You know the kind of closet I’m talking about. The typical vintage 80’s non-walk-in closet? They often put two of them side by side on one wall of a master bedroom. Some had sliding doors while others had 4-panel folding doors. And they were only about 2 feet deep, with a long rod about 3” below a long shelf. Both rod and shelf stretched from one end of the closet to the other. That long shelf usually began sagging low within a year of being built due to no center support.
My two closets are each 72” (6 feet) wide. Both have “double shelves” above the rod. And both shelves in both closets are sagging in the middle. Both closets are also in similar in terms of being overstuffed. Not nearly enough space for everything crammed into them…summer clothes, winter clothes, dress clothes, work clothes, shoes, boots, baseball caps, stacks of old t-shirts used when spraying stains or paint, and lots of other things as well, some of which should be stored elsewhere probably.
So I sat down with my computer design software and modeled the closet dimensions. I wanted to get some additional shelf space AND some additional space for hang-up clothing. The constraint list looked something like this:
- One day at most of time spent on this project.
- Must achieve 20-25% increase in both shelving space and rod space.
- No major structural changes allowed (meaning no knocking down walls, removal of flooring, or anything requiring sheetrock repair).
Oh…and one more thing I added as a personal challenge, just to make it interesting for me and tackle another problem with wood storage:
- NO purchasing of materials allowed – must use what I have in current inventory or leftover scrap and cutoffs from other projects
(It’s only a challenge if you make it difficult, right?)
After playing around with several different design ideas, I based the solution on something I had done awhile back for my niece, Allie. But I made a few changes to account for my closet dimensions and for the way I planned to use the space. The plan consists of a narrow vertical shelving addition that is placed in the center of the closet, splitting the space into two halves. There are several options on the rod placement that can be done with this arrangement. But after measuring the hanging length of various types of clothing on hangers, I decided on the following arrangement:
The shelving addition is 12” wide and 15” deep. It is placed directly in the center of the 72” wide closet, flush against the back closet wall. This allows for 30” on both sides to be used for hang-up rods.
- The 30” rod on the left side is at it’s original height, complete with the double shelves above it as before. This rod height allows for longer jackets, robes, overcoats, etc.
- To the right of the shelving addition we also have 30” of space. But we now have both upper and lower rods, giving us additional capacity for hang-up clothing.
- The lower rod is height adjusted to 35” specifically for hangers with pants/jeans.
- The upper rod is height adjusted to 45” (80” total height) to accommodate dress shirts, sport shirts, sweaters/jackets, pullover shirts/tops, etc.
- The center shelving here was made for folded sweaters, t-shirts, shorts, ball caps, etc. But each shelf can easily be subdivided for storage of shoes or whatever else needs storing.
So for only a minimal investment in materials and time, I’ve added 20% more hang-up space (72” originally, expanded to 90”). And I’ve added seven cubby-hole shelves for more organized shelf usage.
My self-imposed constraint of using only materials that I had on-hand, helped to limit complexity and keep my cost down. It also helped me to clear out some of the cutoffs and other wood scraps left from other completed projects.
It would be really easy to modify the plan a bit. For instance if I wanted a couple of drawers. Or maybe if I wanted to add a cabinet door for some enclosed space. Both are easily accomplished for minimal additional cost.
There are many other options depending on your space constraints and your needs for making that space usable. From shelves, hang-up rods, drawers, cabinets, or other types of built-ins or add-ons, Timber Craft can help. So if you also have vintage 80’s closets and you would like your organizational nightmares turned into sweet dreams, call to discuss options at 318-598-9663 or email david@ilovetimbercraft.com.
