Closet WITH Storage Space

I had a few goals for myself this year.  They were little goals that would make my life a little better. One of the goals was to come up with a way to store my ribbon. Check.

The next two goals were about closets.  This week my dear husband offered to help me make over our closet.  Thank you Joel!  We worked pretty well together.  He did the work and I took pictures.  :-)

First we are going to need some tools of the trade. A tiny little drill bit, a 1/4 inch drill bit and a Phillips head screw driver tip are needed for the drill.

You will want to have a level.  I prefer a small level, but hubby prefers the larger one so we have two out.  A pencil to make the wall and a ruler will be needed.  If you are working on your own, you may want a hammer and a Phillips head screw driver...I'll explain about that later. 

Finally you will need screws and anchors.  We have plaster walls, but you would also want to use anchors if your walls are finished with drywall.  We are using two inch screws. 

You will also want to have a cordless drill on hand.  I LOVE it when hubby uses this thing around the house. ;-)

We have all our supplies set up on this little table so we can keep track of everything.  Also you will notice the boards.  We have pre-cut and painted the wood that will be acting as the brackets for our shelves.  For each shelf we will need two 23 inch side pieces and one 41 inch piece that will run across the back of the closet.  Since we are installing 3 shelves, we need six side pieces and three back pieces. 

We are using a pink ruler to measure down one foot from the shelf bracket that is already in place. Joel is going to mark off about four places on the wall.

Next we grab our bracket wood and tr to line it up according to the marks Joel made with the ruler.  Put the level on the wood so you know that you have everything lined up perfectly.  Then mark the entire board with a pencil.  You do not want to be messing with leveling out the board when you start drilling. 

When you have the line drawn, put your level down and grab your power drill fitted with the thin drill bit.  Drill pilot holes through the wood and right into the wall.  You might need someone to hold one end of the board while you do this part of the project. 

This leaves you with holes that line up perfectly with the board.

Now you need the 1/4 inch drill bit.  That is the size hole that our anchors need.  Your anchors may be a different size so drill accordingly.

If your screw is not going directly into a stud (A stud is usually a 2x4 that is behind the drywall or plaster.  The studs or 2x4's create the frame work for your walls.  Newer homes should have a 2 x 4 every 16 inches.  Older homes that have plaster walls do not have a regulated spacing for the studs.) then you need to use an anchor or molly.  I prefer to use anchors because they are much easier to use in my opinion.  So the holes that will need anchors will have to be re-drilled with the 1/4 inch drill bit.    

Insert the anchor into the 1/4 inch hole.  If you are having a hard time getting the anchor into the hole, a few taps with a hammer will help. 

Now put the screw driver tip into the drill.  It is time to attach the board to the wall.  :-)

It is very good idea to start the screws in the board before you go to the wall.  Hubby used the power drill to get these screws started, but I were going to do it, I would have started them with a regular old fashioned screw driver. 

Eye ball your board before you start attaching it.  You might think this is a silly step, but believe me if you get the board upside down and have to unscrew to flip it, you will not be thinking this is such a silly step. 

When everything looks good, screw the board to the wall studs or into the anchors. 

This is what we wound up with. I have a few important notes for you.

• Number one.  Attach the middle board first.  When that is attached to the wall, you can work on the two side boards at the same time.  ( Be sure to eyeball the side boards up before attaching them.  It is really easy to mix the boards up.) 
• Number two.  You are going to do a lot of bit changing.  Just be prepared.  

We added some particle board shelves that we cut down to size.  All we need to do now is wipe everything down and then fill up all that space. 

Look it!  I am so excited.  I am feeling so organized right now.  I'm just thrilled with the results. 

Here is a close up of all the stuff I could get on one shelf.  My other cabinets are so happy now that they are not over stuffed.

Turn wasted closet into attractive and usable storage space.  Check.  :-)

This is the product we used for the shelves.  If we had used pine boards, it would have cost $90.00 for the wood alone plus I would have had to purchase stain and varnish for the wood...not to mention the additional work of staining and varnishing.  This option was half the price of the wood and way less work.