Broom holder

Would you believe I designed the wall cabinet to match this broom holder? It was carefully selected, too (what a surprise). Standard ones that use some kind of spring-loaded clamping action were no good — they cause damage to the broom handle (or whatever handle). Those that levered against a wall were also no good — they require a wall (then the long item damages the wall!). This is so much better.



It uses a patented gravity-type camlock. Just lift up and out. It may look cheap, but it works wonderfully. Bed Bath & Beyond sells it for $12. Costco sometimes stock a two-pack for $18.

I have three of them. I think it's the best way to hold long-handled items.

Deep wall cabinet

This is just a simple wall cabinet that replaced some shelves in my garage.

The only unusual design factors were:
1. size to match Home Depot's 18"x30" cabinet doors ($40 each)
2. extra-deep shelves (and therefore, deep side panels, for a broom holder)
3. extended back panel to catch three wall studs
4. use up the leftover 3/4" maple plywood and solid 1x maple

Because of the stock door panels, my primary concern was dimensioning the width. I had to build the face-frame first. Then, after confirming dimensions on the computer (and reprinting the drawings), the top and bottom panels were cut. It's a reverse order of fabrication, cabinetmakers will tell you.


Every joint was biscuit-glued. The rear panels were additionally strengthened with carpenter's screws (not the usual wood screws) that really grabs plywood (purchased from the local Rockler store). Perhaps an overkill, but better safe than sorry. The finished 19"-deep box was then screwed to three wall studs with nine 4" cabinet screws (also from Rockler). It can hide a laundry basket!