Most homes have spaces that are closets waiting to happen.
No one ever has enough closets. Survey your home for nooks and crannies you can turn into the perfect storage solution. By using the architecture you've got or by adding a remade piece of furniture, you can create neat and invisible storage in any room in the house. All it takes is an unused corner, a little hardware, maybe a door, and some paint for a brand new closet to stuff as full as the old ones. Does this Spark an idea?
Alcove With Louvered Doors
Turn an awkward alcove into a much-needed closet with the simple addition of a pair of louvered doors. Hinge the doors to the walls so they are flush with the wall---or bolt a wood frame to the inside of the alcove walls and attach the doors to the frame. Install a light in the new closet---if there is no handy outlet, you can find battery-operated closet lights at a home improvement store. Screw two brackets into the side walls and drop in a clothes bar---for a pretty one, get a wide diameter wooden dowel and cut it to fit the closet length. Then paint it with decorative stripes or a bright color and lacquer it before setting it into the brackets. Put a shoe rack on the floor and add some storage tubs with lids. You have an instant bedroom or hall closet with no major construction necessary.
Under Stairs Closet
The space under the stairs is a great after-school closet or off-season storage closet. Enclose the area and add a door or cut a door into an existing walled space. Paint the inside in high gloss white to keep it light and make it easy to wipe down. Add hooks for jackets and raincoats, a boot tray for wet galoshes, a shoe rack against the back wall and a stackable storage bin system to hold soccer balls, sun visors, hats, scarves and gloves. A tall garbage pail is used for clothes that need immediate laundering, like sports uniforms. Tucked in the back, in the smallest corner, place a couple of plastic storage bins with lids for out-of-season clothing or sports gear. Inside the door, tack up important schedules for teams or classes. A low bench outside the door can hold backpacks and lunch boxes to grab on the way out the door.
Recycled Armoire
If you need more storage in the kitchen, find the biggest secondhand armoire you can fit in the available space and turn it into a pantry. For a vintage look, paint the exterior with crackle glaze and put a top coat of creamy vanilla or sea foam green over that. If the armoire is tall enough, cut space out of the front of the shelves at one side and put in clips to hold a mop and a broom. Use wicker baskets for potatoes, onions and apples, and plastic keepers to store kitchen utensils, linens and cleaning supplies. Reserve a shelf for jars and cans and another for seldom-used appliances. Put some hooks on the inside of one door for aprons and dish towels, a spice rack on the other door, and a small blackboard or corkboard on the outside of the kitchen closet for grocery lists and messages. If there is room, stack a couple of extra wicker baskets on top of the armoire for extra storage.
Tags: closet with, shoe rack, turn into, wicker baskets, with lids