Cabinet Door Magazine Rack

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Hello! I am happy to be here! It’s Mindi from MyLove2Create!
Today I am sharing how to make a Cabinet Door Magazine Rack!

DIY Magazine Rack made from cabinet doors

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This is a pretty easy project and very useful too!

close up of mod podge on magazine rack

I am excited to show you how I made it! Let’s get started!

How to make a DIY Magazine Rack:

* This post contains affiliate links that help me at not cost to you! Read more.

Supplies:

 

small cabinet doors before

I have had these two small cabinet doors for a while and I knew I wanted to make something out of them. It has taken months to come up with an idea, but this one seemed to be the perfect one!

1: Cut top aprons and bottom piece

cutting at 15 degrees

Since I was repurposing the cabinet doors I started with cutting my aprons out of some scrap 1×2 pieces. If you don’t have cabinet doors, you could just cut plywood to the size you want,  or to the dimensions of my cabinet doors in the supply list above.
Cut your 1×4 bottom piece to the length of your cabinet/plywood sides. Mine was at 16”.
Setting my Miter Saw at 15 degrees I cut the two aprons with the top part (long point to long point) at 9 1/2”. You can see me doing a dry fit to see if it was the correct distance using my bottom board as a guide with my cabinet doors.

2:  Sand and drill pocket holes

sanding and drilling pocket holes

Once I had all my pieces cut I sanded them smooth. Then I used my Kreg K5 Pocket-Hole Jig to drill 1/2” pocket holes into my aprons,  drilled 1/2” pocket holes because my cabinet doors were 1/2” thick. You can drill pocket holes with an angled cut, your end just needs to sit flush with the bottom of the jig, so it will be at an angle.

3:  Attach apron pieces to sides

adding aprons or handles

Using wood glue I clamped my aprons to my cabinet door, flush with the outside and top edges. I used my Right Angle Clamp to help keep the apron in the correct place while I drilled in the first 3/4” screw.
Once the two aprons were attached to one side, I then attached them to the other cabinet door.

4: Attach the base to the sides

nail cabinet doors to base

I slid in my 1×4 base between the two sides and then used my Nail gun to nail it in place with 2” finish nails through the cabinet doors.

5:  Fill holes and Paint

spray painting magazine rack

I always have left over spray paint, so I grabbed one of my BLUE 🙂 cans and  spray painted my magazine rack.
If you choose to fill in your pocket holes, and any other gaps you would do this with wood filler or spackle before you paint. Fill the holes, let dry, sand smooth, wipe clean, then paint. I choose not to fill my holes. Lazy.

6: Make a template and cut fabric sides

tracing side template

I traced the side of my magazine rack on a piece of paper and then cut it out to make a template for cutting the fabric sides. You can see I purposefully left a gap. I did this so that you can hold the aprons (1×2’s) as handles it works great!

cutting leather

Because I had gotten a free stash of leather off the side of the road eons ago…it seemed the natural choice for me to use it for my side pieces. I traced my template onto my leather and cut it out.

7:  Add fabric sides to magazine rack

attaching leather sides

To add my fabric sides I started by Hot gluing the bottom piece in place, then I glued one side then the other.
Once the hot glue was holding the fabric in place I trimmed off any excess, but just because I used leather and it doesn’t fray. If you are using fabric that frays, you will need to cut it a little bigger than your template, fold the edges in and iron them flat so that it matches the template size, then hot glue it onto rack.
In order to secure the fabric I drilled small pilot holes and then hammered in Carpet tacks. With the hard wood of the cabinet doors, it was necessary to drill holes first. However,  I didn’t on the first time I tried to nail in a tack and it spilt the wood. I had to glue and clamp it. Oops!

8:  Mod Podge on some decorative craft paper (optional)

measuring for paper, and cutting paper

I thought it would be fun to add some decorative craft paper on the inset portions of my cabinet doors. After measuring, I  cut my paper to size.

mod podge paper onto cabinet door

Then I added Mod Podge Matte Finish to the inset portion, put on the paper making sure to smooth out any bubbles, and covered it with another layer of mod podge. Next, I wiped off any excess mod podge from the edges with a wet paper towel. Then let it dry.

book rack

Fill it with books or magazines and you are done!

inside of repurposed cabinet doors into magazine rack

Here is a shot of the inside, you can fit quite a bit of stuff in this rack!

leather side of magazine rack

I love the fabric/leather sides! I enjoy using leather in projects like my Leather Belt Crate, and my DIY Magazine Rack.

top view magazine rack

The apron handles make it super easy to carry and move around.

craft paper holder

I have actually thought that this would be a great addition to the craft room storing random craft supplies like paper!

magazine rack

Or even vinyl, because if you have vinyl it totally needs containing! And look, you cans see my “how to transform laminate furniture” bench with my “Two easy steps to build stackable crates” inside!

stuffed animal holder

Wouldn’t you know it? The kids have decided that it is perfect for stuffed animals too! So many ways to organize and store you stuff!
What you would use it for?
Hugs!
Mindi

see more of Mindi’s posts on MRL here

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About Mindi

Mindi is a wife, mother, runner, dancer, and a lover of all things fun and DIY.

A few years ago she discovered blogs and fell in love with the idea that she could do things she had always dreamed of doing. Like build furniture from pallets, and make cool projects for her home.... Mindi was inspired by other bloggers that empowered her to create.

Mindi decided to give back and possibly reach someone out there that has a desire to create like herself. She believes we all have that desire in some form or another, and we all DO create in our own way, every day. Whether it be crafty or not, even creating happiness in others is a gift that many share.

Mindi loves to learn and use that knowledge to make beautiful and useful things for her home.

ABOUT GAIL WILSON - A teacher at heart, Gail Wilson relishes the chance not to show off her projects, but to help others find their inner handywoman, step-by-step. Her blog, MyRepurposedLife.com, chronicles her scrap-saving adventures and has been featured on countless DIY magazines and websites, including Women’s Day, Design*Sponge and Apartment Therapy. She is a longtime influencer for both Homeright and Gorrilla Glue. With a tribe of more than 450,000 followers, Gail is inspiring a new generation of DIYers to pick up some tools and get to work.

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Comments

    • Gail Wilson says

      July 17, 2018 at 10:12 pm

      Chris,

      I was lucky to get about 40 from a good friend who picked them up from an auction. I love, love, love using cabinet doors for simple projects.

      You could try looking at your local Habitat for Humanity ReStore. I also recommend asking your friends and family on Facebook. You never know who might have something laying around that you want. 😉

      gail

      Reply

  2. Lou says

    June 3, 2018 at 10:18 am

    SO timely. Just moved and brought with me stash of old long-shelved cabinet doors, as well as the shelves (10′ lengths) Renovated the garage of new place into my ‘she shack’ and had a 12’x22′ empty space to fill with all the crap…err..craft supplies, art studio and music room. These ideas for storage and coat racks, desk organizer and others have come at just the right time. Thank you thank you.

    Reply

  3. JaneEllen says

    September 14, 2017 at 1:40 am

    Fantastic idea Mindi, love it and color you painted it also. Had to save it in case Mr.Furry ever decided he’ll build one. Great job on the tutorial.. Need to get one of those Krieg jigs, would make it lot easier for hubs. Holiday gift idea. Very handsome magazine rack and different. Looks like you have pretty nice work shop set up in your garage.We have to work outside as no garage.

    Reply

    • Mindi says

      September 15, 2017 at 12:33 pm

      Thank you so much JaneEllen!! I think a Kreg jig is a perfect gift idea! Thanks for saving this project! I do a lot of work outside too, since my workshop is so small…I have even worked in my kitchen! Ha ha!

      Reply

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