DIY Wooden Storage box for Toiletries

Ever  had the experience of spending forever looking for something simple like a box but not being able to get something of the right dimensions or price or colour? This is why we ended up with DIY projects. Today, we will share on how to make a simple DIY wooden storage box then we will proceed to share more on tables, benches, doors, etc. This also enables us to up-cycle and recycle old furniture and pieces of wood from other furniture or pallet wood.

When we shifted into our current place about 2 years ago, we bought a couple of cheap plastic woven containers from Daiso for our toiletries storage. The container size wasn’t right, it was flimsy and stuff placed inside just becomes a pile of mess. We wanted a simple box with clean lines and basic Colours and no more than $10 each as we needed 10 such boxes. We couldn’t find a suitable product so we decided to DIY wooden storage boxes.

Equipment required to complete this project:

1. Table saw, or hand saw or get the seller to cut your material to size
2. Nail gun
3. Wood glue
4. Finish of your choice (Paint and polyurethane)
5. Paint brush

To start off, we measured the size of the shelves, drew out the required box size and worked out the materials required. The bottom piece measured 162mm x 302mm and the sides 171mm x 111mm and 302mm x 111mm. Each box needed 5 pieces of ply wood, totalling 50 pieces of wood for our 10 boxes. To keep the cost of material down, we collated the material require and bought them as few pieces as possible. Total cost of material was around $60 for 8 pieces of 9mm marine plywood (waterproof) and saw these into smaller pieces ourselves as one cut costs $1 at the shop.

We got our plywood from Ban Heng Long Trading at 11 Syed Alwi ROad #01-07, Teck Heng Long Industrial Building. They have a wide variety of plywood, MDF and a variety of Asian hardwood as well as a small array of hardware and painting stuff. If you cannot find the right hardware or paint, check out other stores in the neighbourhood. So if you want to look for wood materials and don’t want to go too far, this is a good central location with good price and variety.

Step 1:

Apply 2 coats of TimberCoat. It may sound weird to some but it is easier to paint 8 large pieces of material instead of 50 small ones later. After the project is done, it will be finished with another coat of paint and polyurethane.

The finish select for this project is the Nippon Paint TimberCoat and Cabot’s water based satin Cabothane Clear. Traditionally to finish a woodworking project, you’ve have to sand down the project, apply a premier for the paint or stain to adhere, apply the paint or stain, and finish off with a protective coat of polyurethane. On the same topic there is the choice of water based or solvent based paint. Personally I prefer water based paint as does not have that strong solvent odour, it is not harmful to the environment and water is used instead of solvent to clean the paint brush. The TimberCoat is a good choice as it is easily available in my neighbourhood and its application is simple. It’s a water based paint, require no premier, has excellent outdoor durability and mould resistance to prevent unsightly fungus and algae. The Cabothane Clear is a water based polyurethane that shares the same advantages as water based paint, it protect the paint from nicks or scuffs.

Step 2:

Cut all the material into 50 pieces for the 10 boxes. That was a lot of cuts, I always believe in measure thrice cut once, but in this case, I measured 3 times, clamped down a wood block as a marker and cut 10 or 20 times depending on the piece required and voila! I have my 50 pieces of wood. Shown in the picture is my home made table saw and table sledge. That’s for another post in the future.

Step 3:

Assemble all the pieces with application of wood glue and then using a nail gun, secure them in place. The boxes were then left to dry overnight.

Step 4:

Sand down the sides to get ride of any rough edges. Finish the boxes with another coat of TimberCoat and the 3 coats polyurethane. Then leave to dry for at least 2 hours.

Step 5:

Attach felt fabric under each box to aid the sliding of the boxes from their little pigeon holes.We bought the material from IKEA. They come in a large piece with one sticky side so that we can cut to whatever’s size we want, remove the protective paper and stick on. Sticks pretty well too. That’s it!

This project was done in 2 days, a simple project that anyone could do. Oh we did try to shop for product for so so long, but the sizes were incorrect or they are too expansive ($20-30 each). In the end we just gave up, made our own and wonder why we didn’t do it in the first place. Even the wife got involved in painting and sanding the boxes so this can be a little family project to work on together.

Ed