My son-in-law has asked me to make one of those closet organizers with
drawers and shelves etc. I have seen these things in Home Depot and probably
Lowes too. Has anyone made anything like this some other way? I hate to just
go the Home Depot way if I have a choice.

TIA.

Dick Snyder

On Dec 31, 2:02*pm, "Dick Snyder" wrote:
My son-in-law has asked me to make one of those closet organizers with
drawers and shelves etc. I have seen these things in Home Depot and probably
Lowes too. Has anyone made anything like this some other way? I hate to just
go the Home Depot way if I have a choice.

TIA.

Dick Snyder

I have done three master bedroom walk-in closets during the past 6-7
years. Our daughter asked us to finish their closet when they built
their house. We did most of the interior finish for our son when they
built their house a year or two later. After practicing on them, we
did all of our closets, including our master when we built our place
recently.

It is not brain surgery. Figure out what they need in terms of rod
length, including long and short hanging clothes. Then the amount of
shelf, drawer and other storage space and put together a plan. We did
not use drawers in our 6' x 10' walk-in, but we have close to 35 feet
of shelf space including long expanses of open shelves above rods,
plus shorter, adjustable shelves in a couple of tower cabinets. The
tower cabinets, plus one vertical panel hold it all together. The
towers, which include space for six adjustable shelves each, took the
most time; but we had everything pretty much built, finished and
installed in less than a week.

We spent some time cruising closet planning web sites, stole the ideas
we liked and drew it up.

RonB

On Dec 31, 12:02*pm, "Dick Snyder" wrote:
My son-in-law has asked me to make one of those closet organizers with
drawers and shelves etc. I have seen these things in Home Depot and probably
Lowes too. Has anyone made anything like this some other way? I hate to just
go the Home Depot way if I have a choice.

TIA.

Dick Snyder

The Home Depot/Lowes stuff is s little lower quality than you can get
elsewhere. My buddies cabinet shop used to do installs for a company
that has online order system and good quality stuff. This is how I
would do it. http://www.easyclosets.com/

"RonB" wrote in message
...
On Dec 31, 2:02 pm, "Dick Snyder" wrote:
My son-in-law has asked me to make one of those closet organizers with
drawers and shelves etc. I have seen these things in Home Depot and
probably
Lowes too. Has anyone made anything like this some other way? I hate to
just
go the Home Depot way if I have a choice.

TIA.

Dick Snyder

I have done three master bedroom walk-in closets during the past 6-7
years. Our daughter asked us to finish their closet when they built
their house. We did most of the interior finish for our son when they
built their house a year or two later. After practicing on them, we
did all of our closets, including our master when we built our place
recently.

It is not brain surgery. Figure out what they need in terms of rod
length, including long and short hanging clothes. Then the amount of
shelf, drawer and other storage space and put together a plan. We did
not use drawers in our 6' x 10' walk-in, but we have close to 35 feet
of shelf space including long expanses of open shelves above rods,
plus shorter, adjustable shelves in a couple of tower cabinets. The
tower cabinets, plus one vertical panel hold it all together. The
towers, which include space for six adjustable shelves each, took the
most time; but we had everything pretty much built, finished and
installed in less than a week.

We spent some time cruising closet planning web sites, stole the ideas
we liked and drew it up.

RonB

Ron,

What material did you use? The stuff at Home Depot is melamine over particle
board I believe.

Dick

"SonomaProducts.com" wrote in message
...
On Dec 31, 12:02 pm, "Dick Snyder" wrote:
My son-in-law has asked me to make one of those closet organizers with
drawers and shelves etc. I have seen these things in Home Depot and
probably
Lowes too. Has anyone made anything like this some other way? I hate to
just
go the Home Depot way if I have a choice.

TIA.

Dick Snyder

The Home Depot/Lowes stuff is s little lower quality than you can get
elsewhere. My buddies cabinet shop used to do installs for a company
that has online order system and good quality stuff. This is how I
would do it. http://www.easyclosets.com/

Thanks for the referral. At a miniumum I will take their design ideas.

Dick Snyder wrote:


What material did you use? The stuff at Home Depot is melamine over
particle board I believe.

Dick

I have built these also. I've made them out of solid woods, and out of
melamine over particle board. It's all a matter of taste - what do you like
the most? As for any designs - it's really simple stuff. Draw out what you
want and go to it. This kind of thing is not complex and does not require
plans or a lot of thought. Most of the "kit" products are going to be
melamine over particle board, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with
that. Fasteners for butt joints are more of a complex issue with particle
board, since you can't just run a screw in, but do some google searches and
you'll find a selection of different fasteners for this kind of application.
Or - go to Home Depot and look at what comes in those kits. They are not
bad kits at all, so don't be afraid to go that route if you choose not to
build this yourself.

--

-Mike-

On Sat, 31 Dec 2011 18:43:14 -0500, "Mike Marlow"
Or - go to Home Depot and look at what comes in those kits. They are not
bad kits at all, so don't be afraid to go that route if you choose not to
build this yourself.

They're just a matter of convenience and organization, so why not go
Home Depot fast and easy? Unless of course, one likes to leave their
closet doors open and display the contents as a design feature.

On Dec 31, 5:13*pm, "Dick Snyder" wrote:
"RonB" wrote in message

...
On Dec 31, 2:02 pm, "Dick Snyder" wrote:

My son-in-law has asked me to make one of those closet organizers with
drawers and shelves etc. I have seen these things in Home Depot and
probably
Lowes too. Has anyone made anything like this some other way? I hate to
just
go the Home Depot way if I have a choice.

TIA.

Dick Snyder

I have done three master bedroom walk-in closets during the past 6-7
years. *Our daughter asked us to finish their closet when they built
their house. *We did most of the interior finish for our son when they
built their house a year or two later. *After practicing on them, we
did all of our closets, including our master when we built our place
recently.

It is not brain surgery. *Figure out what they need in terms of rod
length, including long and short hanging clothes. *Then the amount of
shelf, drawer and other storage space and put together a plan. *We did
not use drawers in our 6' x 10' walk-in, but we have close to 35 feet
of shelf space including long expanses of open shelves above rods,
plus shorter, adjustable shelves in a couple of tower cabinets. *The
tower cabinets, plus one vertical panel hold it all together. *The
towers, which include space for six adjustable shelves each, took the
most time; but we had everything pretty much built, finished and
installed in less than a week.

We spent some time cruising closet planning web sites, stole the ideas
we liked and drew it up.

RonB

Ron,

What material did you use? The stuff at Home Depot is melamine over particle
board I believe.

Dick

I used Oak veneer plywood for the tower cabinets, dividers and smaller
adjustable shelves in the towers. These are the items you see with
you walk into the closet. The larger, hard attached, shelves were
made from 3/4" MDF. I made the shelf supports that were attached to
the wall and edge trim, etc from solid 4/4 Oak with a little
decorative routing. I also made some simple solid Oak "boards" with
decorative edges that were attached to the wall, in areas without
shelving units, and screwed large and small hooks into these (there
are lots of simple or decorative hooks in the box stores). You can
hang a lot of robes, belts, mildly used jeans and stuff from these and
keep them off of the floor.

Another thing I did with the kids closets was put shoe shelves beneath
the hanging clothes. This was a strip of Oak ply that sits at about a
5 degree slant an inch or two above the floor. It is about 1"
narrower than the width of the tower or divider panels. A piece of
shallow trim dresses the edge and provides a ridge to keep shoes from
sliding off. This simple shelf provides a place to neatly place
shoes, and it adds a little design detail to the closet.

BTW, if you use wood closet rod, keep your lengths at 4' or less. A
rod full of jeans or long dresses will get heavy. Metal rods are a
little more expensive but more rigid.

Of course the kind of plywood, or even the use of plywood, depends on
the surrounding trim finish. If the house trim is painted, MDF and
poplar or similar material will work fine.

RonB

On Dec 31, 2:02*pm, "Dick Snyder" wrote:
My son-in-law has asked me to make one of those closet organizers with
drawers and shelves etc. I have seen these things in Home Depot and probably
Lowes too. Has anyone made anything like this some other way? I hate to just
go the Home Depot way if I have a choice.

My closet organizer just went to bed. I'll join her shortly.

"Ed Pawlowski" wrote in message
...


On Dec 31, 2:02 pm, "Dick Snyder" wrote:
My son-in-law has asked me to make one of those closet organizers with
drawers and shelves etc. I have seen these things in Home Depot and
probably
Lowes too. Has anyone made anything like this some other way? I hate to
just
go the Home Depot way if I have a choice.

My closet organizer just went to bed. I'll join her shortly.

Very funny! The best joke of 2012 so far.

Dick Snyder wrote:
My son-in-law has asked me to make one of those closet organizers with
drawers and shelves etc. I have seen these things in Home Depot and
probably Lowes too. Has anyone made anything like this some other
way? I hate to just go the Home Depot way if I have a choice.

Easy to do, all our closets have been organized for years.

Material wise, you need three things...
1. plywood or melamine board
2. some hardwood
3. K-V or similar shelf clips...something like this:
http://www.cabinetparts.com/p/pilast...clips-SP35426/

You need to do some head work...
1. what am I going to hang and where?
2. what am I going to put on shelves and how many shelves do I need?
3. how many compartments (vertical areas) will I want? You should avoid
compartments more than about 36" wide. Partition walls for hanging
compartments do not need to be as wide as the closet is deep, only a bit
over half...just enough to secure a hanging rod. A hanging space can
accomodate two tiers of things like suits, shirts, blouses, etc; trousers,
long dresses, bathrobes and the like require more vertical space but
(probably) less than the full height so a shoe rack or drawers could be
below them.

You need vertical partitions and shelves, ply or melamine. The partitions
need to be banded at least on the "show" side; well, they don't have to be
banded but they sure look better if they are. The partitions need to be
fastened to the floor and to a crosswise shelf at the top. The shelf can be
attached to ledger boards on the wall along both sides and back; the
partttion can be attached to it either by a tenon into it or by attaching a
piece of hardwood to the shelf, screwing the partition to the hardwood; it
will look better if you then attach another piece of hardwood to the shelf
but on the opposite side of the partition. Attaching to the floor can be
done the same way.

For shelves, drill a series of 1/4" holes in partition sides and use K-V
clips. Easy and adjustable.

For hanging rods, I use odds and ends of hardwood (or one piece) gluing them
up to one that is 1 1/4" thick by 1 1/2" high by needed length. The top
edges of the rod are rounded, the bottom ones eased. In each end of the rod
I cut a slot that is 3/4" by 3/4"; that slot fits over the edge of a face
frame from an adjoining compartment; if there is no adjoining compartment -
just a sheet rock wall - I afix a piece of 3/4 x 3/4 hardwood to the wall.
To support the rod, I have drilled a series of 1/4" wall and use a K-V clip
in it. The rods are adjustable.

Our current closets (wife's and mine are identical) are 8' deep and 7' wide
which gives 16' running feet of storage space. The end has a full length
mirror. Each side has three compartments each of which is about 32" wide.
The layouts are...

Left side, front to back
2 - tiers of hanging space
Shelves & shoes racks
full length hanging compartment

Right side, front to back
2 - tiers of hanging space
armoire about 60" high, shelves over
3/4 length hanging space, three drawers under


--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

On 12/31/2011 12:02 PM, Dick Snyder wrote:
My son-in-law has asked me to make one of those closet organizers with
drawers and shelves etc. I have seen these things in Home Depot and probably
Lowes too. Has anyone made anything like this some other way? I hate to just
go the Home Depot way if I have a choice.

TIA.

Dick Snyder



There are "many" closet folks on the web that you can get plans
and ideas from.

The problem you will have is deciding what materials to use.

99% of all closet systems use a colored melamine and that can
be "very" difficult to find in smaller amounts.

You can cheat by using birch plywood but then you are faced with
having to finish it.

Lots of cheap closet guys use garden verity
white melamine from the home centers. That has all the holes already
done and you basically assemble. Not California Closet beautiful but
cheap.

http://www.californiaclosets.com/custom-closets

On Sat, 31 Dec 2011 15:02:20 -0500, "Dick Snyder"
wrote:

My son-in-law has asked me to make one of those closet organizers with
drawers and shelves etc. I have seen these things in Home Depot and probably
Lowes too. Has anyone made anything like this some other way? I hate to just
go the Home Depot way if I have a choice.

TIA.

Dick Snyder


You can build them about any way you like.
We normally leave 42" between shelves for double hanging and 64" to
the floor for long hanging. You will still have room for another shelf
above the single hanging. If you want on-the-floor shoe storage
below you need to raise these since the clothes will cover the
storage.
In walk-ins, we build the shelves and bulkheads 16" deep (3 runs from
a sheet) with the rods 12" from the walls. This keeps the rod from
being right under the face/nosing and you don' have to make the cleats
5" wide. We face everything with 1 1/4" wide hardwood and route.
Sometimes we will build shoe shelves or build dressers. You can also
make the bottom section of a double hanging unit into a dresser and
keep short hanging above.
All of our builders like to use chain link top rail for rods. Top
rail is a pain to cut but is usually cheaper than most manufactured
wood closet rod and will still fit in store bought wooden sockets.

Mike

"Mike O." wrote in message
...
On Sat, 31 Dec 2011 15:02:20 -0500, "Dick Snyder"
wrote:

My son-in-law has asked me to make one of those closet organizers with
drawers and shelves etc. I have seen these things in Home Depot and
probably
Lowes too. Has anyone made anything like this some other way? I hate to
just
go the Home Depot way if I have a choice.

TIA.

Dick Snyder


You can build them about any way you like.
We normally leave 42" between shelves for double hanging and 64" to
the floor for long hanging. You will still have room for another shelf
above the single hanging. If you want on-the-floor shoe storage
below you need to raise these since the clothes will cover the
storage.
In walk-ins, we build the shelves and bulkheads 16" deep (3 runs from
a sheet) with the rods 12" from the walls. This keeps the rod from
being right under the face/nosing and you don' have to make the cleats
5" wide. We face everything with 1 1/4" wide hardwood and route.
Sometimes we will build shoe shelves or build dressers. You can also
make the bottom section of a double hanging unit into a dresser and
keep short hanging above.
All of our builders like to use chain link top rail for rods. Top
rail is a pain to cut but is usually cheaper than most manufactured
wood closet rod and will still fit in store bought wooden sockets.

Mike
Great details Mike. Thanks!