DIY Bedroom Closets

Measure the space available in the bedroom. Plan your closet as a three-walled alcove that uses a corner, part of any windowless wall and a decorative folding screen. Good placement choices might include the short wall by the bedroom door or the wall behind the head of the bed. But any corner wall that does not include a window will work. The closet space will be slightly wider than the width---not the depth---of the rack you will use for hanging clothes. The closet length is determined by the third wall, a barrier of carved wood, bamboo or paper screens.

Position a portable clothes rack--such as those used for dressing rooms, hall coat racks or backstage at fashion shows--against the back wall of the "closet." If the rack has a top shelf, use it for the hat boxes. Otherwise stack them in a tower in one corner. Set a line of shoe racks under the clothes rack.

Attach the panels together. If you are working with individual decorative panels--antique Chinese carved panels, a mix of painted and rattan or bamboo panels, or even a set of french doors--you will have to hinge them together. Shoji or rice paper screens may need extra panels to completely hide the closet. Fasten two wide or three narrow panels together--or add panels to an existing screen--along the vertical frames so that they fold and can be angled slightly to stand up by themselves. Use a screwdriver to attach the panels to each other with piano or continuous hinges. It's best to use heavy duty hinges for carved wooden panels; aluminum hinges will work for lighter bamboo panels or Japanese paper screens.

Stand the hinged screen like a "wall" so that the closet is blocked off from the rest of the room and so you can access it only from one end. Check to see that anything stored on a shelf above the clothes rack is hidden by the screen and not visible form the rest of the room.

Use the rack for hanging clothes and the hat boxes for accessories---or hats. Line up boots next to the shoes on the shoe racks. If the closet needs more light, attach a clip-on spotlight to the clothes rack or tuck a tall, white paper standing lamp in one corner.