Bye, Bye Bi-Folds

One of the saddest places in our apartment is definitely the closet. As in, the only closet in the bedroom and the only full-sized closet in the whole place (the coat closet upstairs is one of those narrow things where the coat hangers don't even fit in the entire way). It's a regular-sized closet, I guess, but compared with the huge closet we had in our apartment last year, it just doesn't cut it. Not only is it pretty small, but it's stuffed to the gills with out-of-season clothes, Christmas decorations and other random goodies, mostly packed into hideous plastic storage bins.

Hey, now that doesn't look so bad, does it?

Wrong!

Even more annoyingly, we aren't even able to access the full space because of the doors. They're the standard rental bi-fold doors and even when they're fully open, they block access to the back corners of the closet. Also, because they fold out, we weren't able to use the backs of the doors to hang shoe racks or anything like that. Basically, we were stuck with a small closet and an even smaller array of available options to increase storage and functionality.

It would be nice to be able to actually see the shoes in my shoe rack...

While browsing on Pinterest this week, I came across this little gem on Apartment Therapy and decided to try it out. In total, the project took about 30 minutes and cost me $8 for the mending braces. I didn't buy the wood or the magnetic contraption because my local hardware store didn't have what I needed. And now, after finishing the project, I'm not so sure that I need them.

To start, I had to get the doors off their rolling tracks. On top of the door (I had to stand on a chair to do this part), I pushed down on the little wheel mechanism that was closest to where the doors opened. My closet doors had two little rolling things (as you can tell, my technical terminology is excellent), but I only need to take out one on each door - the one closest to the center.

It already looks so much bigger!

After the doors were pulled out, I had to remove the mechanism completely so that the doors could close after I was finished.

I just tightened a wrench around it and pulled - it came right out.

Then, I simply drilled and screwed the mending braces into place. I put one at the top of the door, one towards the middle and one towards the bottom. This was really simple to do, but just make sure the door is completely flat when you're working (I used my foot and a laundry bin to keep it in place).

One of the braces screwed in place

The first door all finished.

After finishing both doors, I had to remove this little locking mechanism on the bottom of both doors (but I forgot to take a picture) and then, I was done! The closet now looks SO much bigger, I can't even believe it. After a little rearranging of all our stuff - it's great being able to access every corner of the closet - things are shaping up. While I'm by no means done with the close reorganization, this is a great start.

It's like a whole new closet!

In addition to making a world of difference in storage space and looks, this is a great, easy project for renters because it's completely reversible. When we eventually move out, it'll be incredibly simple to reinstall everything I took off and to remove everything I added. Just remember to save the hardware that you take off - I always put mine in plastic bags and label them.

Now, it's time to start thinking organization systems!