Sauder HomePlus Basic Storage Cupboard Cabinet, Dakota Oak

The cabinet overall is a great product and easy to assemble. The finish is good and easy to clean. The variable choices for shelf designation is great, offering lots of choices. There are a couple of things that could be improved. 1) the backing of the cabinet is made of thin cardboard that is tacked on and does not provide any structural strength and if items are placed hard against could break. 2) The doors have spring loaded hinges that keep them closed but in my opinion are a bit week and should of had a magnetic catch at the top of each door.

I bought a Hodedah and had to return it for several reasons. I bought two, assembled one, and returned both with one unopened. In the past, I have found that Sauder products, although pretty cheap in quality (and price) for the money are fairly sturdy, have decent instructions, are fairly easy to put together, and are worthwhile. This cabinet, of which I bought two, is a little better than what I remember Sauder cabinets to be. It seems they have made some improvements over the years. I don't like the styrofoam in the packing, but it was packed well. Upon opening the carton the instructions were on top as was the bundle of parts, each part sealed in its labeled cell. Easy to do an inventory of pieces and parts. You get the exact number of parts needed in the instructions with the exception if 1" nails (tacks) for mounting the chipboard (cardboard) back of which you need 40, but they give you some extra. The only tools needed are a small hammer and a standard Phillips head screwdriver. The predrilled holes were all where they were supposed to be and in proper alignment. I put together one cabinet by myself and with the other I had help. It goes pretty quickly if you're doing it all by yourself, but much more quickly if you have another person working with you. The hardest part for one person alone is hanging the doors, but it's doable. You just position the top hinge and partially screw in the mounting screws. then you do the middle hinge, then the bottom hinge, all partially screwed in. Once all are on, then tighten all of the mounting screws. I think bottom to top on the tightening is best, but it doesn't really matter. With two people one holds the door in place while the other screws in the hinges. Much easier than holding the doors yourself while screwing them on, but it's not essential that you have help. For all of the rest of the busywork, it just goes twice as fast with two people doing it. It pays to also have some damp paper towels to wipe off the styrofoam dust that clings to the surfaces of all of the pieces. I like to wipe them down before assembly and touch it up afterward, but many people might not care. I would have preferred that the back of the cabinet was particle board like the rest of the cabinet rather than heavy chipboard and that the top was finished. It is made with the assumption that the top will not be visible, so that surface is unfinished. If, however, you have it in a room where you can look down on it at all the unfinished top will stand out and reveal that it is a cheap piece of furniture. The door hinges have three adjustments so you can get them positioned well once it is all assembled and in place. That is a bit of a chore, but not any more so for this cabinet as it is for any other piece of furniture of any quality that allows for door adjustment. The fact that it has the adjustment is a plus. So for a self-assembly cabinet in this class of furniture, Sauder is probably the best you're going to find. This goes for any other furniture they make. In the past, I have purchased and built various Sauder products and they are always equal to or better than the same/similar products manufactured by their competitors. That was my experience with this cabinet as well.

Here are a few things - - We assembled the unit on a carpet. We had it laid down and followed the instructions on paper as well as the you tube video link provided on the instruction manual. - When we were assembling the U shaped base, we realized that if we aligned 3 of the screw holes, the 4th would not. So we used a power tool to create a slightly shifted hole. We did not need to use a drillbit . Just used the screw itself to do that. - Putting in the doors using the hinges - that was the trickier part - the doors are a bit mis-aligned from the top but only slightly mis-aligned at the bottom but luckily its not too visible from a distance. - There is a gap between the doors from where you can see about 1/2 inch of the shelving. I think we need to adjust the hinges to close that gap. It is not looking bad though. - The unit is located in our dining room and fits in nicely. It was a bit wobby until we added the shelves and dumped some heavy items on the bottom shelf. - After the storage items are loaded ( I am using it as a pantry ) it is steady and has weight and our cats are having a great time using the top of the unit as a hideaway. The dining table is working as a launch pad. lol - Note that the holes they made on the cardboard for the back from where to slip out the metal strip to attach to the wall was not in the middle so the strip comes out twisted. It would not be easy to get that comfortably attached to the wall.

We bought three of these for storage of various items. They have plenty of room for us, and I also like the adjustable shelves. We only wished that they were just a little bit taller. Still having issues trying to get the doors to fit closer together when they are closed.

I recently bought this storage cabinet to use as a linen closet, and I'm extremely pleased with it, considering its price point. In fact, I liked it so much that I bought a second one to sit right next to the first. The cabinet was easy to put together. I've constructed more than 30 pieces of DIY furniture over the years from various retailers, including Target, Ikea, World Market, Overstock, etc., and I have to say that I was extremely impressed with this cabinet from Sauder. I would rank it in my personal Top 5 for a variety of reasons. First, the instructions were clear and easy to follow, especially for someone who has experience putting together DIY furniture. The instructions even included tips on making minor adjustments to the hinges (loosening the mounting screws) so that you can attach them into the cabinet walls quickly and easily. These "hinge adjustment tips" also help you position the doors once the cabinet is done so that there's no gap between them. Sauder also has a ton of instructional YouTube videos that help with this -- I'd highly recommend checking them out as a reference before putting the cabinet together. All the hardware is separated and labeled in a handy plastic bubble sheet. And, all of the pre-drilled screw holes are in the right spot. Everything just fits. You don't have to bend or shove or warp anything to get it to align properly. I'm a petite/small-framed 5'4" female, and aside from having my husband bring the shipping box (110 pounds) inside the house, I took it from there and put the cabinet together by myself with no assistance. It took about an hour and required only a hammer and a Philips head screwdriver (I'd recommend using a cordless/electric screwdriver, which will speed up the process considerably). I do want to share a DIY furniture tip or "shortcut" I learned years ago for any other small-framed people who are putting this unit together alone. When attaching door hinges to a cabinet, it's easier for me to lay the cabinet on its side (rather than upright, as the directions invariably recommend) and then attach the hinges from there, along the floor. No balancing or holding up the door. That approach has worked every time for years and definitely worked with this Sauder cabinet as well. Both of the units I ordered had a few tiny nicks in the finish here and there, but not on every piece. I just used a dark brown marker to fill them in, and now you can't even tell. I think these minor scratches could be totally avoided if Sauder would just put a single sheet of newsprint paper between the individual pieces in the shipping box, like Ikea does. As it stands, the pieces are well protected by the shipping box, but they're not necessarily protected from *each other* inside the box. All of the cabinet's interior shelves are adjustable and hold a maximum weight of 25 pounds. They are a very tight fit, though. I agree with other reviewers who said that the interior shelves are cut about 1/8" - 1/16" too wide. However, I got them to fit with a little pushing/tapping. The door handles look sleek and modern and are a cinch to attach. The cabinet's Dakota Oak finish is a lovely espresso color -- not quite as dark as Ikea's espresso-colored furniture, though, for anyone who might be wondering. Overall, I'm really pleased with how easy this cabinet was to construct, the extra tips on adjusting the hinges, and the appearance of the finished product. As I mentioned above, I liked the first cabinet so much that I bought a second one to sit right next to it. Constructing the second cabinet was just as easy as the first. Together, they're fantastic, and I couldn't be happier. I highly recommend this cabinet and would not hesitate to buy it again or buy another piece from Sauder. It's so much nicer than what you'd get from Ikea. [Also, side note: Because of the depth of this cabinet (17") and the fact that all the interior shelves are adjustable, it would be great as a dollhouse apartment for adult collectors of Blythe, Pullip, Barbie, etc.!]