Most people who embrace a bedroom remodeling project also choose to remodel their bedroom closet to some degree as part of the process. If this sounds like the place you are in, then you might want to consider some of the following steps to help guide you from planning to design your new bedroom closet remodel.
Inventory, Evaluate & Measure
You need to get a firm grip on how much space you have available and how much stuff you need to store if you are going to renovate the area into the bedroom closet of your dreams. This starts with measuring every imaginable dimension and angle in the closet. Make sure to note things like sloped ceilings, knee walls, and other old-house oddities. If facing walls aren’t the same length, at least one angle isn’t square.
Then sit down and make an inventory of all the items you intend to store there when the project is done. While you are in the process, you might want to take the time to consider items that you might want to sell or donate.
This will go a long way toward determining your priority design features. If you have a lot of things in boxes and tote bins, then you might want to place a higher priority on shelves and cubbies as you go further into the design process. If you have a lot of clothes on hangers, you will naturally place a higher priority on hanger rod space and available volume under shelves.
Sketch Out The Possibilities
Once you have the closet measured and cleaned out, you can start applying your imagination to explore your options long before the first board is cut or screw is driven in. Most people find it helpful to do this on graph paper, where every square represents a food or an inch. (Depending on the size of your closet).
This will go a long way toward helping you determine what features you want to include and which aren’t necessary. If you aren’t going to do it yourself, this accurate sketch can serve as a barometer to help professional designers or remodeling contractors ensure that the end product meets or exceeds your vision.
Allocating & Dividing Available Space
There are a lot of different items to consider allocating their own space or dividing from other items in your bedroom closet. Though the one that garners the most importance is typically shoes. It’s a good place to start, as the size of your shoe collection and the type of organization system you prioritize will influence other parts of your closet. This might include things like slide-out racks and tilted shelves, your best bet is open shelves without dividers.
At that point you can sketch in rods for shorter items, making them as wide as your wardrobe warrants, and a higher rod for longer items. You can then draw in shelves that are 4 inches above the rods plus a high shelf for less-used items. This makes it easy to put in and take out hangers without busting your knuckles into the underside of the shelves.
Make The Most Out Of Corners & Nooks
Making the most out of deep corners and nooks in a closet will also go a long way toward making room for other essential items. This includes the corner spaces on shelves as well as below hanger rods. If you aren’t very tall, or you have tall shelves, you should also plan space for a step ladder that can spend its life tucked in the corner of your new bedroom closet.
For upper shelves, you might want to also consider installing lazy susans in the corner. This lets you keep common items in the front. When you need to get something from the back, you can turn the base of the lazy susan, rather than awkwardly reach over the items in front to get what you want.
Pull Down Or Crank Down Shelves For Tall Ceilings
If your bedroom closet has naturally tall ceilings, you might be able to make the most out of that space by installing pull-down or crank-down shelves. There are a few options to choose from. Most have some type of spring-loaded or mechanical system engineered into them that keeps them up high for long-term storage. Then you can pull them down via a sturdy pole or a crank-down handle.
A lot of pull-downs and crank-down shelves have hanger rod options. This is a great way to hang out on seasonal items like winter jackets and sweaters out of the way. When the season starts to change again, you can pull the shelf down to take them out and swap in summer items in their place.
Dealing With A Sloped-Wall Closet
Homes with cathedral ceilings or rooms with a vaulted ceiling adjacent to the closet often create sloped ceilings that can be a challenge to deal with when planning your bedroom closet remodel. You can choose to leave the ceiling sloped if you want, or if there is enough space, you could install shelves for seasonal items and boxes. It’s a great way to utilize the available space to make more room in the rest of the bedroom closet.
Plan Your Lighting
It’s easy to accidentally forget about lighting, yet it can be one of the most critical components in a successfully designed bedroom closet remodel. Especially if you are dealing with a closet that has little to no natural light. More than one person has been frustrated by the shadows and glare created by a single overhead lightbulb.
When determining your lighting needs take into account some of the following factors:
- The location of frequently used items
- Possible display spaces
- The ambiance you want for the closet
- Lighting in the corners
- Lighting under shelves
- Lights to help break up stark shadows
- The availability of existing outlets
- The availability of existing light fixtures
Even if you can’t install new light fixtures or upgrade the number of light fixtures in the bedroom closet, simple battery-powered, portable LED lights might be able to dispel shadows, while making it easy to find your essential times. Most are light enough to easily attach under a shelf of a drawer. You can turn them on when you need to by touching or flicking a built-in switch on the housing.
