Here’s 5 ideas for converting your extra closet into an office, mudroom & more-
Small square footage, big opportunities
The following written content by Katherine McLaughlin
Since the beginning of the pandemic, homeowners have come to the New York–based interior designer Sara Mosele with some interesting solicitations. “Requests during the pandemic became really creative,” she tells AD. Mosele’s clients asked for her help designing bars, bike rooms, nurseries, and even at-home saunas. And, to do these projects, they wanted her to transform their extra closets.
Closets are an important part of any home, if not for the storage they provide, then for the fact that they can make your home more valuable and attractive to potential buyers one day. But if you have nothing that you need to put in them, they can certainly feel like a waste of space. Enter the closet transformation. A few nails, paint, and a drill can convert unused square footage into your new favorite corner.
Regardless of the end goal, Mosele says there are a few quick ways to make a closet feel less closet-like: taking off the door, adding a pendant light, and putting in a little paint goes a long way. As she explains, “A very efficient and cheaper way to achieve something aesthetically pleasing is paint.”
Still, it begs the question: What should you actually turn the space into? If you’re in need of a little inspiration, check out these makeover ideas that look so good, you’ll forget what the nook started as.
Make a mudroom
If you’ve got an extra hall closet, it might be the perfect opportunity to create a mudroom. Jessica Bui, the blogger behind The Orange Home, accomplished this task in 2020 when she converted the “most random closet in the world” into a practical catchall space.
“In an Asian American household, it’s customary to take off our shoes when inside the home,” she says. “With that, we decided to take off the standard closet doors and get creative with the space to transform it into a makeshift mudroom where shoes and bags collect.”
The Scottsdale, Arizona, native installed large vertical panels—she used MDF panels and attached them with finishing nails and a nail gun—to add dimension to the walls and painted them black for an elegant look. “From there, we lucked out and found the IKEA Kallax bookshelf was the perfect fit as a bench,” she adds. Wood elements like a floating shelf and a bench topper completed the project.
“Initially, the mudroom’s purpose was to prevent wearing shoes in the house, but now it’s become the perfect drop zone,” Bui says.
Build a beautiful vanity
Take inspiration from content creator Jenna Allard and turn an extra closet into a vanity. “We started by taking out the doors and hardware from the pre-existing closet and then patched, sanded, and painted the interior,” she tells AD.
In Allard’s home, this small closet is actually within a bigger closet designed by California Closets’ Kate Kim. “Kate really loved my idea of turning the small closet into a vanity space and brought it to life by adding the desk and overhead shelving,” she explains.
However, there are plenty of mounted desks and floating shelf options that are DIY-friendly for anyone looking to do something similar. And if, like Allard, you plan to use the space as your everyday makeup station, make sure you’ve thought of a way to get good lighting into the closet. “I was lucky enough to have an outlet in the pre-existing closet, but you could always use battery-operated lighting or an extension cord, if there’s an outlet nearby,” she says. Read more from Architectural Digest.
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