Out of Chaos an organizing newsletter
September 6, 2017 Issue No. 206
Amanda’s 1-2-3’s of Closet Renovation
I was just talking to a new client about how I could help her with her closet renovation. Unlike explaining the eclipse to my kids, this is territory where I am in command of the material. I’ve redone five out of the six closets in my current apartment, and over the years I’ve helped many clients design and then move into their newly renovated closets—and by “renovate” I mean tearing out existing rods and shelves and redesigning with new, shiny materials, not just rearranging the contents. So here it is, short and sweet, Amanda’s guide to closet renovation:
- Weed. Go through and edit what you have in your current closet, tossing or donating what you aren’t keeping. Then, put everything into the closet that you want to keep in the closet once it’s renovated. Remember, when you redo a closet, you can make it more efficient and user-friendly, but you can’t really make it bigger—in fact, all that pretty shelving eats a few inches!
- Measure! If it’s a clothes closet, you need to measure for hanging rods. How many inches of short hanging clothes do you have? (You may have to organize first to get a good measurement, if all of your short things aren’t already hanging together) How long is your longest “short” item? How many inches of long hanging items do you have? And how long are they? How many pairs of shoes? What else goes in (or do you hope to fit into) your closet? If it’s a utility closet, take a look at your categories. You still need to measure height but also think in terms of volume. If you maximize depth, ask yourself if stuff going to just get buried in the back. (Sometimes a mix of deeper shelves down low and shallower shelves above is a good solution.) You may want to purchase some organizing items like a basket to hold your light bulbs, or little drawers for smaller items like back-up toiletries: Measure the space you plan to put these items before you buy.
- Design. You may have ideas, but this is where your closet company comes in. Most companies will come and measure, listen to what you are hoping for and give you a few designs to choose from. Beware: They tend to think primarily in rectangles, so you have to nudge them a bit if you have an odd-shaped closet. Try to be creative with dead space. I had my closet company hang hooks in an awkward space created by a pipe at the back of my daughter’s closet. It’s perfect to hang her less-frequently used purses and totes. Generally, I add hooks to any spot available. Whether it’s for a mop in a utility closet or belts in a clothing closet, you’ll never be sorry that you put hooks in. A wedge of dead space might not be big enough for a shelf, but it might be a great spot to hang your yoga mat or your skinny belts.
That’s it: weed, measure, design. Then comes the fun part of putting your stuff back in brand-new closet. And if that part isn’t fun, it might mean you still have some weeding to do!