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October 20, 2022

DIY Montessori Toddler Wardrobe

These cute little wardrobes are perfect for encouraging independence in your toddler and the best part is, they are super easy to build! All you need is some plywood, edge banding and a few accessories and you are good to go!

Supplies Needed

  • 3/4″ Birch Plywood
  • 1 3/8″ Closet Rod
  • Stapler and staples
  • Shaker Pegs
  • Wood closet rod hangers (1 or 2 sets)
  • Edge Banding
  • Shelf Pin Jig
  • Shelf Pins
  • Pocket Hole Jig
  • Pocket Hole Screws
  • Wood Glue
  • Polyurethane

Cut List

  • 3/4″ Birch Plywood
    • Sides – A (2) 11.5″ x 38.75″
    • Top and Bottom – B (2) 11.5″ x 28.5″
    • Center Support – C (1) 11.5″ x 35.5″
    • Shelves – D (3) 11.5″ 11.25″
    • Right Side Shelf – E (1) 11.5″ x 16.5″
    • Toe Kick – F (1) 1.75″ x 28.5″
  • 1/4″ Sanded Plywood
    • 12.5″ x 37″
  • 1 3/8″ Pine Closet Rod
    • 16″

The first step is to cut down your plywood into 11.5″ strips. You can see that I used a 4×4 sheet of plywood but I did need to use slightly more than this to get all my shelves cut, so I used some extra scraps I had in my garage. Make sure you put painters tape down your cut lines to prevent tear-out of the plywood from the table saw. After you rip your plywood down, you can make the rest of your cuts. Then you can add your pocket holes to the specified pieces as shown in the diagram above.

Now that you have your pieces cut, you can add edge banding, if desired, to the side of the pieces that will be facing the front. They are marked with green lines in the figure above. A lot of Montessori furniture on the market foregoes edge banding, but I prefer the look of a finished edge over the look of a raw plywood edge.

Now it is time to attach the top and bottom panels to the sides and the toe kick to the sides below the bottom using glue and pocket hole screws. I inset the toe kick 1/4″ by placing a piece of scrap wood under the toe kick piece while attaching it.

Now you can attach the center support using your shelf pieces to appropriately space the center support. Attach the center support using glue and pocket hole screws. Then you can add shelf pin holes along the left and right sides where desired. You can see the approximate locations of where I added the shelf holes in the diagram above.

Now you can apply polyurethane to all your pieces (stain beforehand if desired), and then apply the backing on the left side with a stapler.

The last steps are to screw in the closet hanger rod holders. I put shelf pin holes on the left side at the top and the bottom so the shelf could be placed either high or low and therefore I attached two sets of closet rod holders. I put one set above the set of shelf pin holes and one set below. And then I used a 1/2″ Forstner bit to put holes in the side panel so I could insert my shaker pegs.

For the finishing touch, add these colorful bins and baskets from Target! This is a quick one day build that anyone can do! As always, reach out to me if you have any questions!

Posted In: My Projects, Tutorials

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Wife, Mom of 4, maker of all things.

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