Building a Recessed Shelving Unit

First we decided on the size that the shelving unit needed to be.  Our space allowed for 25 inches wide and 5′ 7″ tall.

This is a shot of the demo taking place to install the new unit.  FYI…cutting into dry wall with a power saw created LOTS of dust so wear a dust mask and be prepared to lots of cleaning up afterwards.

Here you see the freshly built cabinet installed into the space which happens to butt up to a tiny little closet in my craft room. This little closet is what allowed us to add the shelving unit for some much needed organization.

Using brown paper and painter’s tape, we taped it all off and used the same paint color as the walls to finish it out.  The paint color is called Thin Ice.  Its hard to tell in these pictures, but its a very light color of gray.  The completed cabinet is 5′ 7″ tall x 25″ wide x 13″ deep and is constructed from 3/4 inch plywood and screwed together with 1-1/2″ wood screws.  The shelf cleats are 1 x 2s cut to fit and spaced about 10″ apart except for the top one and its slightly smaller.

Then my honey added the 1 x 3 rough cedar trim which I stained to match the existing beams and trim already present.

Lastly, he added the trim on each shelf to hide the shelf cleats.  Perfect!  It helps us out tremendously and keeps all the little boxes neat and tidy!  He used his hole saw to drill holes in a few of the shelves and set it up to where all the electrical parts are accessible in the tiny closet in the other room.  The tiny closet also houses our internet network as well. Fancy huh?! 🙂

I can’t tell you how proud I am to have my honey be able to create these awesome projects in our home, he’s the best! 🙂