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A basic five-sided box (no lid) standing on four legs, sized to cut entirely from a single half-sheet of 3/4" plywood with almost nothing left over — the whole build is really an exercise in efficient sheet-good layout. Raising it off the floor on legs is the one design decision that matters: it makes the bin easier to reach into than a floor-level toy box, and keeps it (and whatever's stored in it) up out of a wet mudroom floor or an easy vacuum sweep underneath.
MDF is a fine substitute for plywood here if you want dead-flat sides for painting, but it changes the fastening: MDF's straight-shafted screws behave very differently from wood screws' tapered shafts, and driving a regular tapered wood screw into an MDF edge is a common way to split it apart from the inside. Use drywall screws (straight shaft) and predrill the full length of the screw if you go that route.
| Item | Qty |
|---|---|
| Plywood or MDF, 3/4", half sheetHave the store rip it into 15-1/2" wide strips, 4 ft long — much easier to haul and cut down at home. | 1 each |
| Pine, 2x2, 8 ft | 2 each |
| Pocket hole screws, 1-1/4"Or 2-1/2" self-tapping wood screws as an alternative. | 1 box |
| Wood glue | 3 oz |
| Sandpaper, assorted grit | 3 sheet |
Overall cost: $$. Lumber prices vary by region, species, and season, so we give a band rather than a figure we would only be pretending to know.
| Part | Qty | T × W × L |
|---|---|---|
| Sides and bottomPlywood or MDF | 3 | 3/4" × 15 1/2" × 32" |
| End panelsPlywood or MDFCut from the leftover material after the sides and bottom. | 2 | 3/4" × 15 1/2" × 15 1/2" |
| LegsPine | 4 | 1 1/2" × 1 1/2" × 32" |
Buy 4 boards at 8 ft.
2 boards
2 boards
Assumes 8 ft stock, a 1/8" saw kerf, and buying each part at its own width. Change the board size or kerf on the full board plan →
Plan your cuts carefully before you start — as with any sheet good layout, you can't mark every cut ahead of time, because the saw blade's kerf takes up space too. Mark, cut, then mark the next piece. Having the strips pre-ripped to 15-1/2" wide at the store turns the at-home cutting into a handful of easy straight crosscuts.
Drill pocket holes in all the boards as needed, then attach a leg to each corner of both end panels with glue. Predrill and use a countersink bit if you're using screws instead of pocket holes.
Attach the two long sides and the bottom together with glue and pocket holes (or countersunk screws and glue). If you're working with MDF and screwing into its edges, predrill the full length of the screw and use straight-shafted drywall screws — regular tapered wood screws will split MDF edges apart.
Attach the box to the two end-panel-and-leg assemblies through the pocket holes in the bottom, with glue. Sand every edge and surface before finishing.
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