Closet Storage

Closet space.  Is there ever enough?  It is a constant battle to find sufficient storage.  Many of us resort to renting storage space on a monthly basis.  I certainly have in the past.  I did a major "downsizing" when I retired and moved to my house in Savannah. Difficult decisions had to be made to part with things I would rather have kept, but life is full of difficult decisions, so I did what I had to do.

The house in Savannah was built in 1978.  Closet space is at a premium.  What is available is small, so I want to utilize every inch of space and I want to do it at a reasonable cost.  There are companies who specialize in closet renovation, but they are horrifically expensive.  If you can afford that, good for you.  This post is not for you.  But if you want to organize your closet space and not break the bank, like me, then read on.

To start this project, I knew that I wanted a cabinet that would sit on the floor in the very back of this closet.  A Google search got things started.  I ended up choosing a storage cabinet and matching bins from Home Depot.  Neither the cabinet nor the bins were in stock at my local store (as usual), so I placed an order online to have both the cabinet and bins delivered to the house.  It is easier to do it this way.  Even if the items are in stock, it is just easier to order online and have it delivered.  The bins arrived first.

 They arrived, collapsed, which was fine.  I expected this.

The fabric the bins are made of was nicer than in the pictures I saw online.  I was very pleased when I pulled the first one out of the box.  Of course, nobody is going to see this because the bins will be hidden in the cabinet, but I will know.

The bins open very easily straight from the box.  There are six bins in the order, which will fill the six bin openings in the cabinet.

Included in the box of bins were these stabilizers which go inside each bin to hold the shape and keep the bin from collapsing in on itself.  You simply place one of these on the bottom of each bin.  I like that they are covered in a matching fabric.

Here is the first bin with the bottom stabilizer in place.

Next, we moved to the cabinet.  It arrived packaged flat, as usual.  Each panel was in perfect condition, and the parts bag had all the necessary hardware for assembly.

I am not going to go through each step of the assembly.  That would be painful to read through.  More like watching paint dry.  I will jump to this picture of the cabinet fully assembled and in place inside the closet.  Perfect fit for this small closet.  And you will see that it just cleared the bottom of my shirts.  So, a perfect fit, both height and width.  It was easy to put together.

After the cabinet was fully assembled, I finished inserting the bottom stabilizers in the bins and got them ready to put in place.

And finally, the finished project.  Bins in place and it was time to decide how I would use this bit of extra storage.  This was a fun and easy project.  Some projects are fun.  Some projects are easy.  But not all are fun and easy.  I gained some extra storage space without having to spend a ton of money.  It is attractive.  It is functional.  I am certain I will get many years of use.