As a new homeowner I've realized I'm hooked on making home
improvements. I am definitely a newbie, although from the looks of my
tool collection you wouldn't know it ... I think I'm addicted to power
tools.
One project I've held off on is our horrible bedroom closet. We have
two closets - one is normal, and the other has ridiculous dimensions
that render it almost unuseable: 59" (4' 11") deep by 26" (2' 2") wide
and 7' 6" high. It currently has no shelves or bars, just a ceiling
light.
I've searched this group many times and more often than not get the
answers I need. I was hoping those with a little more experience in
woodworking or construction could give me some suggestions as my wife
is rapidly expanding her wardrobe and we may soon hit critical mass.
I have created crude visual aides to describe the following two ideas
I've been toying with - Take a look at
http://www.krystek.net/horriblecloset
Shelving 12" deep along one of the long portions of the closet, and
much deeper shelving towards the back. Positives: Relatively cheap &
easy. Negatives: We can't gain much weight or our closet becomes
inaccessable - we'd only have about a foot of space to enter the
closet. 12" deep shelves aren't incredibly useful.
Three very deep (~ 30") shelves, mounted in the back of the closet,
spanning the width of the closet and attached via sliding rails.
Almost like a giant in-wall dresser. Towards the top I'd have a
regular bar for hanging. Positives: easier access to bottom shelves
which could be fully utilized. Negatives: High quality rails and large
custom shelves are pricey. Installation is somewhat more difficult.
My wife is very petite (5'2") and wouldn't be able to reach the back of
the upper shelves without a stepstool. I would also be wasting quite a
bit of space.
Expansion is impossible as the space has 2 exterior walls and a
bathroom flanking its perimeter. Expanding the bathroom would not be
useful.
Suggestions or comments are very greatly appreciated!
- John
How about something like a full-height, full-width, and full-length roll-out
closet? (don't forget to allow some clearance for the door and door knob).
This assumes you've got room immediately outside the closet.
Seems like if you just put it on four fixed casters (swivel casters would be
more difficult to control) you could just roll it in and out of the closet
and get to shelves, clothes racks, etc, from four sides if you want.
Kevin
"John Krystek" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> As a new homeowner I've realized I'm hooked on making home
> improvements. I am definitely a newbie, although from the looks of my
> tool collection you wouldn't know it ... I think I'm addicted to power
> tools.
>
> One project I've held off on is our horrible bedroom closet. We have
> two closets - one is normal, and the other has ridiculous dimensions
> that render it almost unuseable: 59" (4' 11") deep by 26" (2' 2") wide
> and 7' 6" high. It currently has no shelves or bars, just a ceiling
> light.
>
> I've searched this group many times and more often than not get the
> answers I need. I was hoping those with a little more experience in
> woodworking or construction could give me some suggestions as my wife
> is rapidly expanding her wardrobe and we may soon hit critical mass.
>
> I have created crude visual aides to describe the following two ideas
> I've been toying with - Take a look at
> http://www.krystek.net/horriblecloset
>
> Shelving 12" deep along one of the long portions of the closet, and
> much deeper shelving towards the back. Positives: Relatively cheap &
> easy. Negatives: We can't gain much weight or our closet becomes
> inaccessable - we'd only have about a foot of space to enter the
> closet. 12" deep shelves aren't incredibly useful.
>
> Three very deep (~ 30") shelves, mounted in the back of the closet,
> spanning the width of the closet and attached via sliding rails.
> Almost like a giant in-wall dresser. Towards the top I'd have a
> regular bar for hanging. Positives: easier access to bottom shelves
> which could be fully utilized. Negatives: High quality rails and large
> custom shelves are pricey. Installation is somewhat more difficult.
> My wife is very petite (5'2") and wouldn't be able to reach the back of
> the upper shelves without a stepstool. I would also be wasting quite a
> bit of space.
>
> Expansion is impossible as the space has 2 exterior walls and a
> bathroom flanking its perimeter. Expanding the bathroom would not be
> useful.
>
> Suggestions or comments are very greatly appreciated!
>
> - John
>
John Krystek wrote:
> ...
>
> One project I've held off on is our horrible bedroom closet. We have
> two closets - one is normal, and the other has ridiculous dimensions
> that render it almost unuseable: 59" (4' 11") deep by 26" (2' 2") wide
> and 7' 6" high. It currently has no shelves or bars, just a ceiling
> light.
>
> ...
>
> Expansion is impossible as the space has 2 exterior walls and a
> bathroom flanking its perimeter. Expanding the bathroom would not be
> useful.
>
> Suggestions or comments are very greatly appreciated!
>
Thinking outside of the box....
How about expanding the Bathroom into the closet space?
How about a closet that is accessed from inside of the bathroom?
--
FF
Thank you for all the excellent ideas. I think we're going to roll
with the full size pullout cabinet on rails idea. I actually suggested
this as an option to my dear wife a few months ago, but somehow
Kevin/John phrased it in such a way as to get her excited about the
prospect. :) I'll have to remove the doorknob on the inside of the
closet (not very useful there anyhow) and find a distributor of large
undermount sliding rails ($$?). I was planning on building a custom
cabinet but with just 19" of available width between the door and
molding I'll be better off finding a solid, somewhat standard 18" deep
x 4' wide x 6'ish high cabinet to modify. I'll add 12" of shelving on
the side facing the opening so the closet is immediately functional
upon opening the door. Once pulled out, the layout of the room
prohibits access to just one side so I won't have to remove the
backing. I will also use a pair of casters to support the weight of
the cabinet as it slides out onto the bedroom carpet away from the
rails. A simple extendable ceiling mounted track will provide
additional stability.
To answer a few questions: Expanding the bathroom wouldn't yield us any
great returns so that's out of the question. We don't have anything
really big and valuable so the walk-in safe, while very creative, won't
fly either. The Ferris Wheel Bin idea gets major creativity points,
but I'll reiterate a very important detail from my original post: I'm a
newbie. :) The closet will be used to store standard issue foldable
clothing, from tshirts to sweaters, as well as any other odd items
we'll undoubtably cram in there.
It's unfortunate I'll still be wasting some space - a combined total of
8" down the depth of the closet as well as a foot and a half above the
door molding. Reconstructing the door dimensions is out of the
question for about a dozen reasons, but thank you to the pros that I
know were about to suggest that option.
If anyone knows of a supplier that might carry large (4' ?) ball
bearing undermounted full extension rails that would be great.
Thanks again for all the replies. I'll hopefully post an update after
this interesting project is complete!
- John
John Krystek wrote:
> As a new homeowner I've realized I'm hooked on making home
> improvements. I am definitely a newbie, although from the looks of my
> tool collection you wouldn't know it ... I think I'm addicted to power
> tools.
>
> One project I've held off on is our horrible bedroom closet. We have
> two closets - one is normal, and the other has ridiculous dimensions
> that render it almost unuseable: 59" (4' 11") deep by 26" (2' 2") wide
> and 7' 6" high. It currently has no shelves or bars, just a ceiling
> light.
>
> I've searched this group many times and more often than not get the
> answers I need. I was hoping those with a little more experience in
> woodworking or construction could give me some suggestions as my wife
> is rapidly expanding her wardrobe and we may soon hit critical mass.
>
> I have created crude visual aides to describe the following two ideas
> I've been toying with - Take a look at
> http://www.krystek.net/horriblecloset
>
> Shelving 12" deep along one of the long portions of the closet, and
> much deeper shelving towards the back. Positives: Relatively cheap &
> easy. Negatives: We can't gain much weight or our closet becomes
> inaccessable - we'd only have about a foot of space to enter the
> closet. 12" deep shelves aren't incredibly useful.
>
> Three very deep (~ 30") shelves, mounted in the back of the closet,
> spanning the width of the closet and attached via sliding rails.
> Almost like a giant in-wall dresser. Towards the top I'd have a
> regular bar for hanging. Positives: easier access to bottom shelves
> which could be fully utilized. Negatives: High quality rails and large
> custom shelves are pricey. Installation is somewhat more difficult.
> My wife is very petite (5'2") and wouldn't be able to reach the back of
> the upper shelves without a stepstool. I would also be wasting quite a
> bit of space.
>
> Expansion is impossible as the space has 2 exterior walls and a
> bathroom flanking its perimeter. Expanding the bathroom would not be
> useful.
>
> Suggestions or comments are very greatly appreciated!
>
> - John
John Krystek wrote:
> Thank you for all the excellent ideas. I think we're going to roll
> with the full size pullout cabinet on rails idea. I actually suggested
> this as an option to my dear wife a few months ago, but somehow
> Kevin/John phrased it in such a way as to get her excited about the
> prospect. :)
Sounds like a winner.
>
> It's unfortunate I'll still be wasting some space - a combined total of
> 8" down the depth of the closet as well as a foot and a half above the
> door molding. Reconstructing the door dimensions is out of the
> question for about a dozen reasons, but thank you to the pros that I
> know were about to suggest that option.
> ...
>
If the rollout unit can come out far enough to enter the closet behind
it then you could put shallow shelves into that space which could then
be accesssed when the unit is out. Suitable perhaps for seldom-used
books, camping gear, or boxed items.
--
FF
How about a rolling garment rack that would pull out of the closet into the
bedroom? Like these http://www.atlantarail.com/
"John Krystek" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> As a new homeowner I've realized I'm hooked on making home
> improvements. I am definitely a newbie, although from the looks of my
> tool collection you wouldn't know it ... I think I'm addicted to power
> tools.
>
> One project I've held off on is our horrible bedroom closet. We have
> two closets - one is normal, and the other has ridiculous dimensions
> that render it almost unuseable: 59" (4' 11") deep by 26" (2' 2") wide
> and 7' 6" high. It currently has no shelves or bars, just a ceiling
> light.
>
> I've searched this group many times and more often than not get the
> answers I need. I was hoping those with a little more experience in
> woodworking or construction could give me some suggestions as my wife
> is rapidly expanding her wardrobe and we may soon hit critical mass.
>
> I have created crude visual aides to describe the following two ideas
> I've been toying with - Take a look at
> http://www.krystek.net/horriblecloset
>
> Shelving 12" deep along one of the long portions of the closet, and
> much deeper shelving towards the back. Positives: Relatively cheap &
> easy. Negatives: We can't gain much weight or our closet becomes
> inaccessable - we'd only have about a foot of space to enter the
> closet. 12" deep shelves aren't incredibly useful.
>
> Three very deep (~ 30") shelves, mounted in the back of the closet,
> spanning the width of the closet and attached via sliding rails.
> Almost like a giant in-wall dresser. Towards the top I'd have a
> regular bar for hanging. Positives: easier access to bottom shelves
> which could be fully utilized. Negatives: High quality rails and large
> custom shelves are pricey. Installation is somewhat more difficult.
> My wife is very petite (5'2") and wouldn't be able to reach the back of
> the upper shelves without a stepstool. I would also be wasting quite a
> bit of space.
>
> Expansion is impossible as the space has 2 exterior walls and a
> bathroom flanking its perimeter. Expanding the bathroom would not be
> useful.
>
> Suggestions or comments are very greatly appreciated!
>
> - John
>
Someone else already pointed out that you haven't said what you want it for. We have a closet very
similar to the one you describe.
Just for fun, consider ripping the drywall off the inside of the closet. Glue and use plenty of
screws to reline the closet with 3/4 inch ply with the sheets aligned vertically. Now glue and
screw another layer of ply, but horizontally over all the walls. Install a vault door. Hook up an
entry alarm. You now have a huge walk-in safe for all your valuables - mink stoles, guns, coins,
jewelry, stamps, Lee Valley catalogs, etc.
Regards,
Roy.
On 4 Feb 2006 10:40:00 -0800, "John Krystek" <[email protected]> wrote:
>As a new homeowner I've realized I'm hooked on making home
>improvements. I am definitely a newbie, although from the looks of my
>tool collection you wouldn't know it ... I think I'm addicted to power
>tools.
>
>One project I've held off on is our horrible bedroom closet. We have
>two closets - one is normal, and the other has ridiculous dimensions
>that render it almost unuseable: 59" (4' 11") deep by 26" (2' 2") wide
>and 7' 6" high. It currently has no shelves or bars, just a ceiling
>light.
>
>I've searched this group many times and more often than not get the
>answers I need. I was hoping those with a little more experience in
>woodworking or construction could give me some suggestions as my wife
>is rapidly expanding her wardrobe and we may soon hit critical mass.
>
>I have created crude visual aides to describe the following two ideas
>I've been toying with - Take a look at
>http://www.krystek.net/horriblecloset
>
>Shelving 12" deep along one of the long portions of the closet, and
>much deeper shelving towards the back. Positives: Relatively cheap &
>easy. Negatives: We can't gain much weight or our closet becomes
>inaccessable - we'd only have about a foot of space to enter the
>closet. 12" deep shelves aren't incredibly useful.
>
>Three very deep (~ 30") shelves, mounted in the back of the closet,
>spanning the width of the closet and attached via sliding rails.
>Almost like a giant in-wall dresser. Towards the top I'd have a
>regular bar for hanging. Positives: easier access to bottom shelves
>which could be fully utilized. Negatives: High quality rails and large
>custom shelves are pricey. Installation is somewhat more difficult.
>My wife is very petite (5'2") and wouldn't be able to reach the back of
>the upper shelves without a stepstool. I would also be wasting quite a
>bit of space.
>
>Expansion is impossible as the space has 2 exterior walls and a
>bathroom flanking its perimeter. Expanding the bathroom would not be
>useful.
>
>Suggestions or comments are very greatly appreciated!
>
>- John
[email protected] wrote:
> Thinking outside of the box....
>
> How about expanding the Bathroom into the closet space?
>
> How about a closet that is accessed from inside of the bathroom?
For that matter, how about walling off the back half of it and opening
it to the outside to make a storage area for garden tools and the like?
(Of course, if it's on the second floor, this may be complicated.)
- Brooks
--
The "bmoses-nospam" address is valid; no unmunging needed.
John Krystek wrote:
> One project I've held off on is our horrible bedroom closet. We have
> two closets - one is normal, and the other has ridiculous dimensions
> that render it almost unuseable: 59" (4' 11") deep by 26" (2' 2") wide
> and 7' 6" high. It currently has no shelves or bars, just a ceiling
> light.
What I'd be tempted to do is to put widely-spaced 24"-deep shelves
across the back, and then put a clothes-bar across the front at what
would be a convenient place if the closet were only 35" deep.
That gives you a 26"-wide clothes bar, and a set of shelves that can
only be easily accessed if you take most of the clothes out. The
shelves can the be used to store things like the cardboard box and odd
styrofoam pieces that the TV came in which you'll need if you ever need
to return it, and the financial records from 2002 that are too old to
need and too new to toss out, and that sort of thing that you want to
keep but never actually want to use.
Some narrow shoe racks along the bottom sides of the closet might be
useful, too.
- Brooks
--
The "bmoses-nospam" address is valid; no unmunging needed.
"John" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:W%[email protected]...
>I would agree that the roll-out option is probably the best, provided
>that you have sufficient space in the bedroom. However, I would mount
>the cabinet on top/bottom rails to ensure that it glides straight and
>true and doesn't tip over on you. Imagine how a kitchen cabinet drawer
>mounted 90 degrees on its side might operate.
>
> Pocket door rails come to mind but you might have to embed some in the
> floor on the bedroom side. Maybe an office supply house could find you
> some heavy steel ball bearing extension glides of the type used by
> records storage facilities, where shelves bearing hundreds of pounds
> of paper slide effortlessly.
Uh, maybe these?
http://wwhardware.com/catalog.cfm/GroupID/Cabinet%20Drawer%20Slides/CatID/Drawer%20Slides%2C%20KV%20Heavy%20Duty
--
"New Wave" Dave In Houston
On 4 Feb 2006 10:40:00 -0800, "John Krystek" <[email protected]>
wrote:
>One project I've held off on is our horrible bedroom closet. We have
>two closets - one is normal, and the other has ridiculous dimensions
>that render it almost unuseable: 59" (4' 11") deep by 26" (2' 2") wide
>and 7' 6" high. It currently has no shelves or bars, just a ceiling
>light.
>
It could be worse.
My cape style home has upstairs closets with ceilings that after
you're 2 feet in, slope to 2 feet high.
Imagination...
John -- don't forget you can use the back of the door! The Container Store
has some high quality shoe racks that fit on the inside of a closet door and
you should be able to combine those with a pull-out unit, provided the door
opens enough (more than 90 degrees) so that the door unit doesn't interfere
with the pull-out unit when the pull-out is in use.
You could also mount belt and tie racks to the inside of the door --
Afterthought -- with the bathroom next to it, consider the possibility of
mildew or mold problems inside the closet, especially if you've got clothes
doubly sealed inside a cabinet inside a closet. You may want to dehumidify,
use Damp-Rid, or vent the closet --
"John Krystek" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Thank you for all the excellent ideas. I think we're going to roll
> with the full size pullout cabinet on rails idea. I actually suggested
> this as an option to my dear wife a few months ago, but somehow
> Kevin/John phrased it in such a way as to get her excited about the
> prospect. :) I'll have to remove the doorknob on the inside of the
> closet (not very useful there anyhow) and find a distributor of large
> undermount sliding rails ($$?). I was planning on building a custom
> cabinet but with just 19" of available width between the door and
> molding I'll be better off finding a solid, somewhat standard 18" deep
> x 4' wide x 6'ish high cabinet to modify. I'll add 12" of shelving on
> the side facing the opening so the closet is immediately functional
> upon opening the door. Once pulled out, the layout of the room
> prohibits access to just one side so I won't have to remove the
> backing. I will also use a pair of casters to support the weight of
> the cabinet as it slides out onto the bedroom carpet away from the
> rails. A simple extendable ceiling mounted track will provide
> additional stability.
>
> To answer a few questions: Expanding the bathroom wouldn't yield us any
> great returns so that's out of the question. We don't have anything
> really big and valuable so the walk-in safe, while very creative, won't
> fly either. The Ferris Wheel Bin idea gets major creativity points,
> but I'll reiterate a very important detail from my original post: I'm a
> newbie. :) The closet will be used to store standard issue foldable
> clothing, from tshirts to sweaters, as well as any other odd items
> we'll undoubtably cram in there.
>
> It's unfortunate I'll still be wasting some space - a combined total of
> 8" down the depth of the closet as well as a foot and a half above the
> door molding. Reconstructing the door dimensions is out of the
> question for about a dozen reasons, but thank you to the pros that I
> know were about to suggest that option.
>
> If anyone knows of a supplier that might carry large (4' ?) ball
> bearing undermounted full extension rails that would be great.
>
> Thanks again for all the replies. I'll hopefully post an update after
> this interesting project is complete!
>
> - John
>
> John Krystek wrote:
>> As a new homeowner I've realized I'm hooked on making home
>> improvements. I am definitely a newbie, although from the looks of my
>> tool collection you wouldn't know it ... I think I'm addicted to power
>> tools.
>>
>> One project I've held off on is our horrible bedroom closet. We have
>> two closets - one is normal, and the other has ridiculous dimensions
>> that render it almost unuseable: 59" (4' 11") deep by 26" (2' 2") wide
>> and 7' 6" high. It currently has no shelves or bars, just a ceiling
>> light.
>>
>> I've searched this group many times and more often than not get the
>> answers I need. I was hoping those with a little more experience in
>> woodworking or construction could give me some suggestions as my wife
>> is rapidly expanding her wardrobe and we may soon hit critical mass.
>>
>> I have created crude visual aides to describe the following two ideas
>> I've been toying with - Take a look at
>> http://www.krystek.net/horriblecloset
>>
>> Shelving 12" deep along one of the long portions of the closet, and
>> much deeper shelving towards the back. Positives: Relatively cheap &
>> easy. Negatives: We can't gain much weight or our closet becomes
>> inaccessable - we'd only have about a foot of space to enter the
>> closet. 12" deep shelves aren't incredibly useful.
>>
>> Three very deep (~ 30") shelves, mounted in the back of the closet,
>> spanning the width of the closet and attached via sliding rails.
>> Almost like a giant in-wall dresser. Towards the top I'd have a
>> regular bar for hanging. Positives: easier access to bottom shelves
>> which could be fully utilized. Negatives: High quality rails and large
>> custom shelves are pricey. Installation is somewhat more difficult.
>> My wife is very petite (5'2") and wouldn't be able to reach the back of
>> the upper shelves without a stepstool. I would also be wasting quite a
>> bit of space.
>>
>> Expansion is impossible as the space has 2 exterior walls and a
>> bathroom flanking its perimeter. Expanding the bathroom would not be
>> useful.
>>
>> Suggestions or comments are very greatly appreciated!
>>
>> - John
>
"Roy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Someone else already pointed out that you haven't said what you want it
for. We have a closet very
> similar to the one you describe.
>
> Just for fun, consider ripping the drywall off the inside of the closet.
Glue and use plenty of
> screws to reline the closet with 3/4 inch ply with the sheets aligned
vertically. Now glue and
> screw another layer of ply, but horizontally over all the walls. Install
a vault door. Hook up an
> entry alarm. You now have a huge walk-in safe for all your valuables -
mink stoles, guns, coins,
> jewelry, stamps, Lee Valley catalogs, etc.
>
> Regards,
>
> Roy.
>
First of all, you could break into that "safe" with a sawzall. Second, it
doesn't address how the storage space would be organized, which was the
original poster's original problem.
B.
Something like that would work but these may only be mounted to the
sides of the cabinet. I was thinking of something that would mount to
the top and bottom, where the weight of the cabinet could be borne by
the floor rather than by the rails themselves.
J.
New Wave Dave wrote:
>
> Uh, maybe these?
> http://wwhardware.com/catalog.cfm/GroupID/Cabinet%20Drawer%20Slides/CatID/Drawer%20Slides%2C%20KV%20Heavy%20Duty
"Joe Barta" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> John Krystek wrote:
>
>> Suggestions or comments are very greatly appreciated!
>
> You're right... sucky closet design. I have two thoughts... first,
> there are a lot of closet companies out there and I'm sure some have
> web sites. You might find some ideas there. Quite possibly this has
> been dealt with before.
>
> Of the two ideas you show on the web page, the one on the right seems
> more on the right track. The layout in middle pic is almost unusable.
>
> I'd think in terms of shelves rather than drawers and I'd say that a
> clothes bar is out... maybe find another place for one.
>
> Also, if you did decide on the right option, you could always build a
> stepstool to access the top shelves. you could keep the stepstool in
> the closet ;-)
I'm going to disagaree with Joe on this one. I like the drawer
option (deep drawers) with either open shelving or a two door
(lockable?) cabinet above it with adjustable shelving. I might even
consider how to place a hidden compartment behind it all though I
haven't figured out how to access it from in front of the whole thing.
Or, the open shelving option with a made-to-fit roll-out drawer
unit.?
> Realistically your options are limited. I'm reminded of a saying...
> "It's a shit sandwich and you're just gonna have to take a bite."
Put enough steak sauce onit and maybe you'll just learn to like it!
--
"New Wave" Dave In Houston
John,
As it's quite unlikely that you will find the guides that you are now
looking for you might want to consider a method that I once used.
I made a very large roll-out that used 4" non-swiveling casters on all 4
corners plus 2 in the middle. I built a pair of tracks for them to roll into
with flared ends to catch any mis-allignment on their return trip. As heavy
as I expect your cabinet will be, if you mount the casters as straight as
you can I doubt that you will have any problems getting them to re-engage
the flared end of the track. I used oak strips that were attached to an oak
hardwood floor with screws. These strips were spaced about 1/4" wider than
the wheels. The end flare of the rails was about 1" on each strip (or 1/2 of
the width of the hardwood rail) and about 6 inches long. It allowed for a
mis-allignment of up to 1 inch either way as the cart returned into the
track, but I never saw my cart get more than about 1/4 inch out of
allignment. The back end casters never went more than about a foot past the
end of the track so they returned to the track quite well and the rest
followed. I never had any top rail guides, just the casters and tracks at
the bottom. That cabinet was built about 40 years ago, and as far as I know,
it's still in use.
--
Charley
I would agree that the roll-out option is probably the best, provided
that you have sufficient space in the bedroom. However, I would mount
the cabinet on top/bottom rails to ensure that it glides straight and
true and doesn't tip over on you. Imagine how a kitchen cabinet drawer
mounted 90 degrees on its side might operate.
Pocket door rails come to mind but you might have to embed some in the
floor on the bedroom side. Maybe an office supply house could find you
some heavy steel ball bearing extension glides of the type used by
records storage facilities, where shelves bearing hundreds of pounds of
paper slide effortlessly.
J.
John Krystek wrote:
> Suggestions or comments are very greatly appreciated!
You're right... sucky closet design. I have two thoughts... first,
there are a lot of closet companies out there and I'm sure some have
web sites. You might find some ideas there. Quite possibly this has
been dealt with before.
Of the two ideas you show on the web page, the one on the right seems
more on the right track. The layout in middle pic is almost unusable.
I'd think in terms of shelves rather than drawers and I'd say that a
clothes bar is out... maybe find another place for one.
Also, if you did decide on the right option, you could always build a
stepstool to access the top shelves. you could keep the stepstool in
the closet ;-)
Realistically your options are limited. I'm reminded of a saying...
"It's a shit sandwich and you're just gonna have to take a bite."
Joe Barta
"John Krystek" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> As a new homeowner I've realized I'm hooked on making home
> improvements. I am definitely a newbie, although from the looks of my
> tool collection you wouldn't know it ... I think I'm addicted to power
> tools.
>
> One project I've held off on is our horrible bedroom closet. We have
> two closets - one is normal, and the other has ridiculous dimensions
> that render it almost unuseable: 59" (4' 11") deep by 26" (2' 2") wide
> and 7' 6" high. It currently has no shelves or bars, just a ceiling
> light.
>
> I've searched this group many times and more often than not get the
> answers I need. I was hoping those with a little more experience in
> woodworking or construction could give me some suggestions as my wife
> is rapidly expanding her wardrobe and we may soon hit critical mass.
>
> I have created crude visual aides to describe the following two ideas
> I've been toying with - Take a look at
> http://www.krystek.net/horriblecloset
>
> Shelving 12" deep along one of the long portions of the closet, and
> much deeper shelving towards the back. Positives: Relatively cheap &
> easy. Negatives: We can't gain much weight or our closet becomes
> inaccessable - we'd only have about a foot of space to enter the
> closet. 12" deep shelves aren't incredibly useful.
>
> Three very deep (~ 30") shelves, mounted in the back of the closet,
> spanning the width of the closet and attached via sliding rails.
> Almost like a giant in-wall dresser. Towards the top I'd have a
> regular bar for hanging. Positives: easier access to bottom shelves
> which could be fully utilized. Negatives: High quality rails and large
> custom shelves are pricey. Installation is somewhat more difficult.
> My wife is very petite (5'2") and wouldn't be able to reach the back of
> the upper shelves without a stepstool. I would also be wasting quite a
> bit of space.
>
> Expansion is impossible as the space has 2 exterior walls and a
> bathroom flanking its perimeter. Expanding the bathroom would not be
> useful.
>
> Suggestions or comments are very greatly appreciated!
>
> - John
>
I would look at trying to tear out a wall or two and build something right.
If that is not an option, have you considered some kind of rolling option?
I have built a fair number of cabinets that roll around on some big casters.
One place where i worked had me build some big cabinets that were rolled
into a secure room at night and locked up.
By going to big enough casters and a solid handle/pushbar, even heavy
cabinets could be moved about.
John Krystek wrote:
> Thank you for all the excellent ideas. I think we're going to roll
> with the full size pullout cabinet on rails idea. I actually suggested
> this as an option to my dear wife a few months ago, but somehow
> Kevin/John phrased it in such a way as to get her excited about the
> prospect. :) I'll have to remove the doorknob on the inside of the
> closet (not very useful there anyhow) and find a distributor of large
> undermount sliding rails ($$?). I was planning on building a custom
> cabinet but with just 19" of available width between the door and
> molding I'll be better off finding a solid, somewhat standard 18" deep
> x 4' wide x 6'ish high cabinet to modify. I'll add 12" of shelving on
> the side facing the opening so the closet is immediately functional
> upon opening the door. Once pulled out, the layout of the room
> prohibits access to just one side so I won't have to remove the
> backing. I will also use a pair of casters to support the weight of
> the cabinet as it slides out onto the bedroom carpet away from the
> rails. A simple extendable ceiling mounted track will provide
> additional stability.
>
> To answer a few questions: Expanding the bathroom wouldn't yield us any
> great returns so that's out of the question. We don't have anything
> really big and valuable so the walk-in safe, while very creative, won't
> fly either. The Ferris Wheel Bin idea gets major creativity points,
> but I'll reiterate a very important detail from my original post: I'm a
> newbie. :) The closet will be used to store standard issue foldable
> clothing, from tshirts to sweaters, as well as any other odd items
> we'll undoubtably cram in there.
>
> It's unfortunate I'll still be wasting some space - a combined total of
> 8" down the depth of the closet as well as a foot and a half above the
> door molding. Reconstructing the door dimensions is out of the
> question for about a dozen reasons, but thank you to the pros that I
> know were about to suggest that option.
>
> If anyone knows of a supplier that might carry large (4' ?) ball
> bearing undermounted full extension rails that would be great.
>
> Thanks again for all the replies. I'll hopefully post an update after
> this interesting project is complete!
>
> - John
>
> John Krystek wrote:
>> As a new homeowner I've realized I'm hooked on making home
>> improvements. I am definitely a newbie, although from the looks of my
>> tool collection you wouldn't know it ... I think I'm addicted to power
>> tools.
>>
>> One project I've held off on is our horrible bedroom closet. We have
>> two closets - one is normal, and the other has ridiculous dimensions
>> that render it almost unuseable: 59" (4' 11") deep by 26" (2' 2") wide
>> and 7' 6" high. It currently has no shelves or bars, just a ceiling
>> light.
>>
>> I've searched this group many times and more often than not get the
>> answers I need. I was hoping those with a little more experience in
>> woodworking or construction could give me some suggestions as my wife
>> is rapidly expanding her wardrobe and we may soon hit critical mass.
>>
>> I have created crude visual aides to describe the following two ideas
>> I've been toying with - Take a look at
>> http://www.krystek.net/horriblecloset
>>
>> Shelving 12" deep along one of the long portions of the closet, and
>> much deeper shelving towards the back. Positives: Relatively cheap &
>> easy. Negatives: We can't gain much weight or our closet becomes
>> inaccessable - we'd only have about a foot of space to enter the
>> closet. 12" deep shelves aren't incredibly useful.
>>
>> Three very deep (~ 30") shelves, mounted in the back of the closet,
>> spanning the width of the closet and attached via sliding rails.
>> Almost like a giant in-wall dresser. Towards the top I'd have a
>> regular bar for hanging. Positives: easier access to bottom shelves
>> which could be fully utilized. Negatives: High quality rails and large
>> custom shelves are pricey. Installation is somewhat more difficult.
>> My wife is very petite (5'2") and wouldn't be able to reach the back of
>> the upper shelves without a stepstool. I would also be wasting quite a
>> bit of space.
>>
>> Expansion is impossible as the space has 2 exterior walls and a
>> bathroom flanking its perimeter. Expanding the bathroom would not be
>> useful.
>>
>> Suggestions or comments are very greatly appreciated!
>>
>> - John
>
Well, I'm not sure you want undermount so here's some drawer mount type
http://wwhardware.com/catalog.cfm/GroupID/Cabinet%20Drawer%20Slides/CatID/Drawer%20Slides%2C%20KV%20Heavy%20Duty/SubCatID/%20500%23%20Class%20Precision%20Ball%20Bearing%20Slides
Joe
Another far out idea from the records storage facility: How about a
revolving set of bins? I'm thinking of something that would operate on
the principle of the Ferris Wheel, which would revolve fore and aft
entirely inside the closet, and where each bin would be mounted on a
pivot such that it always remained level.
OTOH shelves would be easier to build. Just stay skinny. :-)
J.
The picur in h middle strikes me as a good idea, poorly executed.
If you flip flop / mirror mage the long shelf, mooving it from the right
side to the left side, as you look into the closet, it works better.
Just my 2 cents.
--
Jim McLaughlin
Reply address is deliberately munged.
If you really need to reply directly, try:
jimdotmclaughlinatcomcastdotcom
And you know it is a dotnet not a dotcom
address.
"John Krystek" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> As a new homeowner I've realized I'm hooked on making home
> improvements. I am definitely a newbie, although from the looks of my
> tool collection you wouldn't know it ... I think I'm addicted to power
> tools.
>
> One project I've held off on is our horrible bedroom closet. We have
> two closets - one is normal, and the other has ridiculous dimensions
> that render it almost unuseable: 59" (4' 11") deep by 26" (2' 2") wide
> and 7' 6" high. It currently has no shelves or bars, just a ceiling
> light.
>
> I've searched this group many times and more often than not get the
> answers I need. I was hoping those with a little more experience in
> woodworking or construction could give me some suggestions as my wife
> is rapidly expanding her wardrobe and we may soon hit critical mass.
>
> I have created crude visual aides to describe the following two ideas
> I've been toying with - Take a look at
> http://www.krystek.net/horriblecloset
>
> Shelving 12" deep along one of the long portions of the closet, and
> much deeper shelving towards the back. Positives: Relatively cheap &
> easy. Negatives: We can't gain much weight or our closet becomes
> inaccessable - we'd only have about a foot of space to enter the
> closet. 12" deep shelves aren't incredibly useful.
>
> Three very deep (~ 30") shelves, mounted in the back of the closet,
> spanning the width of the closet and attached via sliding rails.
> Almost like a giant in-wall dresser. Towards the top I'd have a
> regular bar for hanging. Positives: easier access to bottom shelves
> which could be fully utilized. Negatives: High quality rails and large
> custom shelves are pricey. Installation is somewhat more difficult.
> My wife is very petite (5'2") and wouldn't be able to reach the back of
> the upper shelves without a stepstool. I would also be wasting quite a
> bit of space.
>
> Expansion is impossible as the space has 2 exterior walls and a
> bathroom flanking its perimeter. Expanding the bathroom would not be
> useful.
>
> Suggestions or comments are very greatly appreciated!
>
> - John
>
On 4 Feb 2006 10:40:00 -0800, "John Krystek" <[email protected]>
wrote:
>As a new homeowner I've realized I'm hooked on making home
>improvements. I am definitely a newbie, although from the looks of my
>tool collection you wouldn't know it ... I think I'm addicted to power
>tools.
>
>One project I've held off on is our horrible bedroom closet. We have
>two closets - one is normal, and the other has ridiculous dimensions
>that render it almost unuseable: 59" (4' 11") deep by 26" (2' 2") wide
>and 7' 6" high. It currently has no shelves or bars, just a ceiling
>light.
You haven't said, and no one has asked, what you want to use the
closet for. If you want hanging space, you could have some short rods
coming out from the side with the last rod going the whole width.
Shoe racks don't need to be 12" deep, neither do bookshelves.
-Leuf
I would go here: http://www.closetmaid.com/main.cfm
and use their tool to make a much better layout than you
will come up with.
John Krystek wrote:
> As a new homeowner I've realized I'm hooked on making home
> improvements. I am definitely a newbie, although from the looks of my
> tool collection you wouldn't know it ... I think I'm addicted to power
> tools.
>
> One project I've held off on is our horrible bedroom closet. We have
> two closets - one is normal, and the other has ridiculous dimensions
> that render it almost unuseable: 59" (4' 11") deep by 26" (2' 2") wide
> and 7' 6" high. It currently has no shelves or bars, just a ceiling
> light.
>
> I've searched this group many times and more often than not get the
> answers I need. I was hoping those with a little more experience in
> woodworking or construction could give me some suggestions as my wife
> is rapidly expanding her wardrobe and we may soon hit critical mass.
>
> I have created crude visual aides to describe the following two ideas
> I've been toying with - Take a look at
> http://www.krystek.net/horriblecloset
>
> Shelving 12" deep along one of the long portions of the closet, and
> much deeper shelving towards the back. Positives: Relatively cheap &
> easy. Negatives: We can't gain much weight or our closet becomes
> inaccessable - we'd only have about a foot of space to enter the
> closet. 12" deep shelves aren't incredibly useful.
>
> Three very deep (~ 30") shelves, mounted in the back of the closet,
> spanning the width of the closet and attached via sliding rails.
> Almost like a giant in-wall dresser. Towards the top I'd have a
> regular bar for hanging. Positives: easier access to bottom shelves
> which could be fully utilized. Negatives: High quality rails and large
> custom shelves are pricey. Installation is somewhat more difficult.
> My wife is very petite (5'2") and wouldn't be able to reach the back of
> the upper shelves without a stepstool. I would also be wasting quite a
> bit of space.
>
> Expansion is impossible as the space has 2 exterior walls and a
> bathroom flanking its perimeter. Expanding the bathroom would not be
> useful.
>
> Suggestions or comments are very greatly appreciated!
>
> - John
>
It took a little phone calling to friends but here's precisely what I
had in mind:
http://www.spacesaver.com/product.asp?prod_id=9
This is apparently one of several companies that sells such products to
the type of industrial and government customers I was referring to.
Whether they'll sell to the retail customer is something you'll have to
ask to find out. But at least if you can get to see how their stuff is
made you might be able to adapt something for your home.
I'd love to hear what results you ultimately come up with.
Good luck,
J.
John Krystek wrote:
> Thank you for all the excellent ideas. I think we're going to roll
> with the full size pullout cabinet on rails idea.