Craft room in a closet – Stage 1: Planning and Buying

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When we first looked at our new home, there was one thing that charmed me immediately – the “extra wall”. In general, the home is poorly planned, but we don’t want to knock down walls just yet, since our living needs are likely to change. So there’s this extra wall that forms a random small room/walk-in closet, that leads to another closet and the area under the steps, right near the entrance. Strange, but…

It was begging to become a mini craft room.

So, why am I sharing how to make a craft room in a closet if most of you don’t have extra random walls in your home?

I want to take you through the entire process of building my craft room so that you can apply it to any extra area or small nook you have in your home. You can do this in the walk-in closet in your guest room, (though you’ll have to sacrifice it when you have company!) You can try this in any other small nook or area, and even do something similar in a regular closet. Just follow along and get inspired.

I also plan to take you through the whole experience including organizing it. We all know just how badly the craft room needs to be organized so I’m sure you will enjoy!

Making my craft room in a closet: the idea I’m after.

This is a glimpse into the closet.

As you can see, it’s quite large as far as closets are concerned. That wall on the right is the “extra wall”. Really, it should be removed, and the area would connect to the dining room to make a living-dining space. But I’m not passing up on the epic craft room dream!

Since space is quire limited in this room, I decided to create an L shape around the left and back wall. I am connecting 12-inch deep plywood boards at desk level (about 29″). Above that, I plan to make two shelves that follow along the entire wall. In the corner of the L, we’ll hopefully be adding a triangle piece to make it deeper, for larger scale projects.

I do lots of jewelry making, so a foot is really all I need. Depending on your needs and space, even a 18 inches can be an improvement.

Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links.

Please excuse the quality of the photos in this post! I didn’t realize I’d blog it and so they were just taken along the way on my bad phone camera…

It’s small, and so everything will be in reach. On the right wall, I would love to add some built-in storage for the things I need handy – such as scissors, glue gun, and other “power supplies”. The overhead shelves will allow me to store things that might normally be kept at surface level, right within reach.

I will also likely add some drawers or a cart below the desk level for more supplies I want to keep handy.

The room has no lighting, and no wiring to add lighting. We will likely be importing lighting via an extension cord, but we’ll need to work it out after the room is built.

Craft room in a closet: drawing a plan.

The first thing we did was measure the room. As you can see, the door is too close to the left wall, so we figured we’d need to cut the wood on an angle.

I drew up my plan quickly on graph paper (it’s quite crude – no crazy architectural skills needed for something like this!).

We figured out which size boards we would need to create an L (the extended corner can be created from the corner that we cut off to accommodate the door.) We tripled that for the two shelves.

Another thing: the door opens outward so that wasn’t a consideration. If yours opens inward, you lose that space and may want to turn it around.

Craft room in a closet: buying the materials.

We headed out to the Home Depot. We handed our measurements to one of the workers who cut up an 8×4 plywood board for us. To tell you the truth, the best way to do it is just to get it cut so it can fit in your car, and then to cut it yourself. The cutting machines aren’t accurate and are really meant for cutting it so that it can be taken home. The board cost us about $30.

We got brackets and screws for the shelves and desk (get the screws best suited to the type of wall you have) but then realized that it may not be strong enough. We decided to use 2×2’s instead, so that it has support alongside the whole edge.

We picked up some fun stain+poly to save time, some brushes, and now it’s time for the fun to begin…! Stay tuned as I blog this step by step: treating the wood, building the shelves and desk, and of course organizing my supplies.

Have you considered making a craft room in a closet? Have you done it? Which tips do you have for me or my readers? Follow along to see the whole process!

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