Prepac White Elite 32″ Storage Cabinet with Shelves

I ordered two of these and got them in this week. I got the time to assemble one of them last night. As I recently built up two other book cases of similar design, I had the tools and recent memories together to make short/quick work of this assembly job.

Received condition: Overall, all the pieces were in very good condition. Packaging was solid and the cardboard strength was good enough to keep most external protrusions to a minimum. The only damage was a slight dent into the beveled edge of one of the front doors. But it didn’t mar the paint so no touch-up was necessary. Assembly proceeded.

Assembly: The assembly was straight-forward. With the help of a little Black & Decker Lithium powered screwdriver, I was able to make short work of the process. Make sure not to use a high-torque device or you will end up stripping out the wood and be up crap creek without a paddle. A large flat area is required so I just used the kitchen floor. All the holes lined up fine so the entire frame went together without a hitch. A couple of key things to note when installing the thin backing:

1. I use #4×1/2″ screws instead of the included nails. The nails always work loose over time, leaving the backing pretty much worthless. The screws will stay in for the life of the cabinet, usually. Use the type with a round head and flat underside head. That way they hold the material better without splitting into it. Two packages of 16 screws sell for $2.36 at Home Depot. That’s where I got mine and 32 screws are plenty for one cabinet.
2. There is no line or instructions for attaching the backing to the middle support shelf. But there should be. So, get a long straight edge, lay the cabinet frame down on its front side, position the backing correctly height-wise, push slightly off to one side and mark a center for the support shelf position on one side, then push other direction and mark a center line on the other side. Use the straight edge to connect the two center marks together to get the line for screw/nail placement. Reposition the backing to the correct location and start attaching with the nails (or screws if you’re like me).

Attachment of the front doors was pretty easy, even for one person. Pay attention to the pictures to get the correct parts installed in the correct positions and it will go without a hitch. The pre-drilled holes work pretty well. So the door installation went pretty easy. I haven’t made any adjustments to the doors yet but there appears to be slight adjustments for how far the stick out forward and then also some adjustments for positioning when closed.

There is indeed a gap between the two doors at the center. It’s approximately ¼”. Easy to see through. But it doesn’t really make any difference so I don’t care. The internal dimensions are pretty roomy so it will hold lots of stuff. The supports for the adjustable shelves are the cheap little plastic parts that I wouldn’t rely on for anything. I replaced them with the metal ones (5mm version) available through Amazon or also available at Home Depot or Lowes. These are much stronger and you won’t have to worry about them becoming brittle over time and breaking.

At this point in time, these cabinets are priced at $200. For that price point, I would expect much better quality hinges, metal supports for shelves, and screws for the backing material. As they are, the price should be closer to $125. Or maybe $150 with the free Prime shipping.

It came in a large cardboard box that must have weighed at least 80lbs…but so bulky and awkward it seemed like 125….so think carefully about exactly where you’d like it delivered. If it’s too awkward for the delivery person, it might get damaged …if it’s too far away from its intended location, it will be a chore for you to move. There was lots of padding inside and so the materials sustained very little damage…my first unit had a one-inch chipped corner on one side panel, but it was the back corner, out of view and not a problem. Putting it together was super easy, I barely glanced at the instructions. The most difficult part of assembly was squaring before nailing on the back panel…if you don’t get it reasonably square, I imagine the doors will not hang properly. The unit is as described and looks good and provides a lot of useful storage space. A good value.

I love this cabinet, it has lots of room. I was able to assemble it myself in about an hour. Box is very heavy – but cabinet is sturdy.

I really wanted a black storage cabinet, but after realizing that all of the black storage cabinets available are flimsy, I decided to get this one and paint it black. This is one sturdy cabinet! It arrived in a big, heavy package, and I had to help the UPS driver get it off her truck. Rather than try to carry it up my driveway, I took a boxcutter and opened it right on my lawn, then carried it up a few pieces at a time.

The directions are super-easy to follow, and I decided that it would be fun to complicate things by building a platform on wheels, upon which to erect this mighty cabinet. My husband cussed up a storm, but successfully completed both the platform on wheels and the cabinet assembly in a single afternoon. I would have done it myself, but he commandeered the project under the guise of “helping”. Works every time!

Seriously, I don’t know how we ever managed to live without this cabinet. It holds a ton of stuff, and it looks fantastic! In fact, it looked great in white, with its nice modern handles, so I decided to hold off on the painting. I did, however, add two more shelves, just because I could. This was incredibly easy – I took one of the shelves to my local big orange box store, and had the guy in lumber cut me two more pieces of the shelf material to the exact same size. This was so cheap I thought they must have miscalculated the price, and I got to keep the uncut leftover piece for my next project, a linen closet with adjustable shelves. I bought a little package of shelf peg thingies there, too.

Now, the holes for the shelf peg thingies don’t go all the way up and down inside the entire cabinet, which means you are slightly limited in your shelf placement, unless you decide to drill more holes. However, it worked out perfectly for me — I moved both of the movable shelves and their pegs to the highest position, and added my extra shelves and pegs to the lowest positions, which created two extra “mini-shelves” tall enough for cans of soup, boxes of jello, skillets, etc. The four “tall” shelves are plenty tall enough for everything tall, or everything medium, stacked double. Plus, the very top of the cabinet is like another shelf. The total amount of storage space is stunning. I want to get at least three more of these, for the garage, the laundry room, and the extra bedroom where we put assorted items we don’t know where to put. “A place for everything, and everything in its place” might actually happen!

I can’t think of a single negative about this cabinet. If I had to come up with something negative, just so you know it’s a real review from a genuine human cabinet consumer, not some fake one written by someone getting paid one-half an American dollar to write fake reviews, it would be that the packaging material is unbelievably sturdy. Seriously, I went through like four blades on my husband’s boxcutter thingie, cutting up the packaging material so I could bag it up for the trash guys. In hindsight, I should have removed the shipping labels and put it out by the curb with a big sign, “Hey kids! FREE Clubhouse! FREE Fort!”