How To Install Wood Closet Shelving
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Let’s take a look at how to install wood closet shelving in a small closet. By removing the ugly wire shelving and replacing with a white wooden closet system, we gained a tremendous amount of storage for folded clothes and shoes. Installing wood shelving has been a game changer when it comes to keeping the closet organized and the best part, you can do-it-yourself!
This closet happens to be part of our master walk-in closet which was once a spare bedroom. Last year we converted the spare bedroom into a walk in closet which had this small closet below.
Is It Better To Have Wire Or Wood Closet Shelves?
Closet Shelving: Wire shelves for a closet and wood shelves each serve similar purposes but there are a few differences to consider when making a decision on what type of closet system to install.
1. The pro’s of wire are affordability and quick installation.
2. The pro’s of wood closet shelves are better organization layout options, no wire marks on your clothes and more of a custom built-in look.
We have had both wire and wood closet systems and I personally prefer wood. When Jim moved in a couple years ago, we decided to re-structure the existing closet (that was part of our spare bedroom) for his work clothes (the man has more clothes than me!) and upgrade the wire to wood.
When upgrading a closet from wire shelves to wood, you have 3 options:
1. DIY closet shelves
Diy closet shelves are as simple as purchasing plywood and make our own shelves (like we did in our laundry room below). Building shelves with plywood will take longer than purchasing already made shelves but it’s a great option if you have the extra time. Our DIY closet shelves in our laundry room are amazing!
Building closet shelves – DIY – Click through this laundry room and wood shelf tutorial if you want to make your own:
2. Install a do-it-yourself custom closet system
3. Purchase or make DIY wood shelving covers that go over existing wire
Note: We decided to install EasyClosets white wooden closet system that was so simple to install. Being fully transparent, Easyclosets did provide us with a complimentary closet system but my review is 100% honest and I have nothing but great things to say about the design process, delivery, quality and ease of installation.
Closet Organization Systems
Things to consider when purchasing closet organizer systems.
- Does the company offer online design services?
- Does the company offer free or low cost shipping (wood closet systems can be expensive to ship)
- What material is the closet system made of?
- Are the installation instructions easy to follow (many will provide online to review before purchasing)
- Is the closet system already painted or stained?
- Does the company have good online reviews?
Step 1: Determine A Closet Layout
The first step to installing a custom closet system is to determine a layout. Start by writing down what types of clothing you will keep in the closet.
- Will you you need a lot of shelves for folded clothes?
- Will you need hanging rods for dresses or long coats?
- Do you need shoe storage?
By writing down what your storage needs are, will help you design a functional closet space and maximize storage.
Once we determined our storage needs, we sent the closet measurements to our designer at EasyClosets. EasyClosets offers a free design specialist (yes they have free design services via email or phone).
EasyClosets has custom storage solutions so once she had our closet measurements, she sent back design plans based on our storage needs. Their online design tools are also a great way to play around and see things you may like. The design process was seamless!
We made a few tweaks and additions to our simple design and then ordered our custom closet system. So simple! Be sure to check out this blog post to see why and how we made our design choices.
The closet organization system arrived within a week and was packed neat and secure.
Closet With Wire Shelving Before
Below is the small closet to the left before we removed the wire shelving and installed wood shelving.
As you can see above, there is a lot of wasted space under the hanging rod section of the closet. Wood shelves and hanging rod organizers address this issue creating functional use of the entire closet.
Below is an image from Jim installing the hardwood floor a month before we installed the new closet organizer.
How Do You Remove Wire Shelves From A Closet
The goal is to remove the wire shelving with minimal damage. You will have holes that need to be patched but if you are careful, the holes can be easily fixed.
- remove the support bars by gripping the nails and removing from bar. Pop the bar off from shelves and remove
- Remove under and upper hooks using a flat head screwdriver to pop out the nail. Pulling nail straight out will help the anchor come out straight and smooth with hopefully minimal damage to the wall
- Remove the wire rack, you may need to bang it up from the bottom to get it lose from the hooks
- Remove the remaining shelf brackets and hooks from the wall using a flat head screwdriver or pair pliers.
- Patch all the holes with spackle, sand when dry and paint. Spackle works great for small holes.
How To Assemble Closet Organizer
Once we removed the existing wire closet shelves, we had an empty closet which allowed us to start from scratch.
We simply followed the directions and constructed our wood shelving system.
We basically constructed the closet system in sections.
Under normal circumstances I would have filled the holes from the wire closet system, sanded and painted but the day we decided to install this portion of the closet was last minute and we were in a time crunch so the holes didn’t get patched until another day.
EasyClosets makes the installation so simple!
Each panel has a sticker on the side of the closet system (and the stickers remove easily and do not leave behind a glue residue – yay!) that shows the item number which correlates to the exact image and description in the directions pamphlet.
Installation Tip
Use a small sawzall to remove any baseboards so the wood shelving unit fits flush against the wall (see below)
EasyClosets adjustable wood shelves are perfect because you can set the height of each shelf according to what type of clothing or smaller items will be in the shelf . You can also order extra shelves down the road if you need them.
You seriously cannot screw up this installation, it’s so easy! The boxes and product pieces are marked so it’s self explanatory.
We used a screwdriver and a level to construct the wood shelving system.
The wall to the left below is for wood shelves where folded pants, sweatshirts and shoes will be stored.
The wall straight ahead is for hanging clothes.
DIY Wood Closet Shelving (before & after)
EasyClosets provides affordable DIY closet systems that are easy to install and essentially is a closet kit. We love our new custom walk in closet!
Our new closet with wood shelves provided the much needed storage space for Jim’s t-shirts, sweatshirts and work clothes.
If you are saying to yourself, “Jim has a lot of clothes” this is nothing! Check out our the spare bedroom that we converted to luxurious walk-in closet with the same wood shelves and closet organizer from EasyClosets! Jimbo has half that closet space too!
You can see a glimpse of the larger walk in closet below in the mirror.
Here is another view from the larger walk in closet that also has wooden shelves, wooden drawers and a center island.
Closet Organizer Ideas
- Wood wall shelving for shoes
- Adjustable shelves for smaller items like hats
- Wood shelving for folded clothes and accessories
- Closet walls are lined top to bottom with hanging rods and wood shelf dividers keeping clothes organized
- Increased hanging space for season clothes and/or shirts and pants
How to Install Wood Closet Shelves (EasyClosets)
Equipment
- hammer
- Drill bits
- flat head screwdriver
- screwgun
- pliers
- stud finder
- small sawzall
- pencil to mark wall
- spackle, sandpaper & paint for holes
Instructions : Step by Step
- Remove wire shelving
- Patch any holes from wire shelving and paint
- Layout new wood shelving organization system and get organized
- Install wood shelving and hanging rod system according to directions
- Add shelving and related accessories
Where To Buy a Closet Shelves & Organizers
You can purchase our wood closet system at EasyClosets.
This wood closet organizer has great reviews and is prime on Amazon. This is closet organizer is a little smaller and also on Amazon.
Replacing wire shelving with wood is a great choice if you are looking to upgrade an existing closet or design a custom closet in a new home. By purchasing a custom closet organization system and installing it yourself will definitely save you money and time.
Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Easyclosets. All opinions and words are 100% my own.
Meet Jessica
What started as a hobby, Jessica’s blog now has millions of people visit yearly and while many of the projects and posts look and sound perfect, life hasn’t always been easy. Read Jessica’s story and how overcoming death, divorce and dementia was one of her biggest life lessons to date.
What a difference it makes having the wood! It looks so awesome I wouldn’t mind having one just like it! lol
I love the wood too, so much more organized too with the shelves 🙂
Looks great! Love all the shelves, drawers, and hanging spaces! Well planned out. But, my question is where do you store your out-of-season clothes? This is my dilemma because I don’t have a big enough walk-in so right now my winter clothes ar packed up and stored in other closets in the house!????♀️
Mine are stored in another closet that I don’t use but yes, you could always get a modular hanging rack (I have several in my basement for extra clothes/jackets) and store your hanging season stuff on one ….that way the hanging stuff isn’t folded and jammed in a box 🙂