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Homemade drawers plus hanging rods to create additional storage in a wardrobe.
The project
I love our walk-in wardrobe but was a lot of unutilised space. I devised plans to make the space functional.
It was also quite narrow. Because we don’t own too many pieces of clothing, we prefer to have the clothes facing forward to make the space feel less cramped. We’ve done this in the spare bedroom and love it.
The clothing rods were high and all the space underneath was dead space. There was some hanging space at the far end which was not usable.
The plan was to build a small shelving unit to use the space underneath. One side was to have a rod to hang trousers and the other was to be open shelves for linen and backpacks.
On the far end, I really wanted to add some drawers and a mirror. I wanted the top of the drawer to be a wooden one that could be used to place perfumes. I did a quick mockup using Sketch Up.
I have made the open shelves and trouser hanger. I picked up 16mm Melamine particle boards and had them cut in store. Then they were mechanically fastened using chipboard screws and I added a 16mm clothing rod. I then finished it up with screw caps and some iron-on edge banding. Quite pleased with the results.
I decided to tackle building the drawers. While measuring, I found that the space was crooked all over. The base of the existing cavity isn’t level. The sides are neither perpendicular to the wall or the floor - nor are they parallel to each other.
After a lot of googling and even more soul searching, I decided to make a drawer that would fit into the cavity and cover up any imperfections with a drawer face that went as close to filling up the cavity as possible. To tackle the uneven base, I used adjustable feet and covered them by extending the bottom drawer face.
I used Plywood hardwood marine AA grade for the drawers and had a lot of issues with it, but that was mainly due to inexperience. It buckled during assembly, causing some of the drawers to be uneven but the end results were acceptable.
This D.I.Y. project has been far from perfect but considering I didn’t own so much as a drill at the start of the year, I am super proud of this transformation.
To keep the cost down, I used the cheapest timber panel I could find which was the Specrite Spotted Gum and used some minerals to give it a bit of a warm shine. I replaced the handles on my existing drawers with one that matches my new one.
More inspiration for your wardrobe makeover
Workshop member Alyce also completed a wardrobe makeover with extra storage space by using baskets and new shelves.
Community member Marc created his own home office built inside a wardrobe.
Check out our Top 10 most popular storage projects for more clever and creative ideas.
Good Afternoon @raniia
Wow! Straight up impressed.
as I was scrolling through your photos and description while eating lunch I actually stopped eating lol
Love the rearrangement of the lothes to give back space! Thats a brilliant idea.
"Didnt even own a drill at the start of the year" 
That makes it even better, Id be happy with it myself and yeah Id still have things not quiet lined up also Welcome to the club!
Keeping this one in mind for my own clothes.
Dave
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