Having the space to actually organize your clothes, shoes, and accessories rather than just stuff them willy-nilly into drawers and into packed hanging closets can save you significant time getting ready in the morning before work or in the evening before you go out on the town.
But, since you’re unlikely to move based solely on whether your current home has a walk in closet or not, if you don’t have one, maybe it’s time to build one.
Pick your space.
You have two options for building yourself a bedroom walk in closet. You can turn an existing room into a small walk in closet, or build one into the corner of a room or across one wall.
Do you have a guest bedroom you never use? A den that’s too small to be practical? These spaces can easily be converted into custom walk in closets with the addition of a hanging rod, some shelves and drawers, and a mirror.
If you don’t have an unused small room, you can build a walk in closet into your bedroom. You can either choose a corner, or an entire wall, depending on how large you want your closet to be and how much bedroom space you’re willing to sacrifice.
Do it yourself or hire a pro?
If you’re just converting a small room into a walk in closet, there’s really no reason to hire a pro unless you want a truly professional touch or you’re unwilling to take on small carpentry projects yourself. There are hundreds of walk in closet designs on sites on the internet that can give you all the ideas you need for your closet, and that are also more than willing to sell you all the hanging rods, shelves, shoe racks, and drawers that you could ever need. Install a hanging rod on the shortest wall of the room, and instantly you have more hanger space than you’ve ever had before. Line a second wall with shelves and shoe racks so that your clothes and shoes are easy to see and access. Put some drawers along the third wall for clothes and accessories that you might not want to be easily visible in case of guests. Hang a mirror on the inside of the door, and, voilà, you have a walk-in closet.
If you have the money, and you want the master walk in closet of your dreams, you could hire a designer to inspect the space and design a closet to your specifications, and then hire a contractor to do the carpentry and installation for you, but this will turn a project totaling a few hundred dollars into one of at least a couple of thousand.
If you are converting a portion of your bedroom or another room into a huge walk in closet, you’re much more likely to need the help of a professional, as you’ll need to build a wall, and possibly install lighting. Building a wall in an already completed home is more difficult that it might seem, because you need to build it in place, rather than building the wall first and then tilting it into place. If you try to tilt it into place, the top corner of the wall will connect with the ceiling and prevent the top of the wall from hitting flush against it.
Get professional help.
If you are converting a portion of an existing room into a walk in beer closet, you’re probably also ultimately dealing with a smaller closet space that will need to be more expertly utilized. It’s probably worth your money to hire a designer to come take a look at the room, talk to you about how much space you’re willing to sacrifice for the closet, and design a plan for you. A contractor can then be hired to build the closet according to the designer’s specifications. Depending on the design and contracting rates in your area of the country, a project of this size will probably range from a coupe of thousand dollars to several thousand.
This also protects you from damaging the re-sale value of your home by inadvertently making your existing bedroom too small, or botching a do-it-yourself job in one of the most important rooms of your home.
If you do install lighting in your new closet, don’t install a hanging bare bulb. Hanging bare bulbs in closets have a tendency to come into contract with fabric and start house fires. Take the time and spend the money to install a proper lighting fixture.
Enjoy your new DIY walk in closet, but don’t use it as an excuse to go out and buy more shoes just because you have the room for them now.
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