I knew my closets were getting out of control when I couldn’t find anything without having to take everything out.
Prices for closet organizers vary depending on what you need. You might be able to get away with a cheaper option if you’re organized and know exactly what you want before purchasing the organizer.
But we’re all about DIY here, so I began doing some research, digging up DIY closet organizer plans.
I decided to build my own do-it-yourself closet system because I was tired of wasting time. I wanted to be able to do something that will help me get better organized and not spend time on the same task that I already know how to do.
I started with a list of what my closet needs, which included:
- Floating shelves for shoes
- A place for clothes
- A place for accessories
- An area for hats and other outerwear items
- Some kind of rail or shelf so that I can hang things like clothes or belts
I decided to build my own DIY closet organizer because I had a lot of things to store and no space left for them. The two closets in my house were already full, so I decided that it would be best if I made something for myself.
The closet organizer allows for the storage of clothes and shoes, avoiding scattering them all over the room.
Do It Yourself Closet Organizer Plans
#1. DIY Closet Shelving Organizer
#2. Wood Closet Organizer System
Once you’ve got your bedroom closet fixed up, check out our DIY garage shelving plans to help tidy up your space there.
#3. Linen Closet Organization System
Another clever storage system is a DIY ladder shelf plan– you can erect one in the living room to help tidy up.
#4. Custom Closet Shelves Organizer
#5. Closet Organization Build
#6. Linen Closet Organization With Cricut
#7. Homemade Closet Organizer
#9. Built-in Closet Organizer
#10. Coat Closet System
#11. PVC Closet Organizer
#12. Clean and Organize Your Closet
#13. DIY Closet Organization with Shelving and Drawers
#14. Cheap DIY Closet Organizer
#15. DIY Portable Closet Organizer
How To Build Your Own DIY Closet Organizer
While making a DIY closet organizer, the following Materials required include;
- Five MDF shelf boards – will be used to make most of the structure.
- Five common boards -for making the outer face.
- Wooden closet rod; incredibly round dowel
- Two boards; for supporting the shelves.
- Two square dowels for trimming shoe cubbies
- Two pairs of closet rod sockets.
- Painter tape for planning the design
- 1.25’’ Kreg pocket hole screws.
- Spackling; for filling the small holes made by nails while building.
- Caulk for filling small gaps to ensure a perfect finish.
- The desired paint, especially white or any other paint
- Small paint roller and paintbrush
The tools required include the following:
- A level
- A drill for drilling holes for screws
- A pry bar for removing old closet shelves supports if there is any
- A circular or Miter saw
- Carpenters square to ensure cuts are straight
- A measuring tape
- A safety gear, especially the headgear, eye, and ear protection
- A Kreg Jig
- A jigsaw for cutting notches to ensure the organizer fits around the current baseboards
Special instructions,
- Ensure the correct dimensions of the closet are taken
- Determine the best cut list considering the size of the closet.
We use the following woodcut list consider using it
- 1’’by 10’’ MDF for the main structure
- One 61.5’’ for the total width of the closet
- Two @ 71 for the vertical supports
- Five @ 14’’ for the middle shelves
- Twelve @ 4.25’’ for supporting the shoe shelves and dividers of shoe cubicles 1’’by 1’’ for the face
- Four @ 21’’ for the shoe shelves
- Two @ 70.25’’ for making the vertical support
- Five @ 14’’for making the middle shelves
- 1’’ by 1’’ board for the face
- 1’’ by 2’’ for making some parts of the closet
- 1.25’’ round dowel
- Eight @ 3.5’’for supporting the shoe shelves and dividers of the shoe cubicles
- Four @ 20.25’’ for making the shoe shelves
- Two @ 20’’ for making the closet rods
Scrap wood used for the shelving support is necessary, which includes; two one by 2s each 9.5’’ for the bottom shoe shelves and two, one by four each 9.5’’ for the top shelf.
The following procedure is followed while making the DIY closet
- Move anything out of the area where the closet is to be fixed
- Fill any holes on the walls using the spackling
- Clean the whole closet and add a fresh new coat of the paint if it is worn out
- Using the painter’s tape, design the closet on the wall according to the measurements taken
- Cut the MDF board to the correct size. Cut the tall vertical boards, the top shelves board, the middle shelves, and the shoe shelve boards
- On the underside of each center shelf, drill four pocket holes using the pocket hole jig, ensuring the thickness of the MDF board is the guide. The pocket jig and the drill will guide the thickness of the wood hence, avoiding too deep holes
- Assemble the middle part by screwing each shelf to this side using the pocket screw. The central region can be attached directly to the wall, but not a must as the shoe shelves will hold it in the proper position at the bottom, while the clothes rack will keep it in place on the top. Small L brackets can be attached to the back wall for extra security.
- Remove the painting tape from the wall and lift the middle part to the right place
- Attach the top shelf in the right position using the pocket screws
- Ensure the two notches for the baseboards are in the same corner. A carpenter’s square will ensure that all the shelves are square, after which they are attached to the second long side with pocket screws.
- Nail the one by four board into a stud, each to the wall end and immediately below the shelf
- The stud is attached with at least one screw or nail, although it is sturdy enough without those studs. These studs are more of primary support as the divider supports only the upper shelf; therefore, using screws with drywall anchors is better.
- Construct the lower shoe shelf and nail it into position while securing it with supports of shelves
- Include the second layer of the shoe shelf support and nail it in the right position. The shoe shelves should line up with the lowest middle section to ensure a continuous line.
- Repeat with the shoe cubbies and add the MDF to create the cubbies. Once the shoe shelves are fixed, the main part of the structure is complete.
- A second shelf may be added on one side of the closet organizer.
- Paint the shelve with the painting available, but the paint used should not be scraped off easily
- Cut the wood trim and add it to the shelves using wood glue and gun nail. Line the trim up at the bottom to ensure the sides of the shoe shelves and the middle vertical support. Doing so will ensure that the bottom parts are more cohesive. Line up the top edge of the horizontal shelf trim with the top edge of the shelf board.
- Prepare the closet for the final paint after attaching the trim all over it
- Caulk any places with visible gaps between the boards
- Use the spackling to fill the small holes left out by the nails to ensure the closet organizer is smooth
- Paint the trim with the same paint used to paint the closet organizer to ensure it matches
- Attach the closet organizer with the rods for hanging the clothes
The closet organizer can be fitted with either the sliding or the hinged doors. The hinged doors are mostly preferred as one can see everything inside the closest organizer at the same time.
The sliding doors allow one to see inside the closet each side at a time as they slide over each other. The best idea is to decide on the best door type to install on the closet organizer as different people have individual tastes and preferences.
Hi, my name’s Elena Coolidge. I’m a DIY enthusiast who loves building fun woodworking plans. These DIY plans are fun hobby projects for enthusiasts or even more advanced builders that want to build things like bunk beds, end tables or even a duck box!