Turning A Loft Into A Seasonal Closet

August 20th, 2010 Posted in Kitchen DIY

Many times the idea of a loft space is better than the actual loft. Frequently lofts can be odd-shaped spaces that are not particularly easy to access, and you can never quite figure out what to do with them. As you are pondering what to do with your very cool, but kind of unusable, loft space, consider turning it into a seasonal closet. You can’t ever have more closets than you can use in your home, you can invariably use one more. A loft can offer you basically an entire room to use as a storage closet; even with low ceilings, odd angled walls and tricky access, a closet loft can be the perfect solution for your funny, little space.

Cleaning.

Before you even try to design your new space clear everything out of the loft. Chances are great that extra space within the home become a repository for extra “stuff”. So empty out your loft, and take this opportunity to get rid of anything that you do not need. You may even come across a metal wall art decor, copper wall decor or handcrafted wall sculptures that you never got around to hanging; well, now is the time to hang it where you planned. Next, turn your attention to your closet, and start emptying everything out of there as well. Again, use this move to thin out your excess clothing. Now is the right time to get rid of things you have forgotten about or no longer fit into. Sort the contents of your closet into four piles: one for charity donations, one for yard sales, one for keeping, and one for tossing in the garbage. Pack away everything except for your “keep” stack, and then go through that pile, dividing it into a couple of stacks. One stack of clothing, the things that you are wearing now, will go back into your closet, and the other stack of clothing, your off-season garments, is what you want to store in your new seasonal loft closet.

Making the Most Use of Space.

Your design will be very unique to your space, but here are some general ideas of how you may want to configure your space. If your loft has a slanted ceiling and short walls, you may want to add long, hanging rods along of each wall at a height that is convenient. This will leave an area behind your hanging clothing that you can put into use for storing shoes, boxed items and boots. To keep your clothes from getting dusty you can store them in garment bags or you can simply drape them with an old sheet. You also want to take care to properly store wool and fur clothing to keep moths and bugs from invading your garments.

 

Storage for Holiday Items.

Depending on the size of your loft, if your clothes do not fill the space, you can use it to store other items as well. This may be a great place to store your holiday decorations in plastic bins. Instead of having them stuck all over your house, they are easy to organize and retrieve right there in your loft closet.

Now instead of having a useless loft space that just collects junk in your house, you have created an organized and useful space that is a pleasure to use and it helps to keep your other closets organized and clutter free as well.