Like any good bedroom, our former bedroom-turned-office/playroom/guest room has a closet. It used to hold all my clothes until we installed built-in wardrobes in the main bedroom, which was a nice upgrade that let me keep clothing where I sleep. That closet then became a catch-all storage space — for a while it even held nothing but Burger’s crate — and more recently it had devolved into a messy jumble.
What pushed us to act was simple: the closet needed to hold more stuff than it used to, and it wasn’t doing a good job of it. Beyond serving as a hanging space for winter coats and a spot for extra books, it had two main jobs: housing Burger’s dog crate and storing all the bedding for the fold-out guest bed in the sleeper sofa. Those two duties were constantly in conflict. Every time we pulled the crate in and out for travel, the precarious pile of linens would collapse, land on the floor, and then get shoved back on top of the crate when we returned — each time less neatly than before.
Because the closet door usually stays open (Burger likes to hang out in his crate), the clutter was always visible, and it was time to fix it. The first step was to build a shelf that would keep the linens from toppling when the dog crate was moved. After clearing most of the mess, we designed a simple solution: two side rails to support a wide plank that would form a shelf above the crate.
We picked up lumber at Home Depot: one 1×2 and two 1×8 planks, with the planks cut to size in the store. The two 1x8s sit side-by-side to create a 16-inch-deep shelf that rests on the 1×2 rails. I also cut an extra 1×2 for the back wall as a spare in case I needed extra support, though it ended up not being necessary.
With Burger’s crate still in place, I measured the shelf height, leaving a little breathing room so the crate would fit comfortably underneath. Then I marked level lines on both sidewalls, positioned the rails, and screwed them in with three screws per rail. I didn’t go overboard with heavy-duty fasteners since the shelf wouldn’t hold extremely heavy loads — though one screw on each side did hit a stud. If you plan to store books or heavy items, be sure to find studs or use proper anchors.
After attaching both rails I sat the planks on top and checked for level. The rails extend a bit beyond the shelf to give some flexibility for future adjustments; we could always add another board if we wanted the shelf to reach the edge of the ledge. The shelf itself isn’t as deep as the closet because a radon mitigation pipe runs inside the adjacent wall, limiting how far I could extend the left rail. It wasn’t worth trying to notch the shelf around the pipe, so I left that corner a bit shallower.
Of course I double-checked that Burger’s crate fit under the new shelf. Painting came next. The closet walls were a little worn, so I painted the new shelf semi-gloss white and gave the entire closet — including the hanging bar and the back of the door — a fresh coat. That was the most time-consuming part of the project. We used a no-VOC, off-the-shelf white semi-gloss paint to keep things low-odor and safer for the family.
With the space refreshed, we put things back in a more organized way. We pared down the guest bedroom linens: sheets are stored folded on the sleeper sofa mattress, and only two pillows remain in the closet (the other two now live on a wardrobe shelf in our bedroom for occasional use). The remaining bedding now sits neatly on the new shelf, which instantly made the area look and feel cleaner.
Best of all, we can now slide Burger’s crate out for trips without sending pillows and blankets tumbling to the floor. We also reduced the number of hanging items: older coats and unused bags were donated, and the remaining coats moved into the bedroom wardrobe after I decluttered some worn work shirts. The closet now offers plenty of space for guests to hang their clothes and store a couple of bags that still look pretty tidy on the shelf.
We tidied the top shelf too — pulling a few books to donate, corralling scarves and gloves that had wandered out of their basket, and wrapping spare surge protectors into compact bundles by coiling the cord and plugging the end into the outlet to keep them neat. There’s also a small stack of mailing envelopes for our shop stored on a top shelf, kept out of sight but easy to reach.
For a fun finishing touch, we hung a personalized growth chart on the inside of the closet door, a thoughtful gift that fits perfectly in that spot. A whimsical ceramic pig hook does the job of holding the chart and adds a little charm to the space.
All in all, the closet is now a much more pleasant and functional part of the room. We removed the chaos, made room for guests, and gave Burger a tidy, reliable place for his crate. He’s a tough critic, but he approves of the changes. Have you done any closet wrangling lately? Any clever linen storage tricks or unusual closet uses to share?