How to Design & Build an Affordable Custom Closet

1. Introduction

Many home centers sell closet kits that a home owner can install in a weekend that provide quite a bit of flexibility to meet your needs and space requirements. If you are just looking for a basic closet for storage then you are all set. However, if you want something that is unique, custom to your space requirements, and perhaps utilize the space even more efficiently then you need to be more creative. One extreme is to have a complete custom closet designed and built, which can cost many thousands of dollars. This guide will give you some great ideas to get the best of both worlds, by have something that will be unique just for you, yet not break the bank.

Closet design and installation is not difficult for a homeowner to do, as long as he or she takes the time to plan out all of the steps, has the right tools and the patience.

The approach that we will discuss here is a combination of furniture refinishing, rough carpentry, finished carpentry and finally painting. This said, each of these steps can be quickly acquired with some basic knowledge and the use of the right tools.

5. Where Do You Start

If you open your closet door and what you see is a mess, you could become overwhelmed with the amount of work it will take to get organized and complete the closet project. This does not have to be the case, and with some careful planning we took one closet that was a disaster and in 3 days transformed it into a show room closet. In the end this closet was well organized built-ins that would rival a main living area.

As you start to design your closet, there are a variety of areas and points to consider as follows:

• Areas for shoes (both standard, and higher boot styles) making them easily visible
• Hanging rods for short items such as shirts and pants
• Hanging rods for long garments, such as dresses
• Personal care items that can be placed complementary baskets

Also consider items that can be placed on any open wall area for both functional use, as well as aesthetic appeal such as a mirror and pictures. A mirror can serve multiple purposes.

• Functional use as a mirror when dressing
• Reflects the overhead lighting to further illuminate the shelving and lower areas
• To give the perception of the space being even bigger

Before you start to design the layout, it is important to understand how much storage areas you currently have to make sure you end up with more space in the end.

1. Measure how many linear feet of hanging rods you have for:
Short clothing such as shirts
Long clothing such as dresses.
2. How many feet of shoe space do you have
3. Amount of shelving for shirts and other items.

Create a floor plan by measuring the room size including:
• Length and width
• The ceiling height
• Identify any other obstructions that may be in the area such as a ceiling beam.

Next draw a scaled sketch of the floor plan on drafting paper and identify each wall area and assign a function:

• Shoes
• General storage
• Hanging rods for hanging shirts, pants
• Hanging Rods for long garments such as dresses
• Location of furniture pieces like the dressers.

7. Designing A One Of A Kind Closet

Now that you know what you have to work with lets get down to designing your custom closet. You could purchase a complete closet kit that everything easily fits together, or create a completely custom closet with hand crafted cabinets and woodwork. The approach we will take is a way to get that fully custom look by taking advantage of furniture that is readably available.

Depending upon what your budget is, you may be able to find a dresser for as little as $30 at a yard sale, or more upscale with a vintage piece of furniture that can become the focal point of your closet. Remember a closet is not just for storage, but can also be an extension of your living space.

A unique approach to creating a custom closet is to use antique furniture or other furniture that you purchased at a flea market. The furniture does not have to be in great condition but you do want to be sure that it functions properly, drawers and doors work well, as well as will fit into the space you have defined. For small closet areas, the biggest challenge will be to find a furniture piece that fits, as well as is proportionate to the area.

By starting with some existing furniture pieces you can see what works for you, and then design the rest of the closet around it.

9. Finish Carpentry and Final Notes

You could stop now that you have all of the storage areas in place, but without the finishing touches it will only look to be 50% complete even though it is fully functional. Applying a variety of moldings will add the finishing touches making your closet look like a piece of furniture rivaling that of a professional woodworker The other benefit of this trim is that it will hide many of the irregularities between the pieces and the walls.

One of the simplest molding installations for the Do It Yourself person uses corner (plinth) blocks and base blocks. The use of these accessories eliminates the need for bevel and miter cuts, and requires only straight cuts, and putting the pieces together by butting them next to one another.

Designing and installing a custom closet provides both added functionality and improved home appearance. A well designed closet is efficient and provides an easy way to keep things organized.

With the instructions specified in this E-book you should be able to do the initial design of a closet as well as the installation, or have a few ideas that you can discuss with your closet designer. By taking these ideas and an open mind, you will be able to find many other ways to use furniture in your home building projects, such as custom sink vanities, and other special build-ins.

For additional information on how to make an outstanding display and have it stand out even more, take a look at the additional sections in the E-BOOK at www.PalmieriConcepts.com.