From towels to toiletries, the more storage, the better in any bathroom. It's the room that keeps you clean, so the least you can do is return the favour. Got other storage needs? Make the unit a little taller and store mittens, hats and boots in your mud room. You could even use this basic design and build a larger version for your laundry room.
The details, design and instructions for this project were conceived with the beginner in mind. It features screw-and-glue joinery, minimal tool requirements and off-the-shelf materials.
Bathroom Basics
Start your project with the legs. Cross cut a pine 2x4-which actually measures about 1 1/2" x 3 1/2", depending on how it was milled-into two pieces, each measuring 35 1/2" long. Take these to the tablesaw and set the fence 1 1/2" from the blade. You need to end up with four pieces measuring exactly 1 1/2" square. To do this, rip each piece twice, rotating the wood 90º between passes to ensure consistent dimensions across all four faces.
Next, make a sanding block by wrapping a piece of 120-grit sandpaper around a wood block. Use it to remove the saw marks left by the tablesaw. To add a decorative touch to the legs, I milled a chamfer into each of the outside corners. To complete this step, set up a 45º chamfer bit into your router and mill the detail, starting and stopping 2" from each end.
The top and shelves are made from factory-laminated pine shelving. You'll find this material on the shelf at most home-improvement stores. Cross cut three pieces to 14" long for the shelves, then rip them to 14" wide. Use a sanding block again to clean up the saw marks on the edges.
You need to create notches in the four corners of each shelf to accommodate the legs. Simply cut a piece of scrap into a 1" x 1" square, lay it on each corner, then trace the outline. Use a handsaw to cut the notches.
Cross cut one more piece of shelving to 16" x 16" for the top and sand the edges. If you have a router, consider putting a decorative edge on all four sides of the top. I used a Roman ogee bit. Begin routing from one of the end-grain edges (the sides with visible growth rings), then work your way around the top. Starting this way (as opposed to beginning with an edge-grain side) automatically removes the splintering that's almost always left behind as the bit exits end-grain cuts.
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