Don’t Spare the Rod…Add One! Maximize Your Closet Storage
We’ve all got “stuff”, lots and lots of stuff. Living with someone who loves to organize, it’s somewhat of a game at our house to find ways to store it – neatly. If it were up to me, I’d throw everything in a cardboard box, shut the door and call it good. Instead, I was asked, nicely, to solve the closet storage problem.
Take a look at the closets in your house. Do most of them have one rod? Do you have stuff piled above and crammed below whatever’s hanging there? Why not fully utilize your closet space. Imagine double rods and some shelves. Now how much stuff could that closet hold?
Let’s Do This.
Shopping List:
- 1×4 lumber long enough to fit in both end walls
- 1×12 shelving long enough to fit the full width of your closet
- closet rod sockets
- closet rod the same length as your shelf
- one or two shelf bracket/rod holders depending on the width of your closet
- Remove the existing rod, shelf, and any of the pieces on the walls, leaving just a bare canvas inside of your closet.
- Measure up from the floor 39 and 80 inches and mark with pencil. Do this in all of the corners. These marks will be the center of your new rods when you’re finished.
- Using your stud finder, locate the studs on the back wall of the closet – mark them. Check the end walls to see if there are any there – mark them. Chances are, you won’t find any on the end walls, except in the corners. (We’ll get to that in a minute).
- Measure the short, end walls of your closet and cut your 1×4 to those lengths. Pre-drill the ends and attach them to the wall with 2” screws centering them on your 39 or 80 inch marks. If there happens to be studs in the middle of the wall somewhere, you can also attach the boards there.
- Using your level, draw a line on the back wall that is even with the top of the boards on the end walls. This mark will be where the top of the shelf brackets will go. Depending on the width of your closet, secure a bracket to the stud closest to the center of the wall with 1 ¼” screws or longer. You’ll want to space the brackets no more than 3 feet from the end walls or from each other, so it may be necessary to put two brackets on the wall.
- Measure from 1×4 to 1×4 in the “hook” of the shelf brackets. Subtract 3/8” from that number and cut your closet rod to that length. Set the rod on the bracket hooks and mark the 1×4’s by tracing around the end of the rod. If you’re only using one bracket, be sure to put your level on the rod before you mark the ends.
- Remove the rod and attach the rod sockets to the 1×4’s where you marked them, then replace the rod. Next measure the back wall on top of the 1×4’s at the back corner and cut your 1×12 shelving to that length.
- Repeat this process for the other height on the wall with the materials you removed originally and you have just doubled your closet space!
Another option is to purchase the white wire shelving from a home improvement store, like Lowes or Home Depot. You’ll need different tools for installation, like a hacksaw and possibly some drill bits for the anchors, but you can still use the same measurements from the floor. The wire shelving comes with directions for securing them snugly to the walls.
See ya next time when we’ll talk about adding shelving.
Paul
Although the directions that come with the ladder are pretty self explanatory, it’s probably not a great idea to begin the install without reading them through first. You’ll want to plan on asking someone to help you when it’s time to put the ladder into place, but for the most part, the installation is a one person show.
Number one on my list is a cordless drill. With this tool, you will save a lot of time and frustration with your projects. Trying to sink a screw in to wood by hand is tedious and tiring. I do recommend that you purchase nothing smaller than a 14 volt set, though. The smaller voltage drills have less torque and tend to run out of power sooner. And, it’s not necessary for you to purchase the top of the line either, unless you plan on doing a LOT of major work.
Here are the other recommended tools in no particular order….You’ll want to have some simple hand tools around, the first of which would be a hammer. For most things you do, a lightweight finish hammer will fill the bill. Just pick out something that’s comfortable for you and has a smooth face on the hammer head.
Even though you’ve got yourself a cordless drill, there will be times you’ll need a manual screwdriver. Instead of getting multiple screwdrivers, I suggest you get one that has multiple driver heads with it that can be interchanged. That way, you will have one screwdriver instead of 4 to 6 for different applications plus there’s only one to keep track of!
Unless you’re extremely tall, a ladder is also in order. Most jobs around the house can be handled with a 4 foot ladder. They’ll get you high enough to paint the top corner of the walls (unless you have tall ceilings) and they’re much easier to handle than a larger ladder. If you want to have a ladder that’s real versatile but, a little harder to handle, get an adjustable ladder such as a “Little Giant” brand. There are other brands that do the same thing, but generally cost less. This style of ladder makes it easier to paint around stair walls or other uneven surfaces and still feel very safe and secure. If there’s a downside to this type of ladder, it’s the lack of a working surface to hold tools and materials. Most manufacturers also sell a shelf attachment that will fill that need.
One of the best attachments you can get for your new drill is a ‘flip drill’. It’s not the technical name for it, but you can take this picture with you and they’ll help you find whatever that brand calls it. This tool goes in the chuck of your drill just like a driver bit, but the other end is reversible. With a quick release attachment you can go from your driver bit to a drill bit with a countersink. This allows you to pre-drill a hole before inserting a screw. The advantage of pre-drilling is that you’re less likely to split the wood you’re putting the screw into and the screw will go in with less effort. After drilling your pilot hole, simply use the quick release and your back to your driver bit and can put in the screw without changing things in the chuck of your drill. Besides the convenience of not changing things in your drill, the end is magnetic so it will hold the screw and make your job easier. Not to plug any particular store, but Lowes seems to have the best one I’ve found.
If you purchase a cordless tool kit that doesn’t include a light, you might want to get a head lamp. Yes, you might look a little dorky, but you’ll find that you always have the light where you want it, when you want it. Sometimes working under a sink or doing electrical work when the power is off, you’re going to need some kind of light and I found these to work the best. Headlamps are the new flashlight.