Fast build - custom closet!

So back in August our poor lowest cost possible big box store wire shelf and hanging rod finally cried uncle and we came home to find all our closet stuff on the closet floor. We've been making due in the meantime but it's now time to get a real solution going. 

Step one, empty the closet.

Woof.

Clean slate:

Then line with cedar:

Next steps will be 3 hanging rods, and 8 shelves. Hope to be done (and have a bed back) by Thursday night.

Last weekend, I did 2 closet hanging systems.  A 10ft closet (3 doors) and a 8ft closet.  These were two remodeled bedrooms.  

On both I used the better wire, gotten from Menards (which was cheaper than Lowes for the same.)

I like:
The top rail is the support rail and all the verticals hang down from that top rail.  This means you can assuredly get enough of the top rail into genuine studs.  A few up the upper bolts are then molly bolts in the drywall.  

What she likes:
The clothes rods on this allow for sliding the clothes a bit left and right.  Not that horrible cheap stuff where the clothes can not slide.  

Our closet is a bit of an awkward size. It was clearly extended to the left side at one point (I think that may have originally been a linen closet accessible from outside the master bedroom). We like the extra space, but you need to walk in to get back there and use the space. However, the closet is only 3 feet deep. Clothes on a hanging rod take up approximately 2 ft of depth, so if you put the hanging rod in the 'regular' position, the reality is you aren't walking in to get any use out of the extra space on a regular basis. You'd have to squeeze past all the clothes and also brush the wall. 

so what we're going to try instead is putting the hanging rods on the 3 ft depth dimension on both ends. One end will have 2 rods - one 3.5 ft above the ground and one at 7ft, and the other end will have one rod at 6ft above the ground. Shelves at the very top on both sides. 

Then, in the middle, I'm going to build floor to ceiling shelves that are only 1 ft deep, leaving 2 feet of space to 'walk in'. 2 ft is still relatively narrow, but doable. 

We will see how it all works. 

Sanded all my shelves with 120 and 180 grit, still need one round at 240 before I apply the combo stain/poly I bought for this job. 

I did finish the floor trim and the flush cutting and sanding of the cedar around the closet door opening.

Are you sure you need or even should sand with anything finer than 180 grit?  I like the build so far.

Why seal the cedar? Isn't the nice aroma and mold/mildew repellency the goal of using it?

oh I should be more clear, I have shelves I'm making out of edge glued pine boards that I am sanding and stain-sealing. The cedar planking is staying as is. 

Probably don't need to sand them finer than 180 but I'm just following directions on the finish sealer can. It says 150/180/220, and I don't have exactly those grits so I'm using 120/180/240. 

Plus I've never finished a project and thought to myself "gee, I wish I didn't sand that so much". I have finished many projects I wished I sanded more. 

Obviously you are well past this step but I've seen on interior closets like this where the one sheer of drywall on the closet side has been removed between studs (and in one case studs removed and headers put in) to make ~4" more depth (drywall+3.5" stud) to the shelves.  Obviously the utilities that may live in the wall cavity need to be considered as does the minor loss is sound deadening between adjacent rooms but it can be an effective technique to gain space in small rooms.

Looks good so far.  I'm excited to see someone truly "FINISH" something.  

Just for fun and to annoy your wife you should make some part of the closet out of Datsun parts.  Some small bracket or cover or something.  Make sure your closet has that Big Datsun Energy.  

To support Nocones' suggestion...how about this for lighting?

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Robbie (Forum Supporter) said:

Plus I've never finished a project and thought to myself "gee, I wish I didn't sand that so much". I have finished many projects I wished I sanded more. 

Ain't that the truth! 

Ok, lots of progress made:

2 hanging rods and one not yet stained shelf for demonstration:

One more hanging rod that will also have a shelf or two above it:

Shelf detail, once the finish is done on the shelves I will be nailing them in:

And here I am finally done sanding and finishing shelves (yes, under my jaguar).

Revel in the essence of the rich mahogany color

Currently waiting on stuff to dry, then I can install. 

Love the idea of some Datsun parts for the closet. I may have some stuff...

Ggarrard, are you trying to tell me you're selling one of those?

Robbie.... No, not for sale....  buddy bought 2 of them a couple of years ago from a FB site and gave me one...   I'll see if he still has the info if you're interested...

Gordon 

Oh no need to ask. I don't really have the space, I was just being a bit playful.

Well I didn't meet the original timeline goal. I am close though. The finish on the shelves wasn't drying quite fast enough.

Left side all done. Other than the electrical cover and possibly some very minor touchups.

Also finished the boot locker for my wife's boots that need to have a wall to lean up against.

Still need to finish the main shelving unit and then add some BDE.

After being gone for a week in Denver for Thanksgiving, I've returned and made more progress on the closet. Ready for stuff to go back in now, but still lacking BDE.

Shelving unit progress:

More progress:

Shoe shelves (I really like how my curve came out here):

Finalizing things:

Aaaaaaand the laundry hamper fits perfectly too.

so, all in all: 

1. We went from 8 ft of hanging rod space to 9 ft of hanging rod space (but we also removed an organizer that was hanging from the rod and using up about 3 of those 8 ft).
2. We went from about 16 sqft of shelf space to about 29 sqft of shelf space (not including the shoe organizers, there was a shoe organizer my wife was using that we can now get rid of). 
3. We can now easily walk to the deep left end of the closet easily. 
4. Total trips to Menards was 4, and the spend was $920. I'll be getting about $110 back in 'rebate' money. 
5. I'm probably 50-60 hours of my time into this. 

In my opinion, not bad to nearly double both the hanging rod space and the shelf space while also majorly upgrading the look, feel, usability, and smell! 

Think I can tie a wrap on this one. Wife is happy. Stuff is back inside and organized with room to spare. (And I have an abhorrent amount of clothes...)

Last thing was my tie rack. I was about to install my old one when my wife mentioned it looked like crap and I was not allowed to put a poo cherry on top of the awesome closet.

So I made a new tie rack that matches the astetic a little closer.

Step one mark up a scrap of oak trim.

Step 2 drill a bunch of holes (it is oak after all and you don't want to split it).

Step 3, boom goes the dynamite.