GB2176389A - Furniture component system for storage areas - Google Patents

Abstract

A furniture system includes a lower cabinet 12 and an upper cabinet 13 intended to be stacked thereon. The upper cabinet includes a number of shelves, and has extension side members 60, 61 extending above the top shelf. These side members are dimensioned to fit just beneath the maximum ceiling height anticipated in storage areas having a range of ceiling heights, so that the extension side members can be cut off as needed to fit in lower ceilings. The side members can support shelves 20, 25 and/or hanging rods 19. The lower cabinet supports a mix of drawers and adjustable open shelves, and contains fittings 36 for attaching drawer slide hardware 45 and/or shelf supports 41 without requiring measurement or other carpentry, the arrangement being such that a drawer cannot mistakenly be installed at a location intended to support a shelf. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Furniture component system for storage areas This invention relates in general to furniture intended for organizing and storing articles in a storage area such as a closet or the like, and relates in particular to storage furniture easily fitted and installed in various configurations by persons lacking particular carpentry skills.

Storage space in homes and other locations seldom exists in abundance, and storage space frequently is inadequate for the task at hand. For example, the closets or pantries in older houses and many apartments may be relatively small and insufficient for storage needs. Even where a sufficient number of closets or other storage spaces are available, these spaces may be poorly designed and inefficientfortheirintended purpose. For example, closets found in many homes merely have a single hanging rod with a shelf mounted above the rod, leaving a large area above the shelving and below the hanging unusable for storage purposes.

Only the center-third of the horizontal storage area is used adequately; various articles gradually accumulate on the shelf and the closet floor, lending a cluttered appearance and collecting dust.

A lack of adequate storage capacity in storage areas such as closets may result from misutilizing the existing storage space. Efforts at more efficiently utilizing existing storage areas may be substantially less costly than adding new storage areas to an existing structure, and there are a number of approaches to providing more effective utilization of existing storage space. One such approach is to design-in adequate shelves or storage compartments, and build this storage structure into the storage area when initially constructed. This approach obviously requires advance planning and knowledge of storage requirements, and for this reason is not a practical solution to an existing storage area built without such advance planning.

An alternative way of enhancing storage space utilization is to build cabinets or other storage furniture into an existing storage area. This approach usually calls for custom designing the storage unit and constructing the storage unit in place in the closet or other storage area. This approach thus requires the service of an expert cabinetmaker or highly skilled carpenter, skills which most amateur carpenters lack, and thus usually represents the most expensive approach to obtaining more efficient utilization of storage space.

The high cost of custom design and sitefabricated storage cabinets suggests that prefabricated cabinets should be a less-costly alternatively. Providing factory-built prefabricated cabinets for closets or other storage areas is not without difficulty, however, because the relatively confined access and irregular shapes of storage areas make it difficult to design prefabricated storage furniture which fit effectively in a variety of storage applications, without compromising utility to the point of inefficiency. Moreover, the overall appearance and quality of storage furniture intended for home use is important, and prefabricated storage furniture often lacks a custom or built-in appearance for the reasons mentioned above.

One such storage unit, disclosed in U.S. Patent 4,206,955, is made of several units which can be assembled in a variety of configurations within the confines of most storage areas. The structures shown in this patent may require some on-site carpentry to fit within a particular closet or other storage area, but these storage units in the main give the appearance and effect of custom-designed cabinets while providing many cost benefits associated with prefabricated construction.

Nonetheless, the cabinets disclosed in the aforementioned patent generally do require some custom design and fitting, and for that reason are not easily installable by the average do-it-yourselfer or others lacking any particular carpentry skills. For example, variable ceiling heights preclude making available prefabricated cabinets which extend substantially to the ceiling and thus have a "built-in" appearance. Moreover, the storage needs of a particular purchaser may call for cabinets having fewer shelves and more drawers, but hanging drawers to work smoothly and effectively is an exercise requiring some expertise and having at least the perception of difficulty in the eyes of many do-it-yourselfers.Although the cabinet prefabricator could manufacture and make available a seiection of cabinet having different drawer-shelf configurations and various overall heights, this proposal increases inventory and construction costs and thus is not a preferred solution to the problem.

Stated in general terms, the storage furniture system of the present invention is readily adaptable to fit within storage areas of various sizes and configurations, requiring no more than minimal carpentry skills to install with custom fit and appearance. The cabinet system is easily configured to fit closely beneath ceilings of various heights, and the mix of drawers and open shelves is easily changed to suit the user's needs. One or several hanging rods can be provided at height desired by the user, with one or more shelves mounted above hanging rods if desired.

Stated somewhat more specifically, the present storage furniture system includes a number of separate elements, which the do-it-yourselfer can arrange and combine in various ways to achieve the desired effect in storage areas of various configurations. One of these elements is a lower cabinet which contains a number of drawers along with open shelving positionable at various heights.

Some or all of the shelves in the lower cabinet can; if desired, be replaced by additional drawers, by attaching the drawer track hardware to predetermined attachment points located on the lower cabinet. These drawer hardware attachment points are already in registry with each other on both sides of the cabinet, and from front to back of the cabinet, so that an additional drawer can readily be installed without requiring any measuring or fitting on the part of the do-it-yourselfer.

Another component of the present storage furniture system is an upper cabinet which fits on top of the lower cabinet and may be secured thereto. The upper cabinet preferably includes a number of open shelves, below a top surface whose height is selected to be below a range of ceiling heights under which the cabinet is intended for installation. Extending upwardly from the upper cabinet on flanking sides of the top surface is a pair of side panels, which extend upwardly at least into the range of expected ceiling heights. These side panels thus may be too high for some installations, allowing the do-it-yourselferto reduce the overall height of the upper cabinet by the simple expedient of cutting offthe excess height of the side panels.In this way, the overall height of the upper cabinet is easily reduced to provide a close fit beneath the ceiling of a particular storage area.

The present storage furniture system also includes hanging rods, and shelves in configurations to fit immediately above a hanging rod or elsewhere. The hanging rods and/or shelves may be supported at either or both ends by the sides of lower or upper cabinets.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide improved furniture for storage areas or the like.

It is another object of the present invention to provide storage area furniture which is prefabricated, yet is easily installed to provide a custom fit and appearance without requiring substantial carpentry skills.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide prefabricted furniture capable of use in storage areas having various ceiling heights.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide prefabricated storage furniture including both open shelves and drawers, and enabling a relatively unskilled person to add or remove drawers without difficulty.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide prefabricated furniture for storage areas, wherein a variety of furniture configurations can be assembled using a relatively small number of basic furniture elements.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention.

Fig. lisa perspective view showing one example of a storage area containing furniture assembled from components according to a disclosed embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is an exploded pictorial view showing the lower cabinet and upper cabinet of the embodiment in Fig. 1,togetherwith an extra drawer.

Fig. 3A is a pictorial view of the hanging rods and shelf arrangement on the right side of the arrangement shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3B is a similar view of the hanging rod and shelves shown on the left side of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4A is an end view taken from the right side of Fig. 3A.

Fig. 4B is an exploded end view taken from the right side of Fig. 3B.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary section view illustrating details of a typical mounting track from the lower cabinet.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged pictorial view of the lower cabinet, showing a typical shelf and associated track assembly exploded for illustration.

Figs. 7 and 8 are perspective views showing two alternative arrangements of storage area furniture according to the components in the disclosed embodiment of the present invention.

Turning first to Fig. 1,there is shown at 10 a cabinet assembly according to the present invention, comprising a number of separate components. The assembly 10 is illustrated occupying space within a storage area 11 which may be a closet or the like, but it will become apparent that the cabinet assembly 10 depicted in Fig. 1 is but one selected possible arrangement of the present components. It will also become apparent that the storage area 11 depicted in Fig. 1 is only an example of storage areas of various sizes and shapes, into which storage furniture according to the present invention may be installed.

The cabinet assembly 10 comprises a lower cabinet 12 which rests on the floor of the storage area 11, and an upper cabinet 13 which rests on the top surface 14 (Fig. 2) of the lower cabinet. The upper cabinet 13 preferably is connected to the lower cabinet 12 by suitable fasteners such as wood screws (not shown) or the like, extending upwardly through the openings 15 in the top surface 14 to engage the underside of the bottom panel 16 of the upper cabinet.

The cabinet assembly 10 is completed by additional components including the hanging rod 17 extending between the right side of the lower cabinet 12 and the confronting right wall 18 of the storage area 11, the second hanging rod 19 extending between the same side of the upper cabinet 13 and the storage area right wall, the shelf 20 above the second hanging rod 19; and further including the left hanging rod 21 extending between the left side of the upper cabinet and the left wall 22 of the storage area, the shelf 24 immediately above the hanging rod 21, and the second shelf 25 spaced a distance above the first shelf 24. The ceiling elevation of the storage area 11 is represented by the broken line 26.

The lower cabinet 12 is best seen in Figs. 2 and 6, and this cabinet is designed to be capable of receiving a mixed array of drawers 30 and shelves 31. The lower cabinet includes a fixed bottom panel 32 which is preferably elevated a short distance above the lower edge 33 of the cabinet side panels, and a toe board 34 extends downwardly from the underside of the bottom panel 32 to enclose the air space beneath the bottom panel. The various panels of the lower cabinet, as well as the upper cabinet and the several shelves of each cabinet, may be -fabricated from any suitable material such as wood, pressboard, or the like at the option of the fabricator.

Turning next to Fig. 6, the lower cabinet 12 is seen to have a first pair of vertical tracks 36 affixed to the inside wall of the left side panel 37. The two tracks 36 are respectively spaced inwardly from the open front edge of the side panel, and from the back wall 38 of the lower cabinet. It should be apparent that the right side 39 (Fig. 2) of the lower cabinet 12 contains another pair of tracks (not shown) similar to the tracks 36. As pointed out more clearly below, these four tracks furnish the piural functions of providing selectively adjustable support for the several shelves 31 within the lower cabinet, for locating the track mechanisms associated with the cabinet drawers 30, and for precisely locating and registering additional drawer track mechanisms without need of measurement or locating templates or the like.

Turning particularly to Figs. and 6, each track 36 contains a plurality of closely spaced apart apertures 40 configured to receive the shelf clips 41, on which rest the shelves 30. The shelf clips 41 are of conventional constructions, known to those skilled in the art. The tracks 365 are secured to the side panels of the lower cabinet 12 by a series of a staples 42, Figs. 5, driven through special staplereceiving openings formed for the purpose in the track.

Each track 36 contains a number of spaced-apart drawer slide attaching openings 43, in addition to the shelf clip apertures 40 and the openings for receiving the track mounting staples 42. The drawer slide attaching openings 43 are formed in the tracks 36 at intervals exactly corresponding to the desired spacing between adjacent drawers 30 in the lower cabinet 12. Moreover, each track 36 is positioned so that the openings 43 align with the fastenerreceiving openings 44 of the fixed drawer slide track 45 so as to place each such track in the proper vertical position to support the corresponding drawer 30 immediately above (or below) the next adjacent such drawer, if present in the lower cabinet.Finaliy, it will be appreciated that the pair of tracks 36 are vertically aligned with respect to each other, and also with respect to the tracks forming each corresponding pair on the inside of the right side 39, so that each set of slide attaching openings 43 is in vertical registry within the lower cabinet 12.

Thus, it should now be apparent that a particular drawer, such as the drawer 30a in Fig. 6, can be installed in the lower cabinet simply by first removing any interfering shelves 31 previously in place, including the shelf mounting clips 41, and then installing a conventional drawer slide track 45 by inserting a suitable fastening 46 through the slide opening 44 and the mating opening 43 in the track 36, at each end of the slide track. This procedure is repeated for the right side (not shown) of the lower cabinet 12, after which a suitable drawer 30 with existing mating slide 47 (Fig. 2) preattached at the factory, is easily inserted into the tracks fastened to the lower cabinet.Because the vertical position of each slide track 45 is located by the slide attaching openings 43 in the tracks 36, the slide tracks may be installed by anyone using only a conventional screwdriver, and without requiring any measurements or templates for proper location of the drawer slide hardware.

The number of drawers 30 in the lower cabinet 12 thus may be varied at the choice of the user, up to the maximum capacity of the cabinet. Typically, the lower cabinet will come equipped with drawers in the upper two drawer-receiving locations as depicted in Figs. 1 and 2, leaving the lower region open to receive a mix of shelves 31 and/or added drawers 30 as desired. However, it will be apparent that a particular user can configure the interior of the lower cabinet 12 to fit his or her needs, so that either all-shelves or all-drawers or the desired mix of both can readily be provided.By purchasing one or more additional drawers 30 equipped with premounted slides 47, together with the mating slide tracks 45 for attachment to the tracks 36 premounted within the lower cabinet, installation is quickly and easily accomplished without requiring the skils or service of a carpenter, and producing a neat, professional appearance.

The shelves 31 typically are provided by flat panels which may simply rest on shelf clips 41 affixed to the tracks 36 to provide the desired shelf positioning. However, it is desirable to provide at least one shelf 31 a, Fig. 5, which is secured to its supporting shelf clips 41 by means of fastening screws 49 extending upwardly through a hole formed in each shelf clip and engaging the shelf 31 a from the underside. The shelves 31 furnished with the package including the lower cabinet 12 preferably may be predrilled at the four corners from beneath, to facilitate attaching the screws 49 thereto. Inasmuch as the shelf clips 41 engage the tracks 36 attached to the side panels of the lower cabinet, the clip-attached shelf 31 a thus provides a rigid tension interconnection between the left and right side panels within the lower cabinet.This rigid interconnection serves to improve the structural rigidity of the lower cabinet and also stabilizes the spacing between the left and right panels, thereby preventing possible warping from dampness or other causes and assuring the proper spacing is maintained for the drawer slide tracks. The particular location of the clip-attached shelf 31a within the lower cabinet is not believed critical, although for best results this shelf may preferably be located within the middle-third of the lower cabinet.

The upper cabinet 13, as mentioned earlier, is intended to be secured on the top surface 14 of the lower cabinet. The upper cabinet 13 has a pair of side panels 53 and 54 extending upwardly from the base or bottom panel 16, and has a top panel 55 secured in place between the two side panels. A number of open shelves 56 are disposed in the upper cabinet 13 between the top panel 55 and the bottom panel 16, these shelves being adjustably positioned and supported by means ofthe conventional tracks 58 on the facing inner surfaces of the side panels 53 and 54. A fixed back panel 57 extends between the top panel 55 and the base 16.

Extending a distance above the top panel 55 of the upper cabinet 13 is a pair of side members 60 and 61. In the disclosed embodiment, these side members comprise unitary extensions of the upper cabinet side panels 53 and 54; the side members continue upwardly a distance beyond the top panel 55 and the upper edge of the back panel 57. The upwardly-extending side members 60 and 61 provide end support for the hanging rod 19 and the shelves 20 and 25, and also provide a more finished appearance by substantially enclosing the open space between the upper cabinet top panel 55 and the ceiling of the storage area.

The maximum height of the extension side members 60 and 61 above the top panel 55 should be determined by the maximum anticipated ceiling height of storage areas in which the cabinet assembly 10 is designed for installation and use. In a specific embodiment of the present invention, the lower cabinet 12 is approximately 48 inches tall and the upper cabinet (including extension side members) is approximately 46 inches in height. The aggregate height of the cabinet assembly 10, from the lower edge 33 of the lower cabinet 12 to the uppermost extent of the extension side members 60 and 61, thus is approximately 94 inches. This specific arrangement clears an eight-foot ceiling with two inches to spare; this remaining gap allows clearance to stack the upper cabinet 13 on the lower cabinet, within the storage area.

With the foregoing specific example of cabinet heights, a particular storage area 11 may have a ceiling 62 lower than the overall maximum height of the stacked cabinet assembly. This is determined by initially placing the lower cabinet 12 within the storage area, and then measuring the actual distance from the top surface 14 of the lower cabinet to the ceiling 62 of the storage area. If this measure distance is less than the overall height of the upper cabinet 13 (including the extension side members 60 and 61), then the upper end of each extension side member should be cut, preferably to a length about one inch less than the measurement taken, to allow clearance for stacking the upper cabinet. The cutting of extension side members 60 and 61 to fit beneath the ceiling 62 is illustrated by the broken lines 60a, 61a in Fig. 2.Fig. 1 shows the remaining portions of the extension side members 60,61 after being cut to fit within the ceiling 62 of the storage area 11.

As mentioned previously, the remaining portions of the extension side members provide end support for shelves and a hanging rod, in the disclosed configuration of the cabinet assembly 10. The lower cabinet 12 may also provide support for a hanging rod, as mentioned previously. Thus, the lower hanging rod 17, supported between the lower cabinet 12 and the right wall 18 of the storage area 11, is spaced above the floor to support garments such as suit coats, skirts, street-length dresses, or the like. The second hanging rod 19, supported between the wall 18 and the right extension side member 61, is spaced to hang shorter garments such as shirts or blouses. The hanging rods preferably are of oval cross-section as best illustrated in Fig. 4A, and these rods are removably supported in U-shaped brackets 64 fastened to cleat boards 65.The cleat boards, in turn, are fastened to the right wall 18 of the storage area 11, and to the facing sides of the lower and upper cabinets, to receive the hanging rods 17 and 19. The cleat boards 65 with attached brackets 64, together with one or more lengths of rod stock making up the hanging rods, may be furnished separately or as part of a basic cabinet assembly kit, and it will be obvious that hanging rods 17,19 of desired length can easily be cut from stock to fit a particular installation of a cabinet assembly.

Again referred to Figs. 3A and 4A, the shelf 20 above the second hanging rod 19 simply rests on the cleat boards 65 associated with the second hanging rod. The shelf 20 is a skirted shelf, having downwardly-extending skirt boards 67a and 67b secured to the underside of the shelf. These skirt boards rest on top of the cleat boards 65 associated with the second hanging rod 19, supporting the shelf 20 thereon. As best seen in Fig. 1,the skirt boards function to maintain the shelf 20 spaced upwardly from the second hanging rod 19, thereby providing clearance above the hanging rod for inserting and removing coat hangers or the like as well as giving added structural strength for longer spans of the shelf.

Turning to the left of the cabinet assembly 10, the hanging rod 21 is spaced above the floor at a proper height to allow the hanging of full-length garments such as bathrobes and shoulder-to-floor garments.

The hanging rod 21 and the skirted shelf 24 both are supported by another pair of cleat boards 65 secured on the left wall 22 of the storage area, and on the facing side panel 53 of the upper cabinet 13.

As seen in Figs. 3B and 4B, the shelf 24 above the hanging rod 21 is a skirted shelf which may be identical, except in length, to the skirted shelf 20 previously described. The shelf 25 is spaced a distance above the shelf 24, and may be a plain shelf supported at either side by a pair of plain cleat boards 65' lacking any support rod brackets.

It should now be apparent that the extension side members 60 and 61, extending beyond the top panel 55 of the upper cabinet 13, provide attachment points for hanging rods, shelves, or a mixture thereof, and these attachment points are unrestricted by the elevation of the upper cabinet top panel and may well be located above that top panel as illustrated in Fig. 1. The main body of the upper cabinet 13, comprising the side and back panels together with the top panel, bottom panel and shelves therebetween, thus may be fabricated to fit well below the lowest ceiling within an anticipated range of ceiling heights. The extension side members 60 and 61, extending upwardly from the upper cabinet top panel 55, remain to support shelves and/or hanging rods, and it will be appreciated that these extension side members can readily be cut away by a single cut across each side member. Thus, the overall cabinet assembly 10 can be configured to fit within storage areas of various heights, requiring only modest carpentry skill and yet leaving a finished-appearing product. Because the cleat boards 65,65' are user-installed after the upper cabinet 13 is in place within the storage area, rather than being factory-installed at a fixed height, the person installing the cabinet assembly can position the heights of hanging rods and/or shelves to suit his or her particular needs.

It should be emphasized that the particular cabinet assembly configuration shown in Fig. 1 is but one of many such arrangements possible with the present component system. These arrangements may be determined by the desires and needs of the user, subject to the size and shape of the available storage area. Two such alternative arrangements are shown in Figs. 7 and 8.

Fig. 7 illustrates a possible application of the present component system in a storage area 11 b which is relatively shallow and wide, unlike the storage area 11 a in Fig. 8. Taking advantage of the width in the storage area 11 b, two separate cabinet assemblies comprising the stacked lower and upper cabinets 12d, 13d and 12e, 13e are placed along the back wall 78 of the storage area. The two stacked cabinet assemblies together are centered in the shortage area 11 b, and are mutually spaced apart a short distance to accommodate a relatively short array 79 of shelves over a single hanging rod.

Separate arrays 80 and 81 of hanging rods and a single shelf are disposed between the side walls 82 and 83, and the respective stacked cabinet assemblies. It should be evident that the spacing between the two cabinet assemblies in Fig. 7 may be varied, and that the position of either cabinet assembly along the back wall 78 of the storage area likewise may be varied, all to suit the desires of the user. Similarly, the configuration of any hanging rod/shelf array 79--81 may be varied, substituting shelves for hanging rods or omitting either element as desired. In any case, the extension side members of the upper cabinets 13d and 13e are available to support shelves and/or hanging rods above the top panel of the upper cabinets.It should also be understood that the number and location of drawers in each lower cabinet 1 2d, 1 2e, can be changed to suit particular needs. Referring to Fig. 8 for an example, the lower cabinet 1 2a is seen to have the two uppermost drawers in the configuration earlier illustrated in Fig. 2. However, the lower cabinet 12b to the left of the storage area 11 a has been usermodified to contain, but a single drawer atthetop of the lower cabinet; the remaining open space in the lower cabinet is occupied by shelves. Turning to the right of the storage area 1 lathe lower cabinet 12c has been user-modified by removing all drawers (and, of course, by removing the corresponding drawer slide tracks from the lower cabinet), leaving space for more open shelves.Other arrangements will undoubtedly present themselves as the future needs of the do-it-yourselfer change.

In Fig. 8, the relatively elongated storage area 1 1a contains three separate cabinet assemblies comprising stacked lower and upper cabinets. The stacked cabinets 12a, 13a are placed against the back wall 70 of the storage area, and the stacked cabinet 12b, 13b and 12c, 13c are respectively placed against the side walls 71 and 72. The stacked cabinets 1 2b, 1 3b are placed relatively close to the front of the storage area 1 a, allowing for a relatively short hanging rod/shelves array 73 to the left side and a substantially longer array 74 of two hanging rods and one shelf above, to the right of the cabinet assembly. The stacked cabinets 1 2c and 13c, in contrast, are flush with the forward end of the storage area 11 a, accommodating a relatively long array 75 of two hanging rods and one shelf above.

The shelf/hanging rod arrays 74 and 75 effectively occupy the back wall 70 on both sides of the stacked cabinets 12a, 13a, and so that cabinet assembly supports no hanging rod or shelf.

It should now be apparent that the foregoing relates only to the disclosed preferred embodiment of the present invention, and that numerous changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.

Claims (8)

1. A cabinet assembly fabricated to a certain height and thereafter stacked in storage areas or the like having various ceiling heights within a predetermined range of heights including heights less than said certain height, said assembly including a lower cabinet having a bottom intended for placement on the floor in the storage area, and having an upper end in fixed height above said bottom, and an upper cabinet having a base intended for placement on said upper end of said lower cabinet, a pair of spaced apart side walls extending upwardly from said base, and a top shelf member located between said side walls and secured thereto in fixed height above said base, so that said upper cabinet is stacked on said lower cabinet in said storage area; characterized by: the combined height of said lower and upper cabinets being such that the top shelf member of the upper cabinet in said stacked arrangement is located below the minimum ceiling height in said range of heights; and said upper cabinet further comprising side members extending upwardly beyond the top shelf member of the upper cabinet to said certain height at least as great as the maximum ceiling height in said range of heights when said cabinets are stacked, so that any extent of said side members exceeding the height of a ceiling in a particular storage area can be cut off without disturbing said subjacent top shelf member and thus without disturbing the secured relation between the top shelf member and the side wall members, to allow placing the stacked cabinets beneath the ceiling, with the remaining upper surface of said cut-off side members thereby being in close proximity to the ceiling to give the fit and appearance of a cabinet assembly customized for the particular storage area.

2. The cabinet assembly as in Claim 1, wherein: said fabricated upper cabinet comprises a pair of mutually spaced apart side members engaging said top shelf member of the upper cabinet, and extending upwardly above said top shelf member to a height corresponding to said certain height in said stacked arrangement, so that the portion of said side members extending above the top shelf member of said upper cabinet comprises said side members.

3. The cabinet assembly as in Claim 1, wherein: said fabricated upper cabinet comprises a pair of mutually spaced apart side walls extending downwardly from said top shelf member, and a back wall extending between said side walls and downwardly from said top shelf member so as to close the back of the upper cabinet; and said side walls include a portion extending above said top shelf member and comprising said side members, so that the side walls may be cut off without interfering with said back wall.

4. The cabinet assembly as in Claim 3, further comprising: at least one load supporting member having a proximal end secured to the upwardly extending portion of a side wall remaining after said side walls are cut off, and extending away from said upper cabinet to a distal end, so that the proximal end may be supported by the cabinet assembly at an elevation above the top shelf member of the upper cabinet after the fabricated cabinet assembly is placed in a particular storage area.

5. The cabinet assembly as in Claim 1, wherein: said lower cabinet comprises a pair of mutually spaced apart side walls disposed between said bottom and said upper end; support means disposed on the confronting sides of said side walls to support either shelves or drawers in the lower cabinet; said support means including a plurality of first support engaging elements operative to support shelves but not said drawers at selected first intervals between said bottom and said upper end; and said support means further including a plurality of second support engaging elements operative to support drawers but not said shelves at selected second intervals between said bottom and said upper end, said second intervals being different from the first intervals and said second suport engaging elements being different from said first support engaging elements so that a drawer cannot mistakenly be installed at a location intended to support a shelf.

6. The cabinet assembly as in Claim 5, wherein: said support means comprises a first pair of support members mounted on one side wall, and a second pair of support members mounted on the other side wall in confronting relation to said first pair; and said support members are positioned so that at least said second support engaging elements are in vertical registration within said first cabinet, so that a drawer may be located at any of said second intevals therein.

7. The cabinet assembly as in Claim 5, further comprising: a shelf suported at a selected interval intermediate said bottom and said upper end in rigid attachment to said support means, so that said shelf maintains a predetermined spacing between said side walls at the intermediate location, thereby maintaining support for the drawers also present in said lower cabinet.

8. The cabinet assembly as in Claim 5, wherein: said support means comprises a first pair of support members mounted on one side wall and a second pair of support members mounted on the other side wall in confronting relation to said first pair; said first support engaging means comprising a plurality of first apertures on said support members at said first intervals and configured to receive and support said shelves but not said drawers at any of said first intervals; said second support engaging means comprising a plurality of second apertures on said support members at said second intervals, said second apertures being dissimilar from the first apertures so as to prevent receiving and supporting shelves thereon; and said second intervals being greater than the first intervals so that each second interval defines space sufficient to receive a drawer therein.