Horrible closet dimensions. Suggestions?

[Pat Barber]

I would go here:

use their tool to make a much better layout than you will come up with.

John Krystek wrote:

[John Krystek]

Thank you for all the excellent ideas. I think we're going to roll with the full size pullout cabinet on rails idea. I actually suggested this as an option to my dear wife a few months ago, but somehow Kevin/John phrased it in such a way as to get her excited about the prospect. :) I'll have to remove the doorknob on the inside of the closet (not very useful there anyhow) and find a distributor of large undermount sliding rails ($$?). I was planning on building a custom cabinet but with just 19" of available width between the door and molding I'll be better off finding a solid, somewhat standard 18" deep x 4' wide x 6'ish high cabinet to modify. I'll add 12" of shelving on the side facing the opening so the closet is immediately functional upon opening the door. Once pulled out, the layout of the room prohibits access to just one side so I won't have to remove the backing. I will also use a pair of casters to support the weight of the cabinet as it slides out onto the bedroom carpet away from the rails. A simple extendable ceiling mounted track will provide additional stability.

To answer a few questions: Expanding the bathroom wouldn't yield us any great returns so that's out of the question. We don't have anything really big and valuable so the walk-in safe, while very creative, won't fly either. The Ferris Wheel Bin idea gets major creativity points, but I'll reiterate a very important detail from my original post: I'm a newbie. :) The closet will be used to store standard issue foldable clothing, from tshirts to sweaters, as well as any other odd items we'll undoubtably cram in there.

It's unfortunate I'll still be wasting some space - a combined total of

8" down the depth of the closet as well as a foot and a half above the door molding. Reconstructing the door dimensions is out of the question for about a dozen reasons, but thank you to the pros that I know were about to suggest that option.

If anyone knows of a supplier that might carry large (4' ?) ball bearing undermounted full extension rails that would be great.

Thanks again for all the replies. I'll hopefully post an update after this interesting project is complete!

- John

John Krystek wrote:

[Joe Gorman]

Well, I'm not sure you want undermount so here's some drawer mount type

[Charley]

John,

As it's quite unlikely that you will find the guides that you are now looking for you might want to consider a method that I once used.

I made a very large roll-out that used 4" non-swiveling casters on all 4 corners plus 2 in the middle. I built a pair of tracks for them to roll into with flared ends to catch any mis-allignment on their return trip. As heavy as I expect your cabinet will be, if you mount the casters as straight as you can I doubt that you will have any problems getting them to re-engage the flared end of the track. I used oak strips that were attached to an oak hardwood floor with screws. These strips were spaced about 1/4" wider than the wheels. The end flare of the rails was about 1" on each strip (or 1/2 of the width of the hardwood rail) and about 6 inches long. It allowed for a mis-allignment of up to 1 inch either way as the cart returned into the track, but I never saw my cart get more than about 1/4 inch out of allignment. The back end casters never went more than about a foot past the end of the track so they returned to the track quite well and the rest followed. I never had any top rail guides, just the casters and tracks at the bottom. That cabinet was built about 40 years ago, and as far as I know, it's still in use.

[fredfighter]

Sounds like a winner.

If the rollout unit can come out far enough to enter the closet behind it then you could put shallow shelves into that space which could then be accesssed when the unit is out. Suitable perhaps for seldom-used books, camping gear, or boxed items.

[John]

It took a little phone calling to friends but here's precisely what I had in mind:

is apparently one of several companies that sells such products to the type of industrial and government customers I was referring to. Whether they'll sell to the retail customer is something you'll have to ask to find out. But at least if you can get to see how their stuff is made you might be able to adapt something for your home.

I'd love to hear what results you ultimately come up with.

Good luck,

J.

John Krystek wrote:

[JimR]

John -- don't forget you can use the back of the door! The Container Store has some high quality shoe racks that fit on the inside of a closet door and you should be able to combine those with a pull-out unit, provided the door opens enough (more than 90 degrees) so that the door unit doesn't interfere with the pull-out unit when the pull-out is in use.

You could also mount belt and tie racks to the inside of the door --

Afterthought -- with the bathroom next to it, consider the possibility of mildew or mold problems inside the closet, especially if you've got clothes doubly sealed inside a cabinet inside a closet. You may want to dehumidify, use Damp-Rid, or vent the closet --