How to Install Knee-Wall Storage

By: Joseph Truini

Shopping List

Supplies You Will Need

1) Chest of drawers

2) 2- and 3-inch drywall screws

3) Paint, stain or varnish
used to seal bare wood

4) Paintbrush

5) Drop cloth

6) 1/8-inch hardboard
used to cover opening cut into rear of chest

7) 3/4-inch wire nails
used to secure hardboard

8) Doorstop molding
used to trim around installed chest

9) 1 1/2-inch finishing nails
for attaching doorstop molding

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Tools List
Tools You Will Need
- Drill/driver
- Hammer
- Handsaw
- Tape measure
- Level
- Drywall saw
- Circular saw
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Photos: Geoffrey Gross

Introduction
Overview
Steps:
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6 to 8 hours
$200 to $400, depending on size of chest of drawers

Difficulty: Easy to moderate This project will test your rough- and trim-carpentry skills

You can convert hidden, unused spaces into valuable storage areas. Here, you'll recess a chest of drawers into the knee wall of an upstairs bedroom. You'll gain a full-size, eight-drawer chest without sacrificing a single square inch of floor space.

Knee walls are the short interior walls built beneath the roof rafters. Not every home has knee walls; they're most often found in finished attics and top-floor living spaces. These low walls help define the living space by creating vertical surfaces between the sloping rafters and the finished floor. They're typically framed with 2x4s and built 4-feet-high so they can easily be covered with full sheets of drywall. In most cases a knee wall is not a load-bearing partition. If you're not sure if a knee wall is load-bearing, you should consult a licensed contractor or structural engineer. If it is, you can still build in a chest of drawers, but you'll first have to install a double-2x6 header and pair of trimmer studs to support the rafters over the opening.