Kath Eats Real Food logo

You are here: Home / Home Neat Home / Home Neat Home: Closet Redux

Home Neat Home: Closet Redux

IMG_5428Blog - Copy

You know how I turned our third bedroom into a closet, appropriately named “The Queen Room”? You can read more about it here.

The Queen Room features a big clothing rack for all of my hanging clothes. I bought it at Target for about $30 last summer.

IMG_5421Blog

But the rack is a P.O.S. It wobbles and tilts and I actually had a whole bar of clothes fall on my head once!

Can you see how it is a leaning tower? And how the cheap plastic is ripping?

IMG_5424Blog

See the tilt here!? It’s about to collapse!

IMG_5423Blog

So I had Matt build me a new one!

IMG_5439Blog

Here it is naked:

IMG_5428Blog

It’s made from plumbing pipes! We saw one like it in a store and thought it would be fun to replicate. I have no idea how he built it, but here are Matt’s notes:

Matt Notes

The pipe comes from the plumbing section.  I used 3/4" pipe though I would have liked 1" thick pipes but it would have been another $20.

I recommend a base that’s composed of two 8" pieces linked with a T-joint.  This will be wide enough to give you enough lateral support.  Use rubber feet to prevent damaging the floor and slippage.

It’s easy to think your design through so long as you consider all the points where there’s an angle – note the number of T-joints and elbow-joints you need before you go to the hardware store.

If you make a two-tier rack like I made for Kath, the unfortunate thing is that you’ll come to a point when you can’t screw one bar in without unscrewing the other side.  I just had to pick a midpoint, which means that the two middle bars are only partly screwed in on each side.  This slightly reduces solidity of the unit but not so much that it’s unstable.

Finally, I highly recommend thoroughly washing and drying each piece before using it.  These pieces are covered in metal dust and some of them have a petroleum smell.  You don’t want that on your clothes!

Project cost: About $80

Here’s me putting the clothes back on!

Fitting it inBlog

And the extra long width means they are open and airy! My closet grew! Need more clothes!

IMG_5441Blog

Closet, Neat, Closet.

IMG_5442Blog

JOIN MY NEWSLETTER TO GET THE LATEST!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  6. This is such an excellent idea for the extra room Kath! A lot of older homes don’t have large closets, if ANY closets in the bedrooms. The great thing about turning an extra room into a closet is that when it comes time to sell, it’s so simple to haul out the clothes and stage it as a bedroom or den. I think people tend to take away from square footage in room and spend a load of cash building new closets, when in reality they’re just not thinking outside the box! Awesome post Kath!

    Reply

  9. Wow, Matt is super handy! My husband is not quite so handy…haha!

    I love the closet organization. A clean and organized closet is just a must have for me. It’s the only way I can “see” my items, too. If it’s messy, all I see is mess and can’t even focus on the clothes. I even have my clothes grouped by colors, i.e. blacks, whites, pinks, and everything in between.

    I love the shelf w/ white baskets, you have, too. Super functional!

    Reply

  10. I had that P.O.S. closet rack from Target, too, and it did the same thing on me… bending to one side and then the plastic ripped and the whole thing collapsed. Good you have Matt to build you a stylish new one, but for everyone else there is one on Amazon for $49 which is wonderful and STABLE. No problems with it.
    Collapsible Clothing Rack-Commercial Grade

    Reply

  12. Great job, Matt! I love that idea. Having an organized, clean closet is the best…especially for someone like me who always waits until the morning of to pick out her clothes. You should see me taking my sweet old time, and then freaking out when I finally get around to look at the clock. 🙂

    Reply

  13. With all due respect, you get what you pay for. $30 for a clothing rack=P.O.S., no question.
    Nice job on the DIY one–very creative!

    Reply

  15. One day I dream of having a room devoted to clothes…right now, I just have a clothes ‘wall’ and it’s horrible!
    Matt is super clever though – could he build a flat pack clothes rack that can be posted across oceans!? :p

    Reply

  20. that’s the dream! Turning an entire room to a dressing room 🙂 LUCKY YOU!

    Looks fabulous and it looks like it’s time for some RETAIL THERAPY!

    Reply

  25. of course you need more clothes! that is the most reasonable thing one can do when she gets a bigger closet haha

    Reply

  32. Hey Kath! I wanted to tell you about an event that you and Matt might be interested in. There is going to be a Food and Wine Festival at the National Harbor in DC in May. Here’s the website: http://www.wineandfoodnh.com/ I’m not affiliated with it at all [otherwise I would give you free tickets 😉 ] ; I just thought it might be something you would be interested in. My husband and I are going to the Saturday event. Hope you can make it!

    Reply

    • Man I wanted a free ticket!! J/K.

      It looks totally awesome, however I think that’s the weekend before our opening (or 2 weeks prior) and we probably shouldn’t schedule any events!

      Reply

  33. Kath, I wanted to let you know that I received my Shaklee yesterday, and spent last night cleaning everything in our kitchen. 🙂 Our microwave is original to the house (it’s built in), and about 20 years old. I could not believe the gunk that came off – that I didn’t even realise was there! A bit gross, I know, but also quite incredible. I am excited about tackling the rest of the house! Also, a few days ago my husband and I signed up for Mint. When I looked at our spending chart I gasped out loud! Our shopping is a bit out of control, and we had no idea how much were spending. So basically, in a matter of days, you have truly inspired me to make amazing changes in my life, and I am so grateful! Thank you for your inspiration – and your passion for life. 🙂

    Reply

    • I absolutely love comments like this !!! Please send me some before + afters of your cleaning projects!

      Reply

  42. I bought a couple of closet organization items from Target last year, too and they were totally POS’s! They fall apart constantly! Normally I love Target but in this case, totally not impressed. Good call on building your own!

    Reply

  43. I am so jealous that you have a whole room to dedicate to clothes and all that. I’m far exceeding my current space for clothes/makeup/etc.

    I LOVE the shelf with all the baskets! Great way to organize!!

    Reply

  48. Thanks for this post. I have a closet that has the worst shelving unit in the world: 1) I can’t reach 2 of the three shelves, 2) it has no storage use at all. I have been looking for different ideas… and this helped. Thanks! Now, can Matt build me a closet rack?!?!?! lol

    Reply

  49. My aunt has that same thing where the closet is another bedroom. I may have to convince my husband to do that when we get a house. 😉

    Reply

  52. I want to do this for my girlfriend. How high it the top pipe? And how long are the sections of pipes on the sides? Wondering if someone that’s 5*2 could reach the top one?

    Reply

  53. Thank you so much for this post, and more importantly the comments from the hubbie. I just tried to build one without plans and got stuck at the middle part and how to get it stabilized. Good to know that half-screwing will work!! You just saved me (another) trip to Lowe’s!! Thanks!!!

    Reply

  54. Could you give the dimensions of this?? I’m wanting to put one together this next weekend and would love some help on how long the bottom/support pieces need to be, etc. Thank you!

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.