How to DIY a Main Bedroom Closet for Less than $250

Easy and budget-friendly DIY main bedroom closet. Upgrade your boring wire shelving and create a beautiful space for less than $250.

My husband and I are super lucky to each have a walk-in closet in our bedroom.

But they are basic…like wire shelves basic.

They work just fine, but we thought there had to be a better way to utilize the space and give us more storage.

We looked at closet storage systems but have you seen the prices of them?

Wow…holy expensive!

Since our money tree in the backyard isn’t producing any cash we went with plan B.

We came up with a plan to build our own with inexpensive shelving from Ikea and closet parts from our local home improvement store.

And guess how much we spent?

ONLY $220!

Can you believe it?

Let’s take a look at what Chris’s closet looked like before.

Brace yourselves…he’s not neat!

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Main Bedroom Closet BEFORE

See…I told you!

But in his defense there really aren’t enough shelves for all his folded clothes.

And stacking them on the long wire shelves just creates a mess when he needs to pull something out from the bottom of the stack.

We tried to get a little organized with a few bins on the floor but that obviously didn’t work out so well.

The side to the right is tight because the door brushes past the hangers as it opens.

He even has to push the clothes back when he pulls the door shut.

Behind the door, he has a row of hooks for his robe, belts, and a couple of hoodies.

Along the back of the closet is another hanging rod and shelf.

And then a third wire shelf and clothes rod is on the left back wall behind the door.

The closet may be walk-in but it’s tiny! It’s like a small upside-down L-shape with a bump-out.

Oh and that fluorescent light it’s getting an upgrade too!

I’ve wanted to paint a wall or room black and thought this was the perfect opportunity to try out some black paint!

Somehow I didn’t take any photos of painting the interior of the closet. Duh!

But don’t worry you’ll see it when I walk you through installing the DIY closet system.

Supplies to Install a DIY Closet

The first step is to empty out the closet.

We also removed the door so it would be easier to work in the small space.

Next, we removed all the wire shelving and patched holes where the old shelving was hung.

We used a putty knife and drywall repair patch.

Once your drywall patch is dry you’ll want to sand it smooth to get ready for painting.

I painted the closet Black Satin by Benjamin Moore in a matte finish.

We purchased all the supplies we needed for this project at our local home improvement store and Ikea.

But if you don’t have an Ikea near you I’ve found similar shelving you can use in “shop the post” link above.

Since every closet measures differently you’ll need to determine exactly how many supplies for your specific closet.

You’ll Need These Supplies:

• white laminated wood shelves
• white closet poles
• shelf bracket and rod support
• metal pole sockets
• closet pole end caps
• white primed PVC lattice molding
• narrow bookcases

You’ll Need These Tools:

• tape measure
• cordless drill
• impact driver
• level
• wood glue
• table saw or circular saw
• stud finder
• drywall repair patch
• putty knife
• sandpaper or sanding block
• paint
• paintbrush/roller

Optional Accessories:

• shoe shelf
• coat rack
• baskets
• hamper
• lighting

Installing Shelves and Hanging Clothes Rods

Once we measured our walls and cut all our shelving and hanging rods to size, we got to work installing our DIY closet system.

The first step in installing the shelves is to hang your brackets.

We had a new plan for the wall to the right of the closet so the hanging clothes would no longer be in the way of the door.

But we didn’t want to lose any hanging space because Chris likes to hang all of his t-shirts.

To make more room for hanging clothes we decided to add an upper and lower shelf and rod on the back wall.

To create this area of the new closet we used white laminated wood shelves and white steel closet poles.

Now with two shelves on the back wall, we debated having two shelves on the left wall also.

But then that wouldn’t leave any floor space for a hamper or anything else.

So we decided to install just an upper shelf and a hanging rod on the left wall that would meet in the corner of the back wall upper shelf.

We used three shelf and rod support brackets on the long shelves for both the upper and lower shelves against the back wall. And two wall sockets on the end of each pole for added support.

On the shorter wall, we only needed two shelf and rod support brackets and one wall socket. We just covered the other open end of the hanging rod with a closet pole end cap.

Creating a Storage Space with Bookcases

To allow Chris to be able to actually walk into his closet we didn’t want to add any hanging clothes storage on the right wall.

We used narrow Ikea billy bookcases to create sort of a built-in look for that side of his closet.

I got the idea from my sister who used these bookcases on either end of her closet with hanging rods and shelves between.

It turned out awesome!

We originally thought that would work in Chris’s closet but it was too small and didn’t leave enough hanging space.

Instead, we created other organization between the bookcases.

But back to how we installed the bookcases…

We have 5″ baseboard trim in our home.

And because we’re kinda lazy, we didn’t want to remove and cut it to get the bookcase to fit flat against the wall.

Instead, Chris used a piece of scrap wood behind the bookcase to be sure it was straight and level.

Another white laminated shelf was cut to size and attached to the top of both bookcases.

This gives Chris extra storage for things he doesn’t need to get to regularly.

Using a piece of white PVC lattice molding at the top of the bookcases gives it a finished look.

We also added a strip of this molding to the front edge of each shelf to conceal some of the shelf and rod support brackets.

I think the little bit of trim gives a little extra customization to the closet.

I thought a mirror would look great in this space but being a guy Chris said no thanks!

So, I found these wood and metal row of hooks in HomeGoods.

And they are great to hang his favorite hats on!

I found the perfect-sized shoe storage rack to fit between the two bookcases.

The metal and wood add a bit of warmth and texture to the high contrast black and white closet.

DIY Main Bedroom Closet AFTER

And here is the finished DIY master bedroom closet.

Isn’t it gorgeous?!

I’m in love with how it looks.

It’s just how I envisioned it.

Remember that ugly fluorescent light?

I told you that was getting an upgrade and this industrial-style flush mount light fixture is just what this closet makeover needed.

Leaving floor space on the left side was a good decision so we were able to add a hamper for Chris’s dry cleaning.

Creating this area on the right side of the closet gives Chris lots of storage for folded clothing and shoes.

And now he’s able to walk easily into his closet without being attacked by hangers.

The cost to build the master bedroom closet was only $220 for all the materials (not including the optional accessories).

Not too shabby!

If you have any questions or suggestions, contact me or leave a comment!

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