Sauder HomePlus Basic Storage Cabinet, Dakota Oak

I wanted the look of built-ins without the price and labor for all of my crafting, art supplies and our family board games. These are perfect. The adjustable shelves were perfect to tailor it to exactly the measurements I needed to fit the max number of 4” tall sterilite boxes I ordered from amazon. Each box houses a specific craft material and easily remains visible and accessible on the cabinet shelves. These cabinets allowed me to have the look I was going for and keep my supplies out of sight of my 16 month old, who before now hadn’t been permitted in this part of the basement. These cabinets are heavy and easily anchor to the wall. They even adjust on their feet to accommodate our sloping basement floor to appear even on the top. The depth is perfect. Deep enough for standard sterilite boxes, but not too deep to allow wasted space or items to become lost in the back. Highly recommend these cabinets.

These cabinets are in my book somewhere between generic Chinese and IKEA. The finish quality is good, but most IKEA furniture has better finish. The build quality is also good. At the maximum height the doors still rub against the lower panel, but at least they align well.

The construction is however on the flimsy side. I wish it has better joints for the upper and lower panels (see below), and perhaps another structural panel in the middle (like many other cabinets). I also wish the back was made out of something else than the usual cardboard.

My main complaint (sturdiness, or rather lack thereof) is caused by the horrible Sauder Twist-lock joints. They are easy to assemble but will most likely pull out at the slightest load. More solid joints are available, cheap, and in my opinion should have been used. Easy to assemble (which is done once) should never trump utility (sturdiness). With the Twist-lock joints the upper board is not load bearing (it barely holds itself), which also impacts negatively the sturdiness of the whole cabinet.

Finally, it should be noted that the cabinet costs $200 direct from Sauder (that’s about $260 Canadian), which is about $100 less than the price on Amazon.ca.

Overall i like the cabinet and I do not regret my purchase. Next time however I will head straight to IKEA instead.

I’ve purchased six of these cabinets from Sauder — in all three finishes (Dakota Oak, Sienna Oak, and white) — for the last three houses I have lived in. This cabinet so perfect for my needs that I just keep buying the darn thing, LOL. It’s always easy to put together, and I know I’m going to get a consistently good product.

I recently bought two units of this storage cabinet yet AGAIN, in white, to use in my home office. The cabinet was easy to put together. I’ve constructed a ton of DIY furniture over the years from various stores, including Target, IKEA, World Market, Overstock, etc., and as usual, I was extremely impressed with this cabinet from Sauder.

First, the instructions were clear and easy to follow and 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 tips also help you position the doors so 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 an electric screwdriver to speed things up).

I do want to share a DIY furniture tip or “shortcut” I learned years ago. When attaching door hinges to a cabinet, it’s easier for me to lay the cabinet on its side and then attach the hinges parallel to the floor, meaning you won’t have to balance or hold up the door. This approach has worked 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. Honestly, I used a white chalk pen to fill them in, and 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 each. 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.

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. 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.!]

I purchased the Salt Oak colored cabinet for $169 and one week later they want $270 for the exact same cabinet. Did this cabinet become a better product in the last week? I don’t want to buy 2 different colors, or 3. I just really think this is a bad way to conduct business. It’s insulting. I am surprised there are not more comments like this… or maybe there will be. I have assembled it so not sure how to disassemble and return it because I threw the box away before I realized I was going to be up-charged. Not cool.

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.

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.

It was very easy to assemble; I did it by myself. I love that it’s tall, but narrow, so that it gives you a lot of storage space without taking up too much space in the room. (I used to have a different brand that was shorter but wider, and this one is so much better!) I also like that you can adjust each of the feet individually; my floor is a bit crooked, so I just adjusted one foot, and the cabinet is level and doesn’t wobble. It’s quite sturdy. I wish it had one more shelf, but that’s a minor thing, and the manufacturer’s website has an order form where you can order extra shelves.