Heaven help me (and help my poor, beleaguered husband) — I love a DIY. So we've been doing DIY updates in our home for more than 20 years — mostly successfully (with a few what were we thinkings sprinkled in for good measure). And converting a bedroom to a closet? It has been years in the making. But first, our kids had to grow up, move out, and make it on their own as adults since we'd be using one of their bedrooms.
Because I've been waiting for those things to happen, I've made do with a lot of not-so-great storage solutions for the past 20+ years. And our closets were among the most egregious of them all. There wasn't a walk-in closet in the entire house. So we've been making do with tiny sliding-door closets with as many organization shelves as we could stuff into them. It was okay, but definitely not great.
Kids are grown, check. They moved out, check. They've been on their own for several years, check. Thus, the great bedroom-to-closet project was born. I was pretty sure it was always going to be a DIY, but I did some checking around to see how much it would cost to get it done professionally — and it was tens of thousands of dollars. Nope. DIY it is! One of us was very excited about that prospect. The other was resigned. I'll leave it up to you to decide who was who.
Over the past few weeks, we've been putting our closet together using products I've sourced on Amazon and at Wayfair, with a few upcycles thrown in, too. And it's mostly finished. We have a few more things we want to do (closet island or folding table and a few custom-built shelves above the windows for more storage). Our budget came out in the $2-$3K range.
Even if you don't have a whole room to make into a closet, you can use some of our ideas as inspiration to make the most of your storage space. Here's how we turned terrible storage into closet goals.
I Started a Project Notebook
When we do a complicated DIY, I always have a project notebook that becomes my one source of everything for the entire project. I wanted something super sturdy because we refer to it a lot mid-project. That's why I chose this lined journal. It's sturdy and has a faux-leather cover you can wipe clean, I could use the lines as measures when I made rough drawings, and it's attractive enough that I could display it in the closet when I no longer needed to use it, so we can refer back to it if we need to in the future.
Always have a project notebook as your one source of truth. There are a lot of details to manage with almost every DIY, and a project notebook can keep you from missing important things along the way.
We Made a List of the Things That Were Important
Having a list of wants and needs kept us on track (and within budget) as we made decisions about what we'd put in the closet. Jim and I sat down and made a list of the things we really needed in this space along with things we really wanted. This was our planning starting point.
| Needs | Wants |
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Starting with a list of wants and needs helps you focus in on actually creating a useful space. It helps you make decisions moving forward and keeps you on-task and on budget. I usually start with a wish list of absolutely everything I could ever dream of and then winnow it down to the most crucial.
We Measured the Room & Drew Each Item as We Chose It
Look, I have almost no sense of spatial reasoning, so this isn't my forte. All I knew was the room was roughly 10'x12', something I drew over and over again in my project notebook as I shopped online for pieces and tried to make them fit. I had a general idea of the types of pieces we wanted, coupled with great design instincts, but actually figuring out how to make my vision work in the space? Not so much. My notebook has endless calculations and pages of drawings with big Xs through them. Clearly, I needed reinforcements.
Thank goodness for Tetris Jim. He has an engineer's brain and vast experience with packing very small car trunks with seemingly impossible loads of road trip supplies. So in spite of my deficiencies, I knew Jim would be able to figure out how to make pre-made closet organizer pieces fit to make the most of the space we had available. He did in about 10 minutes what I'd been trying to make happen all day. This became our go-to source as we ordered, built, and placed items.
Always start with measurements and a sketch. You can do a rough sketch like we did or, if you're more like me and less like Jim, sketch it to scale on a piece of graph paper.
My Design Inspo Came From Two Lamps
One of the things I knew we needed was a full-length mirror, and I didn't really want to trust a delivery service to get one to us in one piece, so it was one of the few things I didn't plan to source online. We took a scouting trip to HomeGoods, where I've had good luck with super affordable mirrors in the past. As we passed through the lamp section on the way to the mirrors, I spotted two lamps that became the source of inspiration for the entire room design.
I've always loved the vintage look of blue and white toile, and I thought a cool blue palate with some sweet vintage touches, along with all-white shelves and drawers, would give the space the vibe I truly wanted.
Choose one item to inspire your design for a cohesive look. Pick something you really love, and then choose pieces, patterns, textures, and color schemes that support this item.
We Tackled the Lighting First
When the bedroom was occupied by one of our kids, we used funky, fun, kid-style lamps to go with the bedroom's theme (we did sort of a Sci-Fi space-age modern design that was miles away from how the room looks now — we had red vegan leather covering one of the walls). So as we cleared out the room, what we were left with was a white box without any lighting.
I didn't want to drop a massive amount on lighting because my primary focus was on the usable storage space. At first, a ceiling light didn't seem doable because I didn't want Jim to have to wire in an overhead. So my initial plan was for a few sconces and a few lamps.
Jim is great at wiring, but he already had so much to do on this project. So I looked for unwired sconces, and lo-and-behold, I found some on Amazon. I chose these because of their vintage vibe and the option to wire them and use them with a regular light bulb at some point in the future if we want. I like to have options.
Karen Frazier
The sconces are pretty cool — they have a little battery-operated hockey puck light that's remote-controlled. We attached the remote to the wall above our room's light switch with velcro so you can turn the lights on as you walk into the room.
Now we had both lamps and sconces, but I couldn't stop thinking about a chandelier. It's something I've always wanted in my closet, but I didn't want to pay an arm and a leg for a piece if it wasn't going to be super useful. I was so happy I found this affordable (around $100) crystal plug-in chandelier that gave us more light in the space, made it so Jim didn't have to wire a thing, and gave me my chandelier. Bonus? It has an option to be wired if we want to do it in the future.
The chandelier arrived disassembled, and it took us about an hour to put it together and ten minutes to put it up. It has an extra-long cord, so we were able to run it across the ceiling and plug it into an outlet that's controlled by the light switch in the room. Except for the part that runs across the ceiling, the wires are hidden by closet shelving, anyway. We did leave a little bit of the crystal bling off, but we have it stored in case we want to make the chandelier even fancier.
We Bit the Bullet and Ordered Stuff
To save money, we ordered all-assembly-required flat-pack furniture. I primarily used Wayfair for our closet units because they had a better selection, although we found a few things on Amazon, too. So, with my list of wants and needs in front of me and Jim's measurements and diagrams, I ordered a bunch of all-white units. They weren't all the same brand or style, but they fit our space needs. As they arrived, they started to stack up in the entryway. Our cats seemed pretty upset that we had unopened boxes that they couldn't play in, but what can you do?
We Replaced Drawer Hardware So the Units Looked Cohesive
To make units from different manufacturers look more cohesive, I ordered a bunch of these crystal drawer pulls from Amazon. I thought they went well with the chandelier, added a touch of glam that I loved, and were under $15 for 10 of them. We installed them on all the units that had pulls, and everything instantly looked like it belonged together!
If you're going with pieces from different manufacturers, I recommend ordering in white because those will be the most likely to match — and it gives a clean, organized look to the space. It's much more difficult to match wood tones. Changing hardware so it matches also makes mismatched pieces look more intentional.
We Assembled the Corner Units First
We purchased one corner unit separately, and the other one came with a larger 3-piece organization set. Corner units help maximize your space — these have two hanging racks plus some space for small organizational things like baskets or to keep smaller items like handbags. The corner unit took the two of us working together about 90 minutes to put together and attach to the wall.
Related: 50 Organization & Cleaning Products That Are Super Effective
Next, We Added a 13-Drawer Dresser
This 13-drawer dresser was the thing that took the longest to build, but it was totally worth it. It took about six hours with two of us working on it— but it gave us so much drawer space. I love that it has nine large drawers plus four narrow ones on the top for small items like jewelry, socks, belts, and underwear. We attached it to the corner unit and wall before we built more stuff.
We Added the Second Corner Unit
This corner unit came from the 3-piece set (that also had two long, straight units you could configure in various ways). It went together exactly the same as the first. While Jim put that together in about an hour (with me helping occasionally), I put together these clear stackable acrylic storage boxes for my handbags. They're so easy to put together, and they come in packs of five. I like that they protect my purses but still let me see them so I can grab the one I want for the day.
We Stacked Two Shelves Between the Dresser and the Corner Unit
We thought we were going to have to do a custom build of shelves to close the gap between the dresser and one of the corner units, but we discovered this narrow Closetmaid shelf that fit almost perfectly in the gap (we totally lucked out — we had other plans for this but then decided to build it to see if it would fit, and it did). Each one took about 30 minutes to build. You can see a single unit in the photo above. Once we knew it would fit, we ordered a second one, stacked it on top of the first one, braced it in the back, and it was the perfect height. We pivoted to shoe racks for the original space where we planned to use the Closetmaid shelf.
While it's great to have a plan, always be ready to pivot. I've never had a DIY home improvement project that didn't require at least one pivot and usually more. Flexibility is key!
We Decided How to Configure the Two Wall Units and Added Them One at a Time
The two long wall units came from the same kit of three, and we built them one at a time. It took some work to get them in place (hence the car jack in the photo above). We configured them as mirror images of each other, so all four drawers would fit together. Each of these units was a two-person job, and it probably took about three hours each to get them in place.
Although flat-pack furniture like this always comes with an allen wrench and screwdriver to put it together, I strongly recommend using an electric drill with allen wrench and phillips head bits to make it go much, much, much faster.
We Added Shoe Storage
Shoe storage was a huge priority for me, so we added it in multiple places throughout the closet. Fortunately, it's fast and easy to put together — less than 10 minutes per rack. The one in the closet is two expandable shoe racks stacked, while the taller shoe racks are simply metal pipes you can put together as tall as you want them to be. I like that the shelves will fit hats, too.
Karen Frazier
We also built this sturdy padded shoe bench as a great place to store additional shoes where you can also sit down and put on shoes or pull on socks. It took less than an hour to put together.
I Added Tons of Storage Baskets
I love the neat, tidy look of these water hyacinth wicker baskets with their fun chalkboard labels for stowing all sorts of stuff, like scarves, winter wear, ball caps, and more. It gives me that at-a-glance functionality I'm looking for while keeping things out of sight. Here's a rundown of the baskets I added:
- Four-pack of 11x11 wicker cube baskets
- Two-pack of oblong wicker baskets
- Wicker wastebasket
- Two-pack of wicker trinket baskets
- Wicker clothes hamper with lid
There are different kinds of wicker. To keep the design tidy and cohesive, choose one type. I went with water hyacinth. Then, choose baskets in different sizes and shapes to add interest and make them more functional.
I Added Decorative Touches for Style and Texture
I added a ton of decorative touches that gave the closet a touch of style and made it a happy, cozy place. The chair is one I've had for a while — got it at Pier 1 many years ago (along with the throw pillows), and it just fit right in here. But I added a bunch of other decorative textile touches that I love.
- The 8x10 washable rug from Amazon is SO soft, and it fits right in. It feels great on my bare feet as I get dressed. And it's so affordable, too!
- The toile window sheers were a great find. They allow filtered light while maintaining privacy and match my lamps almost perfectly. I paired them with some grey blackout curtains (which I also have in my bedroom, and boy do they make it dark)!
- The mirror on the dresser is one I've had for years that fits right into the vintage vibe I was going for in the space.
- The handmade jewelry box on the dresser was a gift from someone who built it for me. I love how unique and personal it is since the closet is ultimately an intimate personal space.
- I'm not exactly tall, so I put together this sturdy step stool so I can reach the top shelves with ease, giving me more storage space along the top of the closet units.
- We added a full-length mirror between the windows that we got for $60 at HomeGoods. Our mirror luck there continues.
Still to Come
The closet is so functional now, but we do have plans to bring in a closet island at some point. For now, we will repurpose a table to put in the closet for folding and packing, which means I'll be able to fold and put away laundry right away and — best of all — be able to pack and unpack suitcases right in the closet. I'm also looking for a fold-out hanging rod of some kind so I can hang wrinkled items and steam them in the closet, and Jim is going to custom-build some shelves that run along the top of the windows just for additional storage — probably for suitcases.
I Turned My Old Closet Into a Linen Closet
So one cool thing that came out of this (huge closet aside) is that this was kind of a twofer. Freeing up one over-cluttered closet gave me another storage space. I've never had a real linen closet. Years ago, we built shelves in the laundry room, and that's where our linens have been living. But since there was already shelving in the tiny closet that I was using for my clothes, I turned it into a linen closet. It looks neat and tidy, thanks to these sheet storage boxes and this comforter storage bag, which I absolutely love.
If You Need Me, I'll Be in My Closet
With some smart solutions and affordable items, we managed to meet all our wants and needs in the closet of our dreams. We have plenty of room to expand in the space, so it will continue to serve us well, and it's so tidy and functional.
Whether you just need to organize a bit more in the closet you have or you want to build your own closet, you can use these tips and ideas as inspo to create your own functional and stylish closet space. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be in my closet.
