How to build extended shelving in wardrobe?

[Dorinz]

Hi all,

I am upgrading my kids' bedroom and their built-in wardrobe had endless hanging space but very little shelving. I want to extend the side shelves to provide more space to have storage baskets.

I have lot of experience building stand alone furniture but less so for the built-in stuff.
I have mocked up he below design. The wood coloured components are already built in and the white ones are what I want to add. My key worry is whether the shelves will be well enough supported or whether I need to add another support bar along the front of the new shelves.

Thinking I will use timber framing for the sides and back, shelving brackets for the L shaped supports and MDF or particle board for the shelves. 

Would love to hear any advice anyone has for making sure these will work well and be nice and stable for the kids clothes and toys.

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Dorinz. It's sensational to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about building shelving.

I think your design looks great and should work well overall. The only thing I’d note is that you haven’t mentioned the width of the shelves, so it’s hard to gauge how far they’ll be protruding from the wall. If you can find L-shaped supports in the size shown in your mock-up, they should provide sufficient support for general use, especially for clothes and toys. My concern would be if you’re planning to use wider shelves, say 500-600mm particle board, as it’s unlikely you’ll find L-brackets large enough to properly support that depth. Standard L-brackets simply aren’t designed to extend that far out and will tend to bend at the joint under load. In that case, you’d be better off using a stayed bracket (the type with a diagonal brace) since they’re designed to carry heavier loads over wider spans. The only downside is that they do take up a bit of usable space beneath the shelf, but they’ll give you the stability and strength you need for shelves of that size.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell
 

[Dorinz]

Thanks Mitchell,

that is helpful. Here's an image with the measurements I am looking at:

 

The L shaped brackets I was looking at are 350x400 so they don't cover the full width but do go about 70% of the way (as in diagram which is fully to scale)

[JacobZ]

Hi @Dorinz,

At about 70% of the depth, it should be ok as long as you aren't placing the heaviest items on the front edge of the shelves.

After installation of the shelving, you could always add a piece of 70 x 35mm beneath the front edge of the shelves to help support and distribute the load if you aren't comfortable with how the shelves feel.

Let me know what you think.

Jacob

[Dorinz]

Thanks Jacob,

would the piece on the front edge need to be supported at the end (where the existing shelves are) or just attach to the bottom of the shelving to prevent buckling?

[JacobZ]

Hi @Dorinz,

It'd be best to tie it into the existing shelves. This would ensure the load is transferred into a support structure, which in this case would be the existing wardrobe framing.

You'd be best attaching the end of the framing, either by screwing back through the new framing you are adding to the ends, or by adding small angle brackets to that corner.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Jacob