Walk In Closet Makeover | Tips for Maximizing Storage

Can you believe it… I’m actually sharing an AFTER on a space in our new house!! But there’s a reason why. This DIY’er didn’t do it herself. Honestly, with everything else we are working on around our house… that we are doing OURSELVES… it was SO refreshing to have a space transform before our eyes.This closet was almost completely NON functional before. It was so bad, you guys. The wire shelves that were in there weren’t actually secure- they would actually tip off the supports they were zap strapped to when you hung things. They would also snag clothes like crazy because they had sharp ends. And nails sticking out of the walls to hold them on. So even though we had a regular ol’ non-walk-in-closet in our last house… this closet was LESS useful to us. There was heaps of things on the floor from falling off the shelves when we hung things up and we just gave up. But we couldn’t even close the door on it… because there was no door! Ha! Honestly, you guys… it was such a stress for us.

I’m so excited to be able to partner with Imagine The Room Kamloops to make over this closet. It’s now our total dream closet and not only holds everything that was in there before more beautifully, but we were able to empty our dresser as well so we can give that to Aubrey for her room makeover. Pretty rad, right? I chalk it up to great design. When we were chatting about closet designs, I got some amazing tips from Imagine the Room that I asked if I could share with all of you. These tips were SO helpful for me to understand what really makes a closet work hard and if you’re planning one for yourself- I know they’re going to help you too! I have put ALL of those amazing tips as well as a time lapse of the closet install (I love watching people do what they’re great at, don’t you?) into a YouTube video below, but before we do that… want to see the ‘before’? Shield your eyes, friends.

Night and day difference, right?! I’m so in love with how this closet turned out, you guys. And it was such a great feeling to have it go from an empty room to finished in an afternoon. Want to see the process and hear the tips yourself?

If you are at work or prefer to read, I’ve put the tips below for you as well! These really make so much sense in practice now that we are using the space. Also- I hope you liked seeing the closet how we’re currently using it! I know I’ve heard some of you say that it’s not as helpful when I ‘makeover’ a closet but only put the pretty stuff back in there so the video shows how we’re really using it with all of our stuff in there.

TIP 1: Don’t Use Corner Units

It seems kind of backwards, doesn’t it? I mean… I thought corner shelves were meant to maximize space. But I took their recommendation on it and am so impressed with how much more spacious the closet feels with running the hanging bars straight across the long wall. Corner shelves can be awkward to get things in and out of and end up being a poor use of space. The things at the back of the closet can be off season clothing so they don’t need to be super easy to access. It’s the perfect solution for us.

TIP 2: Put Pretty Things Where They Are Seen!

It seems logical, right?! Put the pretty things where you will ACTUALLY see them. More than that, put them where you’ll see them when the door is open. It shows off your investment (the drawers is what we featured by putting on the back wall) and it hides clutter by drawing attention to the clean lines.

TIP 3: Float the Shelves off the Floor

Floating the shelves off the floor not only saves you cash because you’re not paying for the materials to go down to the ground, but you don’t NEED them. The floor is essentially a shelf already… and it’s free. Plus- if you ever want to change your flooring, trim, whatever… you can without removing your closet organizer!

TIP 4: Avoid Hanging Where You Walk In

What the what? Where you walk in to the closet, your shoulder will generally brush against the top bar of hanging clothes. By avoiding using that section for hanging clothes, you make the closet feel SO MUCH MORE SPACIOUS. Honestly, I feel like this tip is the biggest game changer for how I’m going to plan any walk-in closet in the future. Shelves are narrower, you won’t bump things off walking in, and it opens up the eyesight to the closet.

TIP 5: Use as LITTLE Full Height Hanging as Possible

This is another one that seems really simple but I honestly never considered that a closet could go without it. Doesn’t every closet accommodate full height hanging? They challenged me on this and I’m SO glad that they did. I really don’t NEED it. I don’t own maxi dresses and my wedding dress has another home in our house. This made room for so much more hanging!

TIP 6: Save by Using Baskets Over Drawers

Look, drawers are dang gorgeous in closets. But they are also the easiest thing to cut if you’re wanting to save money. And baskets? They do the exact same thing by containing your stuff- but chances are… you already have baskets.

Alright, I so hope that you found this post useful and are inspired if you are planning your own closet makeover! I couldn’t recommend Imagine The Room in Kamloops more if you are in the area- they were so fabulous to work with from design to installation.

Other than the closet organizer- there are some other things that we did to the space. We took down all that old shelving, patched all the many many many holes (the worst!) and repainted. We put in new chunkier trim, new flooring (same as throughout the house) and A DOOOOOOR that we can close. We also put in a beautiful flush mount light fixture and swapped out the regular chrome drawer pulls for these modern matte black ones (the same ones we’re using in our kitchen!). I’ve put all the sources for these below!

SOURCE LIST:

• Closet Design & Install: Imagine The Room
• Paint: Expert White by General Paint
• Flooring: Docked Oak from The Home Decorators Collection at Home Depot
• Drawer Pulls: Liberty Hardware North Dalston Pulls
• Flush Mount Light: Verona by Globe Electric
• Wood Hangers: Walmart
• Felt Baskets: IKEA