If you are in an
older home that has tiny closets – or worse, no closets!
– you may find yourself scrounging for space. Why not figure
out
how to build a closet, and give yourself the
gift of more storage space.
Of course, space can’t be made
from nothing, so
you’ll be giving up space in the room where the closet is
located, or an adjacent room, in order to build your closet.
Decide
what’s going to work best for you. Is your bathroom
unnecessarily spacious? Does the master bedroom have a strange nook
that would work well as a closet? Is there unused space under the
stairs?
Next, determine whether you’ll
have to knock out any walls,
and if you do, determine if they are load bearing walls. Load bearing
walls are necessary for the structural integrity of the house, and you
cannot knock them down safely. If necessary, get a professional opinion
on this part.
For any holes that need to be knocked in
walls, saw shallowly first to
make sure you don’t hit any wires or pipes. No need to
electrocute yourself or flood the house for this project!
How to build
a closet may include building walls themselves. Be sure to check into
city or county codes to make sure you’re building the walls
properly and safely.
Framing walls is simple, but you must do it
right.
Also decide at this point if you’re going to run lights
and/or electricity into this space.
If you are, please hire a
professional or at least get a professional’s advice.
New walls need to be drywalled, and once that’s finish, you
can paint the entire space.
Then, it’s time to decide on your
closet system. Will you do built in cabinetry or ventilated shelving?
You have many, many choices, so shop around and give yourself the
closet of your dreams.
When you’re learning how to build
a
closet, there is so much more than just the structural part. You need
to make the space your own, and as long as you are building it, build
it to suit you!