Who doesn’t love starting off the new year with an organizational project? As you know we have a house with the theme of tiny closets, and we don’t have a pantry at all. So when I redid the basement I made sure to build out a small closet for storage. But everything that needed to be stored in there was all over the place and it was time to get it organized, so in true “weekend project” fashion we crushed this build in 2 days and kept it budget friendly. Here’s how we did it!
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Want to see this build in action? You can watch my build video here (+ make sure to subscribe to my channel)!
Tools + Materials
TOOLS
MATERIALS
DECOR
1. Clean out the Closet
As you can see, there’s a lot going on in this basement. But don’t worry about that, you’ll get to see what I’m working on later…As for this project, once I got everything out of the closet it was much easier to see what we were working with.
As you can see it’s very important to keep your scraps, this is where you can write down your measurements.
2. Cut Custom Shelves
This closet is not that big it’s only like 6 feet tall and about 3 feet wide and there’s not a ton we can do in here creativity wise. So I essentially made a bookcase with a wider shelf that goes all the way across on the top so we can actually store things vertically in this closet.
This project is super customizable, you can make as many shelves as you need and adjust the size to your space. I cut down my lumber with my miter saw to make 4 cubby-like shelves with one longer shelf up at the top and a space so I could hang my vacuum vertically.
3. Assemble Custom Shelves
After cutting all of the pieces it was time to assemble everything.
I used my pocket hole jig but I only used it in the top piece and the bottom shelf piece so if you don’t have one you can totally assemble this project just with screws.
Or you could just use wood glue and nails like I did for the center shelves.
4. Install Shelves
If you do want to have a shelf that goes across the width of the closet you’ll want to build that out inside the closet. I have a tutorial here for another small closet build that will show you a more step by step process of how to do that. But no matter what, you want to make sure its secure, so you’ll want to put some support blocks into the studs and then screw the shelves into those supports.
Next, I put in that full length shelf that I cut and I screwed it into the other shelves.
I also added a support for the other side of this long shelf and it made it so much sturdier.
5. Add Trim & Finish
Time for trim, I cut the 1x2s on the miter saw and nailed them into the shelves.
Then I filled in any nail holes and spaces and left it to dry overnight.
Now all that was left was to grab my detail sander and get ready to play sanding twister.
Adding finish in this tight space did take some creativity, but we got it done.
6. Re-Organize Closet
Although it would be nice to have big closets, it is really nice to be able to completely re-do a closet in 2 days. So I can’t complain too much about our tiny closets. I love how this one went from packs of things stacked on top of each other to a fully organized and aesthetically pleasing closet with customized shelves and vertical storage. If you enjoyed this project make sure to stick around for more, I’ll be starting a new series soon and that I’m really excited to share with you. Until then, Happy DIYing friends!
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