Our son’s bedroom closet recently reached a point where I didn’t even want to open the doors anymore. It wasn’t just messy – it was a true waste of space. There were a few necessary items and a lot of random piles. My husband and I decided it was finally time to tackle it and bring order to what has been chaos.
We started by measuring the space and discussing options. We quickly settled on a combination of shelves and a hanging rod. He doesn’t have a lot to hang so adding shelving would better utilize the space. Before heading to the store, we searched online. This ended up being a smart choice as neither home improvement store near our home had what we wanted. Instead we ordered online for in store pickup and had it a few days later.
Purging
While we waited, I pulled everything out of his closet and sorted. I set aside outgrown clothes for future consignment sales or for donation. Found a few “treasures” that could be donated. Tossed a few items in the trash. And generally sorted so we would have a better feel of what we needed space for when the project was complete.
Building and Installing
We chose the Closetmaid Impressions system featuring 2 sets of the shelf organizers and 3 hanging rods. I mainly wanted the shelves, but a sale made the kit a lower price than buying just the shelving and leaves us with options if we want to add additional hanging rods later.
Construction of the closet system was pretty simple and quick. Our son helped me put it together step by step.
We removed the existing rod, shelf and support bracket from his closet so we could install the shelving. We intentionally left the 1×4 shelf support boards. They were perfect to brace the shelving against as we anchored it to the wall since the spacing was equal to the baseboards below which we also left in place.
Once the shelving was installed we debated our rod options. The closet system kit came with 3 rods with either a single or double placement option. I honestly wasn’t a big fan of the metal rods in the kit. After a bit more discussion we came up with the simpler option – reuse the existing shelf and rod. We simply cut them down to size and reinstalled the support bracket. Since the shelving was just under half the width of the closet, this idea worked perfectly and it looks better than the metal options from the kit.
Completed Tween Closet Makeover
Afterward I took a step back to admire our hard work. The space is far more organized and has a custom look – all with just the addition of shelving and a bit of tidying up.
At the start of the project, I dreaded opening the closet doors to grab something. Now, I almost want to take the doors off! His closet is one of the tidiest spots in the house and still has room for him to grow into it.
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