Whether you are living on your own or with your family, a mudroom locker can add a lot of convenience to your life. The mudroom locker can help you keep things organized and store items like your coat, hat, shoes and backpack or purse, so that you can pick them when you are heading out.
Building a locker for the mudroom isn’t difficult if you are already good with DIY projects. Even if you are a beginner, a mudroom locker project can be completed with relative ease. It can give you a good learning experience to take on more complex projects later.
In this blog, we look at some of the steps of how to build lockers for a mudroom.
What You Will Need
The items you will need to build your mudroom locker depend on the type of locker you are trying to build. At the bare minimum, you will need plywood sheets for the frame and doors, weld wood glue, hinges, hooks, screws, nails, paint and sandpaper.
You will also need DIY tools such as a miter saw, drill, hammer, screwdriver, measuring tape and a nail gun.
Here is a list of items that you can buy online.
Plywood Sheets
Weld Wood Glue
Hinges
Hooks
Sandpaper
How to Build Lockers for a Mudroom in 10 Steps
Step 1 – Select A Design
Before you start cutting and hammering boards together, you need to come up with a design for your mudroom locker project. People build mudroom lockers in millions of different ways, based on their requirement.
Some need space for shoes, some don’t. Some prefer a shelf on the top to place backpacks and hats. Some people prefer to put dividers between each locker, while others are ok with one large locker without dividers.
You can find thousands of locker design ideas on Pinterest. Keep in mind that your goal should be to make your locker look like a customer built-in piece of furniture and not stand out as too odd.
Step 2 – Prepare the Work Area
The space you have designated for your mudroom locker project must be clear of carpet, baseboard trims and other furniture or fixtures that can interfere with the locker. Measure the area two or three times to be sure that your selected design will fit in the area.
Step 3 – Cut Plywood Sheets to Size
Use a measuring tape to mark the sheets so that you cut them with accuracy. Remember, that cutting accuracy separate great DIY home projects from good projects. You will also prevent wasting boards when you have everything measured down to accurate size.
Start by cutting the outer frame pieces first. You can cut the doors and dividers later, after you have installed the main frame of the locker.
Step 4 – Sand the Plywood Sheets
Use an orbital sander or sanding paper to smooth out the edge of your plywood sheets. Smooth edges are easier to attach and stick with other board pieces.
Step 5 – Build the Base
The base needs to be solid and connected to the ground. It will have to support not just the weight of the upper cabinets, but also the weight of all the items you will put inside. Use a 3/4 inch cabinet-grade plywood for the supports and make sure that they have a flat surface for attaching plywood on the top.
The distance between the vertical support boards at the bottom should not be very large. If you are building a locker that is 80 inches wide, then place five to six boards at the bottom that are 15 to 20 inches apart.
Step 6 – Build the Cabinets
Determine how deep and tall you need the cabinets to be. Attach the frames at the side first. You should use a combination of wood glue, screws and nails to ensure that you build a sturdy frame.
We recommend pre-drilling any and all screw holes when working with plywood. It is made up of layers that may come apart if your try to hit a nail hard on its head or sink the screws in.
Keep the width and heights of your locker doors in mind as you build the frame. You will also need to test out how the doors will open to determine how much space they need.
Step 7 – Add the Back to the Lockers
Once you are done with the frame, add plywood back panels to the backside of the cabinets against the wall. You can use glue to fix them in place and then nail them in. If using screws, pre-drill your holes on the sheets.
Step 8 – Caulk the Corners
Once the frame is finished, you will need to fill all the holes with wood putty or caulking mixture to get a smooth finish. Apply the caulk to all corners and edges. This gives you a nice, finished look and helps clean out any of the gaps between the joints.
Step 9 – Attach the Doors
Screw the hinges on to the doors and drill holes into the frames where you want to fix the doors. This can be tricky and you may need support to hold the door in place as you screw them in.
Step 10 – Paint and Prime
You have multiple options to choose for painting, including by hand or by spray. Make sure to use appropriate safety gear like gloves and goggles to protect your hand and eyes.
Our Final Thoughts
In this blog, we provided a breakdown of how to build lockers for a mudroom. Families with children will particularly find mudroom lockers useful. You can tell your kids to store their shoes in the locker when they get home. This helps keep dirt out of your rooms and makes it easier to keep your home clean and tidy.
The locker also comes in handy for storing coats and umbrellas for bad weather or your backpack to ensure you don’t forget it when you are heading out. It is a relatively simpler DIY job and your mudroom locker project can be a good way to learn useful building skills.
