Queen of To Do's Dreambox Craft Dupe: Under $1000 DIY Solution!

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We love solving problems and finding crafty, budget-friendly solutions. Queen of To Do founder Kate Ginsberg shares how she longed for a Dreambox storage system but was hesitant to spend the high prices they usually cost. So, she researched online and created her own Dreambox dupe using easy-to-find materials from Lowe's and IKEA!

Queen of To Do can build your very own Dreambox dupe if you're in the Central Texas area! We'll handle everything—from picking up materials to assembling and organizing all your crafting supplies. Not in Central Texas? No worries! Our virtual assistant services are available anywhere. Whether you need help customizing this Dreambox dupe to fit your space or tackling another IKEA hack, Queen of To Do is here to assist. We can also help you organize the inside of the cabinet, personalizing it to suit your needs and craft materials. Other popular virtual assistant services we offer include scheduling and calendar management, travel research and planning.

"I've wanted a Dream Box for sewing and crafting storage for years, but spending over $2,500 on a cabinet was hard to justify. Using PAX cabinet frames, coordinating drawers and shelves, and a few other items from Lowe's and Amazon, I was able to build my dream cabinet for under $1,000 with just basic assembly skills and tools—and you can too!"

Materials

Amazon:
Wheels (set of 12)

Piano hinge (x2)

Lowes:
Mortise hinges (x2)
Whiteboard panel

1x4 board: Kate had these on hand, but you can buy one 10 foot board from any lumber store (or check the scrap section for shorter pieces at a discount!)

1.25-1.5” wood screws and small washers: Kate had these on hand as well.  Kate uses the washers to make sure the screw heads do not slip through the slots on the wheel brackets. 

IKEA:
Pax wide wardrobe frame
Pax narrow wardrobe frame (x2)
Komplement divider
Komplement drawer (x2)
Linnmon table top (x2)
Olov legs (x4)
Komplement shelves (x4)

Additions to buy later: 
Komplement drawers (x8)
Komplement shelves (x4)

Note on materials: When buying your supplies, you need to decide what depth Pax cabinets you would like to use. Ikea offers options that are 13.75” or 22.875” deep. You will need one wide (39.325”) and two narrow (19.625”) Pax frames in your choice of heights. You can choose different depths for the wide cabinet and narrow ones, as long as both of the narrow ones are the same depth. (I opted for the deep cabinets, as I suspected that future me would be annoyed by not having the extra space.) Double check your ceiling height to be sure you can stand the units up without issue!

1. Assemble the cabinets according to the instructions provided. You can skip the feet/legs that come with the cabinets, as you’ll be attaching wheels to easily move, open, and close the unit.
2. Cut the 1x4 board into lengths that will fit into the bottom of the cabinets. Hardware stores will typically take care of cutting wood as well (but sometimes will try to only do one cut per board–If you ask nicely, they will sometimes do additional cuts). You will need 2 pieces for each section. There’s no need to be exact in these cuts–close is good enough! These will provide support/height for the wheels. Use the wheels and a Sharpie to mark placement on the boards. Kate just eye-balled these. 
3. When you have those marked, use a small drill bit to drill pilot holes. This will help minimize the risk of splitting the board when you attach the wheels. With your cabinets lying down, place a prepared board at the bottom edge (the long side of the wide cabinet, short edge of the narrow ones) and attach the wheels to the board/cabinet. Your screws should be long enough to hold well into the base of the cabinet without going all the way through. Repeat this process for all wheels–4 per cabinet. (Side note: Kate used half braking wheels and half non-braking because that what shipped quickly.
4. At this point, stand up all your cabinets and line them up next to each other with open sides facing you, the wide cabinet in the middle of the narrow ones. They should all be level and very close to the same height. 
5. Mark hinge placement roughly 12-18” down from the top of your cabinet and 18-24” from the bottom. Feel free to use an additional hinge in the middle if you opted for the taller version of the cabinets. To ensure everything was properly lined up and will open and close, Kate opened each hinge and lined it up with the interior edge of the “walls” of the cabinets. 
6. Drill small pilot holes and then attach the hinges using the screws that are included. Double check with narrow cabinets in both open and closed positions to ensure you are happy with alignment.
7. Assemble and add all extras–divider, shelves, and drawers. You can place these in any arrangement that suits your needs. You can also place any command hooks, peg boards, rods, etc that best suit your needs.
8. For the fold out table, Kate used the Komplement divider. She put this in the wide Pax unit as an attachment point for the end of one Linnmon table top. Hinge placement is important, as that will affect how it folds in and out of the cabinet and whether it will open and close properly. The second tabletop is attached using a long piano hinge along the long sides of both table tops. 
9. Install the leg brackets on the table top, one on the outer edge closest to the cabinet, (opposite edge from the long edge hinge) and three on the far end opposite where it attaches to the divider inside the cabinet. The legs Kate chose are adjustable in height and easily unscrew from the table for storage and folding the tops back into the cabinet.
10. Last step is to add the whiteboard panels to the brown sides (backs) of the narrow cabinets that now face out towards your room. This step is purely aesthetic, not functional. Cut the whiteboard to size and attach with small finishing nails or construction adhesive. If you’re feeling extra fancy, paint a frame or attach molding to frame the whiteboard pieces to give the cabinet a “finished” look and feel. You could also use a decorative paneling or simply paint the backs (or leave it as is). Attach any handle and/or latch that you like.
    
    
    
    
    Ready to transform your crafting space but feeling overwhelmed? Let Queen of To Do take the stress out of the process! Whether you're local to Central Texas and want us to handle the building and organizing, or you're anywhere else and need virtual assistance, we're here to help. Contact us today to make your dream crafting cabinet a reality!