littler pics of some little details from massive closet project

16 years ago

OK, here are some of the techniques I employed, or stuff I'm just sort of tickled about.

On the ledge where I put the ponytailers, etc., I did several neat-o things.

NEAT-O IDEA NO. 1: CD CURIO CASE

DD has lots of stupid little tchachkas, trinkets, knick-knacks. They were always perched on the front edges of shelves, in front of other stuff.

I snitched this idea from someone else on the Web, and snagged a CD case to make a curio cabinet (the funny thing is, my downstairs neighbor was throwing it out the night before I started this project, so I did it just in the nick of time, and it was free, LOL!)

The original version I saw had been spray-painted white; I think it would be good to do that w/ this one, but haven't gotten to it yet.

Here's the original link where I stole the idea--weetoysoldiers.com.

So that's my first genius idea.

Here's the next one:

NEAT-O IDEA NO. 2: PLEXIGLAS SHELF ON DRAWER-UNIT SHELF SUPPORTS

DD keeps her ponytail holders in a little Sterilite 3-drawer chest. It fit perfectly on that ledge. I got a second one, and set it at the other end of the space to create two shelf supports.

DH had some precut Plexiglas that--coincidence!--happened to be the exact size (OK, OK, off by .5 inches) to fit on top of those shelf supports. So now I have a cubby underneath, and shelves above. That'll let us pile jewelry boxes, etc. on top and yet still be able to get to the brush on the bottom.

I have done something similar elsewhere--turn Sterilite drawer units into shelf supports. Here it is, on the toy shelf in the bedroom.

The cubby in the middle is a little hard to use in both cases (though in the closet, it's perfect for brush and deodorant, and I'm hoping its relative inaccessibility will discourage her from putting other stuff in there).

Comments (5)

talley_sue_nyc
Original Author
16 years ago
OH, hey, look what this guy did w/ plastic utensil drawer organizers: He turned the sideways, and mounted them to the wall, so that the dividers became shelves.

http://www.weetoysoldiers.com/wp/?page_id=14

Scroll down not quite halfway.

This is cool!

oh, and he did one of the neato things I like, to mount stuff on the sides of the shelves, either outside or inside.

http://www.weetoysoldiers.com/wp/?page_id=89

scroll down just over halfway.

he used pegboard; I cut down a plastic shoe pocket thingie, and staple-gunned it to the sides of this weird bookcase thing in Grace's closet.

You can just barely see one set of those pockets in this pic. To the extreme right, look for the Static Guard. If ou look *really* close, you can see one of the pockets on the otherside of that bookshelf wall.
talley_sue_nyc
Original Author
16 years ago
I have, at the deep end of that closet, one of those gray metal "garage shelves" style of shelving unit. And like all other "utility shelves," it has way too much space between shelves.

Here's how I added shelves

NEAT-O IDEA NO. 3

Fortunately, the corner poles have holes for bolting the shelves into place. So I measured the space between the end supports, and sent DH to Home Depot to buy that ClosetMaid shelving for closets (white-coated wire, w/ a dropped lip in the front), because they will cut it to size for you at HD.

And I had him pick up some cable ties.

I fastened those shelves in place by threading a cable tie through the hole for the bolts.

I moved one of the metal shelves down by 4 inches to eliminate headroom. Note how little "air" there is between shelf and box, on all shelves. And you can see where the white shelves are interspersed.

I toyed w/ the idea of installing the shelves w/ the lip in the back (so it would be out of the way), but decided it was sagging too much and needed the reinforcement. (it prob. sags in the back, but you can't see it).

I'm thinking of putting a third shelf in, placing it in the top gap. That would let me put the very flat boxes there each on their own shelf. If I do that, I will very definitely flip the shelf so that lip is in the back. There won't be much on it that's heavy.
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talley_sue_nyc
Original Author
16 years ago
NEAT-O IDEA NO. 4 - USING BOXES AS CUBBYHOLES

In the bottom pic of the post just above, note the two boxes sitting on top of the shelf unit (one is holding the humidifier; the other holds the space heater).

I actually did this long ago; I folded the flaps of the boxes (the ones each appliance came in), and set the box on the shelf to protect the appliance. This means I can set unused storage-bin lids on top, and the space for the appliance is preserved while the appliance itself is in use.

Nothing can lean over and start to take up that space while the appliance is away at work. And the boxes sort of serve as placeholders so no actual *stuff* is deliberately set there.

NEAT-O IDEA NO. 5 - USING OBJECTS AS STORAGE BINS

Not sure how well you can see this, but I used the cat carrier (which comes apart, and the top nests upsidedown in the bottom) as a holder for the swim fine, etc.

Here's another view of those wire shelves
arizonarose
16 years ago
Very clever! I like that wine rack too!!
talley_sue_nyc
Original Author
16 years ago
we fell in love w/ that wine rack years ago, and bought it quick before it went away. We don't use it quite as much as we used to, though.