We Created a Linen Closet Out of Nothing!

Let me start out by saying we have ZERO linen closets in our home. Zero. Zippo. Zilcho. Nada. None! In the whole house! Upstairs or down in the basement. None. This was one of the things that irked me most in our home. Where do you put the towels and sheets and blankets!? Well most of it ended up in our closet. And for the girls bathroom we shoved them under the vanity. Was it the ideal situation? No. Did the towels get soaking wet when we had a random leak from the sink drain? You betcha! But we made it work. We didn’t have a choice. And one day I was cleaning up my little girls room and putting toys away in her closet. I was angry because we had a cube storage unit and everything kept falling off into this dead space of her closet. Then a realization hit me! This closet shares a wall with the bathroom! I could borrow some of this dead space and MAKE a linen closet! I wouldn’t miss the space in her closet since it had only become the biggest head ache ever and I would gain so much storage and function to that square footage! So I drew up a plan!

The Plan

This is the wall that is shared with the bathroom and closet.

It’s a blank bare space that I added a chairrail to when I redid the girls bathroom. So I took this photo and started doodling on it.

I know, I know, it’s not the best drawing in the world! But it gave me an idea of the size, space, and shape I wanted. So armed with my amazingly detailed plan I got to work!

Demo Day

The project began with ripping a giant hole in the wall! This was a lot of fun! I cut back the drywall to the size I wanted. I didn’t want to go past the interior closet wall but I wanted to make sure the linen closet would be wide enough to store a litter box and take it in and out for litter changes.

Framing

Once all of the demolition work was done we began framing the “door” way. We used 2x4s and attached them to the existing studs to give us support and structure.

Then I took a quick break to scrape the popcorn from the ceiling and paint it.

Once the ceiling was done and the doorway was framed, we added primed door casing to create a nice clean framed pass through.

Then we framed the closet wall using 2x4s.

Once the wall was built we added the trim to the casing.

Building the Interior Wall

Then came time for the part I hate the most! Drywall. I hung drywall on either side of the wall by screwing into the studs we added. I finished off the wall with joint tape and compound to make a nice smooth surface!

Flooring

Then we built a raised platform to make the bottom of the “closet” even with the existing baseboards. I wanted an elevated platform to make it a framed open nook as opposed to a closed closet with a door.

Then I laid peel and stick flooring and put some heavy items on top to make sure it stuck.

Next came paint! I gave the closet 2 good coats of paint. And then I realized I absolutely hated the peel and stick flooring. The pieces did not stick to the plywood at all and there were small gaps between the pieces. So I ripped it all up and decided to go with some go the lvp we had left over from the girls room makeover. I laid them horizontally leaving a small expansion gap then covered the gap with quarter round.

Shelves

Then we were ready to put the shelves up. We used stained 1x2s secured into the studs as supports. We laid these every 12-18 inches depending on what we planned tonuse each shelf for!

Then we cut plywood to size and placed it on top of the supports and nailed it into place with a Brad nailer.

Once all of the shelves were up we added 1×3 cap pieces to the front of each shelf and secured them with the Brad nailer as well. This created a chunky wood shelf look.

Finishing Touches

Then it was time for all of the finishing work. I touched up any paint spots in the closet that needed it. Next I caulked all of the new trim. Caulk gives it that high-end finished look you are going for. Then I painted all of the trim in a white semi-gloss paint.

The Reveal

And finally we were ready to stock the shelves and close the book on another project!

I love how it turned out! This little nook quadrupled the amount of usable squarefootage by adding 4 shelves. Before this space was wasted. It was difficult to access in the closet and anything that fell back into this corner stayed there forever. Now it’s a very large linen closet with tons of space for towels, toiletries, and even the cats litter box! The shelves are about 2 feet wide by 18 inches deep which is the perfect size to put 2 rows of towels side by side! This space is going to function so much better for our family and make our day to day lives a tad bit easier and more organized. And isn’t that what DIY is all about?!