A built-in closet will keep your clothes organized.
For many of us, we cannot have enough closet space for our clothes, shoes and accessories. You can increase your home's closet storage space with a seamless, permanent clothes closet. A built-in closet, instead of a furniture wardrobe that's space-limiting, will look as if it has always been there. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
Make the Wall Opening
1. Cut a door opening through a wall that is not load bearing and does not have electrical or plumbing in it. Measure the width and length of your closet door and add 4 inches to its height and 6 ¼ inches to its width for the framing. Cut two pieces of 2-by-4-inch wood using the measurement between the top and base plates. Insert these into the walls on both sides, without coming out into the doorway opening, and level them vertically. Toenail them into the top and bottom plates. This will reinforce the closet door opening.
2. Cut two long pieces of 2-by-4-inch wood to frame the two vertical sides of the door opening. Level these wood studs vertically on all sides, and nail these into the wood stud in the wall and into base plate on the floor.
3. Cut another piece of 2-by-4-inch wood of for the door header to the width of the door opening above the two vertical pieces, and nail this into the tops of these two pieces.
4. Cut one piece of 1-by-5-inch wood using the width of the door opening below the header 2-by-4 piece. Nail this into the 2-by-4 above.
5. Measure the distance from the header to the floor, and use this measurement cut two vertical pieces of 1-by-5-inch wood for the two sides of the door frame. Level and nail these into the 2-by-4-inch door framing.
Frame the Closet
6. Go to the adjoining room to construct the frame of your built-in closet. Cut the base plate's 2-by-4-inch pieces, and lay them onto the floor to box in the closet area. Use a drill and pre-drill holes through the 2-by-4-inch base plate and into the floor. Insert anchors into the floor holes and screw the base plate to the floor using wood screws or heavy-duty deck screws.
7. Align the built-in closet's top plates onto the ceiling and screw into the ceiling's beams or use screw anchors to stabilize the connection.
8. Measure the distance between the top and base plates at several positions, and cut 2-by-4-inch wall studs using these measurements. Insert these wall studs between the plates, and space the wall studs 12 to 16 inches apart. Toenail them at the top and bottom using the nail gun or screws.
Closing in the Walls
9. Measure the width and length of the closet's wall surfaces. Cut pieces of drywall sheets to completely enclose the closet, one at a time. Transfer the measurement to the drywall sheets using a tape measure, pencil and straightedge. Draw the lines, and then use a utility knife to score the line. Snap the drywall sheets in half on the line, and cut through the backing with the utility knife.
10. Line up the drywall sheets to the wall so that each edge lands onto the center of a wood stud. Screw the drywall sheets to the studs using drywall screws, and space them between 6 and 12 inches along the length of the wall studs. Completely cover both the exterior and interior closet walls.
11. Apply joint compound over all screw holes with a putty knife and feather away any excess compound. Apply a layer of compound to each seam, and smooth a strip of paper or mesh tape over the seam. Smooth another layer of joint compound over the seam to a feathered finish.
Adding Closet Fixtures
12. Trim the base of the walls with baseboard molding and trim the doorway with door molding. Hang the door to the door opening by notching out the locations for the door hinges with a router or hammer and chisel, and then screwing the door's hinges into the framing. Bore a hole at the level of the door latch and screw a door plate over the hole.
13. Install clothes hanger rods in the closet using 15-inch-long pieces of 1-by-4-inch wood with the rod brackets screwed onto them. Screw or nail these to the two side walls that will support the clothes rod. Cut the clothes hanger rod to the length between the two brackets and insert into its brackets.
14. Install horizontal shelving in the closet above the clothes hanger rod. Cut a piece of 1-by-12-inch wood using the length measurement above the clothes rod. Cut a piece of 1-by-2-inch wood and nail it to the back wall to support the length side of the shelf. Install more shelves in the closet for clothes, shoes and accessories.
15. Install a full-size mirror along one of the closet's walls or on the inside of the door.
Tags: door opening, drywall sheets, base plate, built-in closet, wall studs, 2-by-4-inch wood, clothes hanger
