The perk of an 80’s house is huge rooms, the not so great thing about that era is it really skimped on closets and storage space. Enter the EIGHT foot credenza furniture build idea. Here we go….
Supplies
2 studs
2 sheets of 8′ x 4′ plywood
1 sheet of 1/2″ MDF
3 1″x2″ boards (or furring strips if they’re quality)
12 hinges (we went with soft close)
1 lb pocket hole screws
1 gallon of primer
1 gallon cabinet enamel
4 cabinet pulls or handles
4 boards of 1/4″ poplar
Wood Filler
Paintable caulk
How To
Measure twice, cut once! Patrick and I both sketched out the design and checked each other’s measurements. Our double checking method helped save us a few times when forgetting to incorporate joining boards and blade kerf (the tiny sliver of material that the blade cuts out can mess up all the seamless measurements big time).
Here we used studs to frame out the bottom. A solid base was one of our must have features because we were tired of fishing out snacks and toys out from under the furniture. Since we were building it ourselves, we were able to incorporate that “feature” in our design for the credenza.
Triple check that everything is level and square. Even though we checked and checked again, we still had a few things that ended up slightly askew once everything was put together. I’ll explain where that happened later on and what we did to “fix” the issue.
The whole credenza is locked together using a fancy Kregjig pocket hole contraption. It is such an easy product to use with amazing, professional looking results. Even the boys were able to help out with making the pocket holes. A quick tip on screwing in the pocket holes — use a brad nail gun to pop a few stabilizing nails into the join before screwing in the pocket holes. We had a few joins twist on us, but the brad nails were a quick and easy way to help prevent the twisting.
Finally, the furniture looks like, well, furniture! Here we have all the cabinet dividers in, the base attached to the main frame, and the face frame on the front ready to attach hinges and doors.
First up, now that things are starting to come together, is the primer! Before priming, I filled all the gaps with wood filler and sanded this thing down so smooth. DO NOT SKIP THE SANDING. It will make the end result look infinitely better. Starting with a 60 grit, I gradually moved my way up to a 200 something grit. I used the sprayer since I wasn’t too concerned about the finish since it would be lightly sanded anyway.
The recipe we stick with is 3 coats of paint, sanded lightly with a 320 grit in between coats. Then, 3 coats of a polycrylic in satin sanded with 2000 grit in between coats. So far the kids have not managed to get through that combination. One thing to note here is that we do not skimp on the paint. We chose Sherwin Williams Enamel in the color Basil. This type of paint is designed to withstand a higher wear and tear on furniture applications.
We got a little antsy to get this monstrosity out of the garage and into place in our living room. While it looked ridiculously large in the garage, the scale was perfect for this wall.
Remember how I mentioned things got a little wonky? Here is where the issues started showing up. Somehow the face frame got askew and even though we measured out equal cabinet sections, the measurements once everything was put together was slightly off. How did we fix this without taking everything apart after it had been painted and sealed? Patrick measured and cut each door to size. If I didn’t mention it, most people wouldn’t know that there is an eighth to a half inch difference between some of the doors!
In the first cabinet, next to the corner of the room, we planned to house our network equipment. Patrick built up a pull out tray for maximum accessibility. It was his first drawer slide install and it was a bit tricky! This whole process is about making mistakes and learning so we can do better next time, like with the kitchen renovation soon-ish.
After 45 weeks of working sporadically on this massive furniture piece, the handles were finally put on and we were able to step back and admire our hard work. Yes, I may pet it every time I walk past it. One of the most difficult parts of this project was deciding on hardware. I bounced around between several different options and finally settled on THESE pulls with adjustable mounting hardware. The price was definitely right, around $10, and I appreciated the versatility of the adjustable channel on the back of the pull.
I am still so amazed that we made this with our own hands! It’s not perfect, but we are so proud of what we were able to accomplish. And it’s still not complete. The first cabinet has a drawer, but the other three cabinets are blank slates for adding half shelves or more drawer trays as we sit and simmer with the credenza. After we have an idea for how the other cabinets will be used, we can add interior customizations. Let me know what you think in the comments below. Or if you try this out, let me know if you have any questions. Thanks for reading and I hope it inspires you to try something outside of your comfort zone!
Cost Breakdown
Wood, screws, cabinet and hinge hardware from HD
1 Gallon Sherwin Williams Enamel Cabinet Paint
TOTAL
$358 + tax
$70 + tax
~$430
The total is an approximation. Many items we already had on hand (tools, wood filler, primer, etc.) and sales tax is vastly different depending on location. I used the pricing from the HD website current as of Feb 2022, since building material costs have changed so dramatically within the last few years.