DIY Closet Organization

7 Materials
$200
3 Days
Easy

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Today I am trying to help my teenager organize her closet so she can fit the multitude of clothes in there without having a dresser in her room. She has two closets in her room so we DIY'd some closet organization solutions to create an organized space for all her clothes....and shoes!

Each closet had a top bar and the one on the right had a lower bar. So in the closet on the left we moved a dresser underneath so it was out of her floor space from her room. Removed the existing clothes hanging bar and took the middle bracket off to add to the closet on the right.


The lower bar was long and had no center support bracket, it also didn't have a wood shelf like the others. So we added a shelf, attached the support bracket and the lower hanging bar was now level, and I didn't have to worry about it falling!

This picture is before we added the shelf and bracket. You can't really see it in the photo but it definitely sagged in the middle.

Here it is with the shelf.


Let me explain how we installed the shelf.


You need a 1x4 the length of the back wall and side walls, secured to the walls with screws. In my case on the left is a tall piece of wood separating the two closets.


Make sure you screw the 1x4's into studs, you might need a stud finder to help you find them. I used an electric drill to attach.


Now take a 1x12 cut to the right length and nail it in from the top onto the 1x4's you just attached to the walls.

We did the same thing on the left side of the closet adding two shelves for storage above the dresser. You can see where we attached the 1x4's to the wall and then laid the 1x12 on top and nailed it down.


See that big gap? That was my mistake. I did a poor job of making sure the long board on the back wall was level which created this gap. I took a little white caulk and no one can see it now! Make sure all your boards are level to avoid this problem.


Note: I did paint all the wood white before I hung it on the wall, using white paint I had on hand. That was what took the longest on this project, waiting for the paint to dry.

Before the added shelves.

After the added shelves.


And to the right of the dresser we added shoe storage from Walmart! For $15 each we were able to put 3 stacking shelves there for her to store shoes.

My daughter has a serious shoe problem! icon

Here is the before, well after we moved the dresser. You can see the bowing bar a little better here. What you don't see is all the stuff on the floor by her bed that needs to go into that closet on the left!

Here are the after photos. We went to IKEA and added all these inexpensive white tubs. I am not lying, 3 of those tubs hold socks!!!!

I though the addition of nails on the wood bracket was genius, she gets total credit for that. I love how she displayed all her hats.

Tall boots found a home on the very top shelf, eagerly waiting boot season!

She used washi tape to write what is in each box.

As you can tell, she is one heck of an online shopper! She works really hard at her job so it's all her. She is so happy with how it turned out and I promise you, with the wood, shoe storage and white tubs we didn't spend more than $200 on the whole project! Most of that was the white tubs.


If you like this organization post you might like my post on organization for the whole home! You can check that out here!


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3 of 4 questions
  • Bill Bill on May 11, 2019

    What about all the hanging clothes

  • Cheryl Cheryl on May 12, 2019

    I don’t see a place for dresses or long skirts in you closet. I was organizing my daughter’s closet the other day and found this to be a bit of a challenge as to not get in the way of her much needed floor space. I Put them at the end against The closet wall.

  • Linda Schutzer Linda Schutzer on May 08, 2020

    this is great! Any suggestions for a L shaped closet that is short on the side (bottom of L) ?

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  • Glenda Lenox Copeland Glenda Lenox Copeland on Jun 11, 2019

    Thanks for sharing your idea with us

  • Wandamurline Wandamurline on May 05, 2020

    Finally after 30 years, my kids installed an attic ladder, and it had to go in the master bedroom closet....this was a good time to recycle a lot of nice clothes that I do not wear. Every January 1, I turn hang all of my clothes backwards in the closet and when I wear something and launder it, I hang it right. So, after 5-6 months, if I have not worn something, say for spring, I take it out and donate it. It helps to keep everything organized.

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