What is the best and least expensive way to change my closet?

Jess, how good are you at doing the job yourself? Obviously you have seen the wire closet shelves with all the accessories which can be quite expensive especially when you are doing a walk in closet. The advantages are that was the shelves are installed there is not finishing because they come with a white finish already and that you can really see where things are because of the spacing in the shelves.

However, installing them is another matter because the real strength of any closet system install is being able to attach things to the studs.

You can however us lesser expensive unfinished Nova Ply (Particle Board) shelving with 1 x 4 hook strips and standard closet rods. Again, if you are a handy person, you can save a lot of money.

Write down a list of all the hanging cloths you have, all the cloths you want to put on shelves and the amount of area you want for shoes, purses etc.

Remember hanging clothes like tops and slacks are shorter so you can use double closet rods, usually installed at 40" and 80" off of the floor. So, in a 4' wide area you would get double the width or 8' of hanging. For longer clothes such as dresses etc., mount the rods at 64".

Use the 1 x 12 particle board for all the horizontal shelves and for the sides of shelving units you build for the shoes, purses and clothes. Run the hookstrip on walls where the horizontal shelving will go.

You can put a natural finish on everything prior to install by using a good acrylic latex varnish, which you can get at Lowe's or Home Depot. It's fast drying and two or three coats, sanding in between coats, will do the job. After that, install it and enjoy.

There really is so much more I could tell you, but this is not the space to do it in. If you want more help click on the link listed below and fill out the contact form on my website and I will get back to you.

I hope this helps.

Rick Maselli Founder of Showroom411.com