Horizontal Closet Organizer

diy closet organizer
Difficulty
Beginner Projects
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More shelving space, less bending over?  You betcha!  This horizontal closet organizer is designed for efficiency and those that love shelving. Build your own with our free template on our sister site Shelf Help.

What is worse than piles of dirty laundry?

I'd have to say piles of clean laundry with no closet to put it all away.  Then it gets mixed up with the dirty laundry, and you end up with twice as big piles of laundry that you have to treat as dirty laundry.  You know what I'm talking about here.

We've recently moved into the new house, and first up, I insisted that we have one working closet in the house.  

We've done lots of closets in the past, but this time, I got a little crazy and ditched the vertical organizer.

 

Yep, we went all horizontal on this closet. 

And this is why -

No more bending down low to reach a bottom shelf.  Or reaching up high to hang clothes.  And it's easy to fold and put away jeans at the perfect height.

We did lose about 2-1/2 feet of closet rod storage, trading it for 8 feet of shelving space at an easy to reach height.  I think that is worth it.

I'm so glad we went with the horizontal closet.  We love how functional and easy to reach everything is, and love the extra shelving storage for folded clothes and baskets for socks and underwear.  

Ready to build your own?  Here's a few options for you:

 

PS - If a vertical closet is the right size for you, we've got the perfect one sheet of plywood plan right here (you can also use three 15-1/2" x 97" long melamine shelving boards)

 

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Horizontal Closet Organizer

Preparation

Tools
Tape Measure
Speed Square
Safety Glasses
Hearing Protection
Kreg Jig
Drill
Circular Saw

Comments

milleall

Thu, 04/19/2018 - 06:27

Love this plan.  I'm curious though, at what height did you hang the entire unit or what hanging length do you have from that bar?  Looks like at that height there is enough room to store some short tubs on the ground underneath which is what I need to do. 

ajgaither

Sun, 05/24/2020 - 12:42

Fair warning, I am horrible at math and measurements. I was looking over your build list and it says we need 7 15-3/4" melamine shelf boards @ 31.5". What is the 31.5" inches? I am finding 15 3/4 boards but nothing about 31.5" I was thinking everything on your materials list with the "@" meant the cut?!? Sorry if this is dumb question.

jamielcoata

Mon, 12/07/2020 - 10:02

Ana,
Do you have your own plans for the horizontal closet organizer? I have read the Ryobi Nation version, they are not as clear as yours. I am ready to start this project, but looking for clarity before I start drilling.