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Learn how to build your own custom DIY craft closet organizer with drawers with these full plans, step by step tutorial and video. Turn any closet into the perfect organized craft closet.

You will also love this DIY Underbed Shoe Organizer and DIY Reach-in Closet Organizer

I have to confess that I have been hiding away a huge mess in a closet.

I am embarrassed to even show you the before picture of this craft closet in my home office.

It is an awkwardly shaped closet which I have been using as storage for a whole bunch of my supplies.

I started off by adding the wire cube shelf/organizer and tons of boxes and bins. But it wasn’t enough to keep things at organized. It wasn’t always easy to reach for things in the closet so it ended up in a huge big mess!

Are you ready to see it?

Consider this the last warning because things are really bad!!

See what I meant! I had no idea how to find anything anymore!

It was very dysfunctional. It has a weird shape and I wasn’t able to use any of the pre-built closet organizers. The deep space on one end of the closet led to piles of things accumulating on the floor.

It was high time I got this mess organized! And I am so happy the way it turned out!

I made this working about 3-4 hours a day for a total of 4 days – including buying, cutting, building, and painting.

It wasn’t too bad at all – except that this room is upstairs and I had to go up and down the stairs about 30 times each day to make sure I got the right fit and size on boards! The positive side is I got all my exercise and steps in for those days 🙂

DIY Closet Organizer

*** I am partnering with BuildSomething.com to bring you free plans for this DIY custom closet with drawers. ***

***This post contains affiliate or referral links. It is a way for this site to earn advertising fees by advertising or linking to certain products and/or services. Please read my full disclosure here ***

Materials Needed to Build the DIY Closet Organizer

Lumber per the plans
Circular saw
Kreg Rip Cut
Table Saw (optional)
Kreg Jig
Kreg Multi-mark Tool
1¼” Pocket hole screws
Miter Saw
Kreg Shelf Pin Jig
10″ drawer slides
Kreg Drawer Slide Jig
Power drill/driver
Brad Nailer and 1¼” finish nails
3″ screws
Stud finder
Wood glue
Knobs or pulls of your choice.
Contact paper (optional)
Primer and Paint in color of your choice. Check out my guide on how to paint unfinished pine furniture.

Shop My T-Shirt Designs –

DIY Closet Organizer Plans

The plans are per measurements of my closet. But they can be very easily modified to fit any closet.

You can access the plans for this DIY modern bookshelf on BuildSomething.com

DIY Custom Craft Closet

I have the video showing you how I built the custom closet. More details and step by step instructions are below.

Click here to subscribe to my YouTube Channel for more great videos!

How to Build a Custom Closet From Scratch

The first step to any organization project is clearing out everything, sorting and deciding what to keep and what to get rid of.

It is astonishing how many craft supplies I have accumulated over the years – and I am not even really a huge crafter. It’s just usually the little projects I make with kids…the workshop is more my thing! I got rid of a whole bunch of little bits and pieces that wouldn’t really be worth keeping.

Step 1: Measure the Closet and Prep

Measure the closet as accurately as you can. Modify measurements in plans according to your closet dimensions.
Remove any old installations you don’t want to keep.
Remove the old baseboards. You can save them for the future if you like or if they are like mine – reeeealllly old, you can add new ones after the closet is built.

Step 2: Cut Lumber

Start by ripping up the plywood to size using a circular saw or table saw.
Be sure to cut a little bigger and slowly trim down as needed to ensure the perfect fit.

Step 3: Build Dividers

Attach base supports to the sides using 1¼” Pocket holes screws.
Test for fit in the closet space

Step 4: Build Drawers

Build drawers for the closet organizer.

Be sure to check out my full tutorial on how to build drawers for beginners.

Step 4: Make Shelf Pin Holes and Attach Drawer Slides

Using the Kreg shelf pin jig, make shelf pin holes.
Attach Drawer slides using the drawer slide jig.
I found that it is a lot easier to access both sides to make the shelf pin holes and attach the drawer slides before the organizer is installed in the closet.

Step 5: Attach Organizer to the Closet

Add the back supports between the sides using pocket hole screws.
Attach the back supports to the wall using 3″ screws added into the studs.

Step 6: Attach the Top

Cut top to size to fit
Attach the top using 1 ¼” brad nails and wood glue.

Step 7: Install Trim, Toe Kick, and Drawer Fronts

Attach drawer fronts leaving 1/8″ gap on all sides.
Attach the 1×3 toe kick to the bottom of the organizer using 1 ¼” brad nails and wood glue.
Attach ¾” square dowels to trim the plywood edges using 1 ¼” brad nails and wood glue.

Step 8: Finish With Paint and Hardware

Prime and paint the entire organizer in the color of your choice. I added contact paper to the top.
Add hardware of your choice.

Step 9: Add Pegboard (Optional)

If you would like to add a pegboard –

Mark the studs and attach a frame of 1×3 boards using 3″ screws attached to the studs.
Attach pegboard to the frame using 1¼” screws.

Once everything was in place, I added new baseboards to complete the look!

Time to organize and decorate it!

RELATED: Be sure to see how I built that craft paint holder!

I am so excited about this new pretty closet!

Between the drawers and the shelves, I was able to fit almost all the ~~crap~~ stuff and not only can I easily find everything, but it also looks awesome 🙂

I can decorate all my craft supplies and they are all easy to find too.

I removed the sliding doors for now. I plan to add bifold doors at a later point.

Building the closet organizer was a lot easier and straightforward than I had expected.

I am already eyeing all the other closets in the house.

Do you have a closet that needs some help? Build a custom closet organizer for it. It is so straightforward, you will be surprised!

Feel free to email photos to me at anika@anikasdiylife.com or tag me on Instagram @anikasdiylife for a chance to be featured on social media!

I can’t wait to see what you build!

GET PLANS TO BUILD THIS ORGANIZER!

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