What to Do With an Empty Closet? Check Out These Great Ideas

Many people don’t have enough storage space, and they stuff every nook and cranny with items that need a permanent home. Having an extra closet can seem like an unlikely problem to have, but if you have excellent organization in other areas of your home and you get rid of belongings that you no longer need, you might find yourself with just that predicament. Rather than use it to hold onto odds and ends (potentially ending up with big mess in the process), why not decide to dedicate it to something useful? Here are some ideas to consider when you have an empty closet that you aren’t sure what to fill it with.

Pull up a chair, because it’s possible to have your own home office in your closet. If you’ve been working from home on a laptop at the kitchen table or on the couch, you might find a dedicated home office to be quite a luxury. It doesn’t have to be big; it just has to be well-organized and efficient.

First, take the clothing rod out of the closet, since you won’t be needing it. You can take the door off or leave it on, depending on where the closet is located in your home and how neat you tend to keep your office! This is a great time to paint the walls of the closet, too; choose something that reflects your style. Slide a desk into the space, or build a work area. You can add cabinets or shelves overhead to store your office supplies and important files. If you’ve chosen to keep the door to your new office, you’ll need to find somewhere to store your office chair. Another option is to use a stool if you don’t need the back support; this can slide right under your desk and allow you to close the door without a problem.

Do you love to craft, but can’t find enough space to store all of your supplies? A craft closet can give you not only needed storage space, but also a work area, so you don’t have to put everything away mid-project to, say, eat dinner at the dining room table.

As with the home office idea, you’ll need to first take everything out of the closet. Install peg board on the inside if you want to be able to hang some of your smaller supplies from hooks; this can be great for scrapbooking notions, stickers, even spools of ribbon or scissors. Use a desk or dresser to fill the space, or build your own. You will need drawers and shelves to keep everything organized. Add a lamp if the overhead lighting is not adequate for up-close work. A supportive chair will allow you to craft comfortably. Again, you can leave the door on or off, depending on how you want the space to look.

Do your kids like to get away from it all with a good book? A reach-in closet can be the perfect-sized space for them to have a private little hideaway. This is not limited to kids, either; maybe you would like nothing more than to retreat to your own personal reading corner!

Remove the door to the closet and install a tension rod in the doorway so you can hang a curtain to provide a way to close it off without the danger of small children closing themselves or each other in. Place a chair or a bench in the closet and fluff it up with pillows and blankets to make it soft and welcoming. Baskets, placed next to a chair or under a bench, can hold a variety of books. If the space is for children, a shelf on the wall holding stuffed animals can provide soft friends to enjoy books with.

No, you won’t be able to use a closet as an entire guest room, but if you have a wide closet in a room that you’re currently using as an office, a playroom or a library, placing a Murphy bed in the closet allows you to create a guest room within minutes.

Have your wall bed installed against the far wall of the wide, shallow closet. Most of the time, it will function as an extra storage area; many wall beds have shelves or drawers on the sides that can be used for whatever you need to store in that space. When you are expecting guests, simply pull down the bed, make it up with fresh linens, and viola, you have a comfortable place for travelers to spend the night. When the visit is over, simply remove the linens and fold it back up against the wall. If you are low on living space but you would like to host overnight visitors, this is a great way to make them feel welcome without having a dedicated guest room.

Now that you have a few ideas for using that empty closet, the wheels in your head are probably turning and coming up with even more possibilities. Whether your closet is large or small, chances are very good that you can come up with some use for it that will enhance your life and the lives of your other household members.

At Hang It Up Closets, we can help you turn your idea into a reality. With a variety of shelves, drawers, and many closet accessories, we can design a work area, a play area, or virtually anything else in your closet. We can even install a Murphy bed. Please call us today if you would like a closet professional to help you transform your closet into useful working or living space. With our years of experience and high-quality materials, we know you’ll be thrilled with our implementation of your idea.