While the bedroom closet is never the most interesting part of a home, it is one of the best places to start when it comes to remodeling. Chances are, you’ve cursed the lack of adequate storage space in your closet at least once, especially if you happen to be something of a shopaholic. On the other hand, maybe your bedroom closet has enough space for your clothing, but not nearly enough for your vast shoe collection. Perhaps the lighting could be better, or maybe you simply don’t like how the closet looks. No matter your reason for renovation, know that it doesn’t have to be difficult as long as you take the process slowly and step-by-step.
Coming up with Ideas
Believe it or not, but remodeling your closet will take plenty of planning. Even though it may seem like a simple, quick job, it can quickly become a difficult task if you’re too hasty. Lack of planning will likely lead to a poor closet design, which will cause you plenty of aggravation for years and years to come. For the money you’ll be spending on this project, that is definitely a result you simply don’t want and should do everything in our power to avoid.
Before you even start planning, however, you should take some time to come up with some ideas. Go online and look up some photos of remodeled closets for some inspiration. This will give you an idea of what your closet could be with some time, money, and effort. Thumb through some home improvement magazines and watch some home improvement shoes for further inspiration.
When coming up with ideas, don’t just focus on the aesthetics of your bedroom closet. Sure adding a nice coat of fresh paint to the walls will brighten things up for you, but you should definitely consider things like improving the ventilation in your bedroom closet. Adding ventilation will keep your clothes in far better condition and for longer as well.
Something else you should consider is adding some custom storage. Of course, a simple rod is suitable for hanging dresses, jackets, and shirts. However, there are probably some items in your wardrobe that you would prefer to fold. By adding extra storage options, such as drawers for small clothing items, to your closet, you can make sure that your closet will never end up messy and unorganized.
Budgeting
The next thing you should be concerned with is budgeting for your bedroom closet renovation project. Obviously, remodeling your closet isn’t going too much, especially when compared to the costs of renovation for other areas of the home, such as the living room or kitchen. However, that definitely doesn’t mean you shouldn’t create a budget for the renovation. When it comes to any home remodeling budget, it’s quite easy to overspend and the most efficient way to avoid that is by making a budget.
If you want to repaint the walls of your closet, you’re obviously going to have to purchase paint. Typically, interior paint costs about $20 to $40 per gallon. The price mostly depends on the quality of the paint, as well as the color you choose.
It will cost you about $1000 in materials if you want to expand your bedroom closet by moving the walls and adding some lighting. Hiring a contractor to do the labor will likely add about $1700 to the cost. Of course, creating an entirely new closet will cost you even more money. A 9′ x 9′ walk-in-closet will likely cost you approximately $5000. The cost will depend on the doors, the choice of lighting, ventilation, and any built-in storage.
Adding an organizing system to your closet will cost you up to $400 if you go for basic storage modules, which will include shoe storage, shelving, and drawers. However, if you desire the ability to customize the organizing system, prepare to spend a lot more money. The cost of a customized system can cost homeowners up to $3000. Some factors that will determine the cost of your customized system are the type of components you select, as well as the style of the components.
As you can see, coming up with a good budget for your closet remodeling project can be complicated. Therefore, you should consider using a free online calculator to estimate the cost of your project, so you can work from there.
Purchasing the Materials
Once you have a good budget in mind, you can start purchasing the materials as soon as possible. Your goal is to get the best deal possible on the building supplies, so you can have money left over to pay for the labor. However, that doesn’t mean you should sacrifice quality in order to save money. While buying cheap materials will save you money initially, you’ll end up spending more money in the long run as you’ll have to remodel the closet again in just a few years.
For the majority of homeowners, the best way to get a good deal on building supplies is by having your contractor purchase it for you. In general, building contractors have access to materials for a much lower price than you would be able to purchase them at. Not only are the prices low, the quality of the materials also tends to be very good. Therefore, chances are, your contractor is going to be your best source for building supplies.
Installation
Unless you’re having an entirely new closet made in your bedroom, installation won’t cause too much disruption to your home, especially when one considers the disruption that is caused by the remodeling of a bedroom or kitchen.
Overall, the only thing you need to worry about is where you’re going to put all your clothing and shoes during the installation process. If you don’t have much clothing and your shoe collection is rather modest, consider temporarily storing the items in either another closet in the home, or in plastic bags.
On the other hand, if you happen to have a rather large collection of clothing, you should consider renting a storage unit at a company like U-Haul. Of course, this will cost you quite a bit of money, especially if the remodeling process is expected to take a long time. Therefore, you should factor the cost of renting a storage unit into the budget for your closet renovation project.
Picking the Right Company
If you want to make sure your closet comes out absolutely perfect, you need to have the right professionals for the job. Whether you need pros to do the entire job for you, or if you just need someone to help you along the way and give you advice, you need pick the right company for your needs.
While it’s a good idea to ask your family, friends, and colleagues for some referrals, chances are you’re not going to get too many, if you get any at all. While many homeowners get their kitchen remodeled at some point, remodeling the bedroom closet is far less common. Therefore, while asking people you know is worth a try, don’t expect too much out of it.
Looking up a local directory list of contractors is an excellent place to start. Contact half a dozen to a dozen contractors and have each of them give you a written quote. Once you have a bunch of quotes, you are in a good position to choose the best contractor for the job. As stated above, you definitely shouldn’t go for the cheapest quote unless you’re prepared to renovate your closet again in just a few years due to the subpart materials used in the first renovation.
Rule out the contractors whose quotes don’t fit your budget. From there, research the track records of each of the contractors. Check out their websites and take a look at their previous works to get a good idea of what to expect from that contractor. Make sure your contractor is registered to work in your state and is licensed for your locality as work. Ideally, you should go with a contractor who has about five years of remodeling experience.
Extra Remodeling Tips
If the main goal of your remodeling project is to make your closet more pleasing to the eye, the door is a great place to start. As you already know, a plain door will definitely get the job done when it comes to a closet, but it is in no way attractive. It won’t add any character at all to your bedroom, nor will it give your bedroom any visual interest. Chances are, that’s not the type of look you want.
Consider replacing your plain door with a nice, quality French door. It’ll make your closet look unique and striking. If you’ve seen a French door before, you’ll know that it features multiple glass panes. That means you’ll be able to look through and see your clothing and shoes. If you don’t like the idea of that, you can combine the French door with a curtain panel or colorful shade. That way, you won’t have to stare at your shoes and clothes all day long.
For the homeowners who happen to have small bedrooms, consider not going down the traditional door route at all. Think about getting a sliding door instead, so you won’t have to worry about making clearance for a traditional door. In fact, a sliding door may enable you to organize your bedroom furniture far more efficiently than before.
Lack of ventilation in your closet can lead to build up of moisture, which will attract mold, insects, as well as mildew. Therefore, adding ventilation to your bedroom should definitely be apart of your closet renovation project. Adding ventilation to your closet doesn’t have to be as difficult and complicated as it sounds. For most homeowners, all it means is installing a simple, small fan to move the air. If you choose to go down the fan route, get a model that has a timer in it so that you can program it to turn on and off periodically.
The majority of bedroom closets are painted white, or some other neutral color. While this is definitely a safe option, it isn’t a particularly fun or decorative one. Therefore, you should consider painting the interior of your room with a more vibrant color. Picking a good color to paint the walls of your closet can definitely be hard, especially if you don’t have anything in mind yet.
Many people love bright, vibrant colors, yet they don’t want to pick a color that is “too much” for their bedroom. However, when you think about it, the bedroom closet is honestly the best place to go crazy with colors. If you’re like most people, the door to your bedroom closet will stay closed for most of the time. Therefore, you don’t have immediately rule out flashy colors like crimson red or cobalt. It’ll make your closet feel more special and luxurious to you. If you prefer a more harmonious look, choose a color that complements the color of your bedroom walls. Also, if you go for a darker color like eggplant, make sure you have good lighting, or else it will be very dark in your closet.
You also need to focus on the organization of your closet. Consider having wire racks line the walls of your closet from top to bottom. These wire racks are both simple to install and budget-friendly. On these racks, you can store tons of everyday items. For example, on the bottom racks, you can store things like towels and shoes. When it comes to items you don’t used too often, store them on the top shelves. Some items that you may want to store on the top shelves are large appliances and clothes that are out-of-season.
If you still have items on the closet floor despite the closet racks, consider adding baskets, clothing rods, and, and wall hooks to your closet. Utilize the floor space in your closet to organize your shoes or even store something like a vacuum cleaner. Make sure you have the correct support for the closet rod to hold all of your things in a safe manner. Brackets are great for this purpose. Another plus is that they’re really easy to install.
As a homeowner, the remodeling process can be a very exciting one, yet it can also be very complicated and stressful. If you happen to be a homeowner who has gone through the process before, you’ll know that home remodeling is not an easy process, especially if you decide to remodel your kitchen, bathrooms, or closets. This holds true even if you opt not to down the do-it-yourself route. However, as long as you take all the information this guide has offered you into account, you’ll end up with results you can proud of without all the stress and heartache that has the potential to come along with it.