natural light making it a good room for some moody paint! I ended up picking Sandbank (SW 6052) by Sherwin Williams and lightening it by 33%. PRO TIP: Did you know you can do this? If you’re having a hard time choosing between colors, you can have them lighten (or darken, although lightening is easier) the color by whatever ratio you’d like!
Add Trim and Crown Moulding To Your DIY Cabinets
Once I got everything painted, I added base trim to the cabinets and crown moulding to the tops to finish them off.
Building Cabinet Doors Using Plywood
The last piece of the puzzle was to add cabinet doors! I used some scrap 1/4 in plywood that I had from a previous project to make the doors.
Once sanded, I painted and installed the doors and added hardware.
Decorating the DIY Home Office
And with those final touches, my DIY office storage cabinets were complete! As much as I’d like to say I thrifted every aspect of this room, I did not. I did have to purchase the curtain rods. Everything else you see in the pictures I already had in storage so that did not count towards my final cost.
Cost Breakdown of Home Office Makeover
Speaking of the final cost, here’s the breakdown for the entire home office makeover…
- Thrift Store Desk – $40
- Thrift Store Base Cabinets (2) – $38
- Thrift Store Desk Chair – $20
- Facebook Marketplace Bookshelves (2) – $30
- Facebook Marketplace File Cabinet – $40
- Cabinet Paint – $0 (leftover from another project)
- Wall Paint- $40
- 2×4’s – $0 (leftover from another project)
- Screws – $0 (leftover from another project)
- Plywood – $0 (leftover from another project)
- Base Trim – $0 (leftover from another project)
- Crown Moulding – $0 (leftover from another project)
- Hardware – $22
- Curtain Rod – $39
- Curtains – $0 (already owned)
- Facebook Marketplace Overhead Light: $25
Total: $294
Technically, if you add up the fractional costs of everything I had leftover from previous projects I would be over $300 for this makeover but we’re just going to go with the girl math on this one!
For more home decor inspiration and tutorials using thrift store finds, check out these articles:
