This is one of those projects that keeps on giving. Click image to enlarge

Bathroom Magazine Cubby

Text and photos by Tom Hintz

Despite all the reading that goes on in bathrooms, they are poorly designed for storage of the reading materials. Leave the new woodworking magazine within comfortable reaching distance from the "seat" and it is in the way of something or someone almost immediately.
   Building a magazine rack that stood on the floor or hung from the wall would still be in the way. Then, one day in the midst of a particularly thoughtful moment, I was struck by a workable answer. The only feasible alternative was to build it into the wall. Instant magazine storage without impinging on the floor space.
   I started the project by using a hacksaw blade to cut a slit in the bathroom wall, in the spot authorized by my wife. Studs are supposed to be located 16 inches on center, but experience told me to check the actual distance before committing anything to wood. With that measurement, I made an open front box from ½-inch spruce plywood, 2 ½-inches deep. To judge the height, add at least one inch to your favorite magazine and make your box that tall. The back, made of the same plywood, is glued and nailed to the rear of the box frame since it will be out of sight.
   I used 2 ½-inch-wide by ¾-inch-thick red oak for the face frame. The joints are half-lapped, glued and screwed from the back. The inside dimension of the face frame was made (intentionally) large enough to produce a small reveal when glued and nailed to the box. I am assuming reveals like this are used to enhance appearance. I did it because they always do on This Old House and figured who was I to argue.
   I drilled two holes in either side where the face frame meets the box and glued a pair of ½-inch dowels across the lower 2/3 of the cubby to retain the magazines.
   After staining and two coats of polyurethane, I drew out the finished measurements of the box on the wall and cut the drywall out making sure to get it flush against the studs. The box actually fit nicely in the hole, the face frame flush against the drywall. A 2-inch drywall screw through the inner sides of the box into the adjacent studs secured the cubby.
   Now, magazines are always within easy reach at appropriate moments, the cubby makes the bathroom look a little more custom, and I have one more project under my belt.