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CartHere’s How to Make a Custom Closet Organizer
Is there anything worse than a disorganized closet? You can’t find things when you need them, you waste time searching, and often end up late for meetings or appointments. DIY expert Jyll Mackie and her family were faced with this situation. Seeking a creative solution, she headed down to her local Home Hardware to get some ideas. Follow along to see how Jyll took a stock closet organizer and customized it to fit her family’s needs.
Here’s What You Need*:
(1) Closetmaid Organizer Kit with Tower
(3) Closetmaid Shelf Bracket Kits
(3) Cabinet Handles
(1) 5/8” MDF
(2) Cast Iron Hooks
BeautiTone Designer Interior Paint
*Lumber may vary depending on your location. To see all your options, use our Store Locator to find the Home Hardware Building Centre or Home Building Centre closest to you.
Here’s How to Make It
With one daughter starting school, the other due at daycare and my husband starting a new job, everyone was scrambling to exit the house at the same time. It soon became apparent that our closet area was less than conducive to our new schedule. Shoes, backpacks and fall jackets were constantly spilling out onto the floor. Every morning there would be a frantic hunt for a pair of lost car keys, a rogue shoe, or a missing hat. It was exhausting! We knew adding a closet organizer would make our lives easier, but we struggled to find one that would look good and also suit all our needs. It took a little creative planning and some help from our local Home Hardware, but customizing a stock closet organizer proved to be the ideal solution. Here’s How we did it.
Step 1: The Closet Tower Anchor
I started with the closet tower. It was easy to assemble and install. It’s also the single biggest piece of the entire unit so it gave me a better sense of the space and how to visualize the other elements.
Step 2: Adding Shelves
Once the closet tower was in place, I added shelves to the right side for shoe storage. This will eliminate the heap of shoes at the bottom of the closet, and the frantic shoe search every morning. The shelf bracket kit made for easy installation.
Step 3: Installing Drawers
Next, I also added three drawers to the closet tower to store things like hats, mittens, and scarves. Previously these items would have been strewn about the house and it took a treasure hunt to find them. The metal drawer glides were easy to attach and allow for a full, smooth extension of the drawers.
Step 4: Adding Decorative Accents
The ClosetMaid system already allowed for plenty of customization, but I really wanted to add my own creative touch to the organizer. So I got a sheet of 5/8” MDF board and ripped it down into 1¼” strips. I attached these to the fronts of the tower and shelves for a more robust look.
Step 5: Prepping & Painting
Once the MDF strips were in place I filled all the joints with wood filler and lightly sanded the entire thing. I then primed everything with my favourite primer and finished up with two coats of BeautiTone Designer Interior Paint in the colour Comfort for a durable finish.
Step 6: Finishing Hardware
The drawers came with handles, but I swapped in some beautiful cast iron drawer pulls to add a bit of character. Matching cast iron hooks completed the look and are ideal for wrangling the kids’ backpacks.
The new closet organizer has made our lives so much easier! Our mornings are calmer, we’re on time for work and school, and everything now has a home. We have shelves for shoes, hooks for bags, drawers for all the accessories, and bins and baskets for keys, wallets, mail, travel documents, and other items. Our local Home Hardware was a great help throughout—always friendly, and always ready with tips, tools, and materials we needed.
