My wife and I just bought a new loft and I've made the questionable decision to gut the old closet and start over. We have very limited space so I wanted design and build hanging space and shelves that used every inch of available space. I've got a design that we're both happy with but now have questions about material.
Is it practical, or even safe, to build the closet (shelves and all) out of Cedar? I was planning on using Eastern Red Cedar for its aromatic qualities but I don't know how its going to hold up under the weight of 2 3'5.5" bars full of clothes. Would that type of Cedar (in
Cedar is fine to line a closet. As for the bars, I'd screw them into a stud rather that just the cedar planking. If the wall is open, you can add some extra re-inforcement if needed.
As for shelves, watch for sag. You will want to run a strip across the back on the bottom to add rigidity, not just support the ends.
Waste of wood...3/4 is fine. Or even thinner for lining. The only place you might have a problem with 3/4 is on the shelves and that depends on the span...3' 5.5" is fine.
For hanging, you might want to consider this...
A 1. make 3/4 x 3/4 strips, hardwood preferred 2. drill 1/4" holes 3/8" deep at 1" - 1 1/2" intervals 3. attach firmly to closet sides B 1. make bars about 1 1/2 high x 1 1/4 wide by length as necessary; round over tops 2. cut 3/4 wide notches in ends so they will slip over the strips 3. support the bars with #346 KV clips inserted into the holes in the strips.
This allows you to hang bars at various heights thereby increasing storage space. For example, shirts/blouses can be hung on two bars one above another. Trousers/skirts can be hung from a high (or low) bar with shelves below (or above) for shoes/purses/whatever.
The holes in the strips - and the strips themselves - need not be the full height of the closet, just enough to allow flexibility in placing the hanging bars for various types of clothing.
This works best if the closet is compartmentalized with vertical dividers so that hanging sections are 3-4' wide. The KV clips are entirely adequate to support a bar full of even the heaviest clothing. The overlap of the bars on the sides of the strips keeps the bars in lateral position.
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