Upgrade Small Linen Closet in Bathroom to Include Hamper

The purpose of this project was to take a miniscule linen closet, and utilize the space above it, which was wasted. It also gave us a home for a hamper, away from our clean clothes in the closet.

The project used basic tools and took only two days to complete.

- 3/4 inch birch plywood

-1/2 inch birch plywood

- 1x2 poplar

- crown molding

- 3 sets of hinges

- cabinet door hardware

To begin we removed the old closet door, then demoed the door trim. Next I demoed the existing fixed shelving. I cut the top of the closet higher into the unused space. I went up to a height of 96 inches from the floor.

Next I built a plywood box out of 3/4 birch plywood. I built this 24 x 24 x 96. I built a floor for the box about 4 inches up from the floor and then a divider shelf about 40 inches from the floor, to separate the linen closet from the hamper space.

I trimmed the box after sliding into place. The trim was 1x2 poplar strips which I used pocket holes to secure to the box. I added a bar below the divider shefl as seen in the pic, so that a pull open hamper door could be built.

I did use a router to build rail and style doors, but these could also be built using flat panels and trimmed with panel trim. I mounted the three doors with hinges.

Next I added the upper trim, which was made of a thin crown molding. The trim turned back on itself and terminated against the wall. I then filled any voids where the face frame met the drywall with mud and sanded smooth. We then filled any cracks with caulk and painted.

The final steps were to add hardware. This gave the new linen closet a very high end look compared to what we had before, and it was a much better use of the space.