How to Turn an Extra Bedroom into a Walk-in Closet

Remodeling an extra bedroom into a walk-in closet can give you extra usable space and potentially increase the value of your home by creating his and hers master closets.

When you first consider remodeling an extra bedroom into a walk-in closet, determine whether the proximity to your master bedroom or bathroom make the conversion feasible. In addition, take a look at the floor plan to your home. Evaluate whether you will be taking on structural, electrical, or plumbing issues that you cannot tackle yourself. If so, you may need to hire a professional contractor to assist you with your remodeling.

Next, decide how to route traffic to and from your new walk-in closet. For example, in our house it was easiest to close off the hallway entrance to the former extra bedroom and add a new entrance through the master bath. By doing so, we were also able to add extra space to our master shower, which we plan to expand and remodel in the next few years.

Once you have a traffic pattern established, decide what finishing items you will need to complete the transformation of the extra bedroom into a walk-in closet. Consider installing hardwood flooring, cedar panels, and custom shelving units. Choose trim and paint colors. Finally, determine what lighting will best illuminate your new space.

In our new walk-in closet, we decided to replace the carpeting with a low-cost laminate flooring system. The laminate floor was easy to install and durable. In addition, the floor color compliments the features of the adjoining master bath. We decided to paint the walls the same color as the master bath so that the new walk-in closet feels like an extension of the bathroom itself.

Choosing the shelving systems was probably the most difficult part of turning the extra bedroom into a walk-in closet. It is important to consider how you plan to use the walk-in closet. For example, if you plan to store linens, you may want open shelves or drawers. If you have long items to hang, you may need several hanging bars with storage areas above or below them.

Several closet organizing systems are now available in home improvement stores like Lowe's or Home Depot or even online. Organize-It has wire shelving systems that are economical but not as aesthetically pleasing as wood closet systems. Closets by Design is at the other end of the spectrum and features custom closets, cabinets, and mirrored doors. ClosetMaid is a mid-priced line that offers white and wood finishes, as well as some wire rack products.

We decided to use the ClosetMaid closet organizers for our extra bedroom conversion to a walk-in closet. ClosetMaid offers both a custom design service and an online program called Visual Storage Planner (VSP). VSP allows you to design your own closet by entering the dimensions of your walk-in closet, including the placement of windows and doorways. You can then add preconfigured storage areas or designs to decide what pieces to buy and how to configure them.

ClosetMaid has a number of finishes to choose from, as well as some interesting features like a valet rod, baskets, or the superslide rod that allows you to enhance your hanging space by using a curved hanging rod.

Once you have designed your closet using VSP, you can print off your ClosetMaid design and head to Lowe's to purchase all of the components. We found that installing the ClosetMaid storage units was fairly simple. Some of the sections can be fairly heavy, so make sure that you have someone to help you assemble everything.

When we finished installing the closet components in our new walk-in, we touched up the paint and added the final trim pieces around the perimeter. We found that adding trim after the closet components were installed worked the best since the closet components are designed to fit flush against the wall.

Once we finished the project, we had transformed a boring extra bedroom into a flashy walk-in closet. Our next project? Remodeling my husband's walk-in closet that we formerly shared.