Wardrobe Cabinet Assembly Guide | Southeast Closet Company

Part 1

Before you start

Step 1. Check what arrived

Each cabinet comes flat-packed in its own cartons. Look at every box before you sign for the delivery, and write any damage on the driver's receipt. Every part is cut, edged and drilled in our shop, and the fiddly work is done: the connectors are set in their pockets, the drawer slides are on, each drawer front is already fixed to its box front, the hinges are on the doors and their plates on the sides, and the rod is cut to length.

Carcass: two sides, the deck (the bottom), the top, the fixed shelf, the back stretchers and the toe kick rail. The back is open: the wall is the back.
Shelves (shelf interiors), and shoe shelves with their fences (shoe storage).
Drawers (drawer interiors): for each one, the front (fixed to its box front), two box sides with their slide pieces on, a box back and a box bottom.
Rod (rod interiors), cut to the opening, and its two supports.
Doors, hinges already on.
Our hardware bag: the connector bit, cover caps, shelf pins, the pulls and their screws, the rod supports' screws, four #10 × 3" wall screws and four shims.

CheckEvery part carries a label naming it. Missing or damaged part? Stop and call us before you build around it.

Done

Step 2. Tools

Drill/driver with a clutch, and the connector bit from our bag
#2 Phillips screwdriver or bit
1/8" drill bit, at least 3" long
Stud finder, tape measure, level and a pencil
A blanket to work on

TipOne person can build a cabinet; two make standing it up and fixing it to the wall easier.

Done

Part 2

Build the cabinet

Step 3. Lay the right side down

Lay the right side on the blanket, inside face up (the face with the rows of shelf pin holes), front edge toward you. Every other carcass part stands on this one.

Done

The right side lying inside face up.

Step 4. Stand the deck, shelf, top and rails on it

Each part has connectors set in it whose screws line up with holes drilled in the side, so it only goes one place. Stand each one on its end in place and drive its connectors with the connector bit until the joint pulls tight.

Deck, at the bottom.
Toe kick rail, under the front of the deck, set back from the front edge.
Fixed shelf, at its row of connector holes.
Top, at the top.
Back stretchers, across the back: one under the top and one over the deck, and a middle one where the cabinet has it.

TipSet the clutch low. A connector pulls the joint tight at a gentle setting; driving it hard strips the hole.

Done

The carcass parts standing on the right side.

Step 5. Put the other side on

Lower the left side onto the parts, inside face down. Line up each connector screw with its hole, then drive them all.

Done

The left side going on top.

Step 6. Stand it up and cap the connectors

Stand the carcass up. Press a cover cap onto every connector you can see until it snaps in.

CheckMeasure the cabinet corner to corner across the front, both ways. The two should match; if not, push the long corners together before you go on.

Done

The carcass, standing.

Part 3

Fit out the inside

Do the steps your cabinet has: each says which interiors it is for.

Step 7. Build the drawer boxes

Drawer interiors

For each drawer:

Lay the drawer front face down on the blanket; its box front stands up from it.
Stand a box side against each end of the box front, slide pieces outward, and drive the connectors.
Fit the box back between the two sides and drive its connectors.
Slide the bottom in from the back, along the grooves in the sides and the box front, until it stops. The back is cut short to let it in; nothing fastens it.

CheckMeasure the box corner to corner both ways. The two should match; if not, push the long corners together before the last connectors are tight.

Done

Step 8. Fit the pulls and hang the drawers

Drawer interiors

Fit each drawer's pull now, while you can reach inside the box: posts into the two drilled holes from the front, screws in from inside the box.

Then hang it: pull the slide pieces in the cabinet out toward you, line the pieces on the box sides up with them, keep the drawer level and push it in. It runs smoothly once both sides are engaged, and closes the last inch on its own.

Done

The drawers going onto their slides.

Step 9. Hang the doors

The hinges are on the doors and their plates are on the cabinet sides. Hold a door open at about a right angle, hook the front of each hinge arm onto its plate and press the back of the arm down until it clicks. Fit the pull the same way as a drawer's: posts in from the front, screws from the back of the door.

Then adjust it with a #2 Phillips until the gaps are even:

Side to side: the screw nearest the door.
In and out: the screw at the back of the hinge arm.
Up and down: the cam on the plate.

TipTo take a door off again, press the release at the back of the hinge arm and lift the door away. Hang the doors last if you want the inside clear while you fit it out.

Done

The doors hung over the drawers.

Each hinge adjusts three ways.

Step 10. Shelf pins and shelves

Shelf interiors

Push four shelf pins into the holes at the height you want each shelf, at the same level in all four rows, and lay the shelf on them. Spread them out now and move them whenever you like.

If a pin hole you want has a hinge plate over it, use the hole below.

Done

The shelves on their pins.

Step 11. Shoe shelves

Shoe storage

A shoe shelf leans back so the shoes face you, and a fence along its front edge stops them sliding off. For each one:

Stand the fence on the front edge of the shelf, its connectors lined up with the holes, and drive them.
Push in its four pins: the two at the front at the height you want, and the two at the back 3 holes higher.
Lay the shelf on them, fence at the front.

TipStart with the lowest shoe shelf and work up. The holes are drilled for them, so each one lands where it should.

Done

The shoe shelves, fences at the front.

From the side: the back pins 3 holes above the front ones.

Step 12. Hang the rod

Rod interiors

Screw a rod support to each side at the holes drilled for it, open side up, with the screws in our bag. Drop the rod into the two supports. It is cut to the opening, so it sits snugly.

Done

The rod in its two supports.

Part 4

Fix it to the wall

Step 13. Set it in place and level it

Stand the cabinet in its place, back against the wall. Check it with a level across the top and down the front edge. If the floor is out, slide shims under the sides until it is level and sits flat against the wall.

Putting several cabinets in a row? Follow the closet run guide from here.

Done

Step 14. Screw it to the studs

Find the studs behind the back stretchers. Drill a 1/8" pilot hole through the stretcher into a stud and drive a #10 × 3" wall screw until the stretcher pulls tight to the wall: two through the top stretcher and two through the bottom one.

In metal studs or masonry, use toggle bolts or masonry screws instead. Drywall alone will not hold a loaded cabinet.

CarefulA tall cabinet full of clothes and an open drawer can tip. Do not load it until it is screwed to the wall.

Done

Back against the wall, over the studs.

Looking at the back: two screws through each back stretcher into the studs.

After

Looking after it

A week after you build it, and every few months after that, check that the wall screws and the connectors are tight. A drawer that rubs or a door that sits out of line is a slide or a hinge to adjust, not a part to force: call us and we will talk you through it.