Closet Door Makeover Ideas. Help?!

18 September 2014

One of the fortunate things about the little ugly house we bought is that the bedrooms don't need too much attention.With the exception of the master bedroom. The roof was replaced a few years ago, but not before some serious damage was done to the drywall in the master and so we're having to replace half of it. And the closets are terrible.

They are huge, and there are two of them. Each closet has more space than we've ever had in a closet, and the two together rival the square footage of our first house.

This is nice except they're huge in a very ineffective way. Long and deep. Unnecessarily deep. It's like a walk half-way in closet.

Take a gander.
  
I know. I know. A vision splendor.

There are separate his and hers closets that line the whole wall, divided by a (not) lovely inset mirror/glass shelving unit. They have these folding doors that catch on the carpet. We will rip out the carpet and the raised floor in both the closets. We will also do something drastic to the shelving unit. Jacob however tells me we can't move the closets. Buzz. Kill. So since they must stay where they are, what does one do for doors?

My preferred doors would be some kind of french or swinging door except I don't think we can afford to lose that much floor space. The space issue makes bypass doors seem pretty handy, but otherwise they seem pretty inconvenient.
      
{source 1}    {source 2}    {source 3}

I had bypass doors on my closet in my first apartment in Los Angeles, and I felt like I was opening the door to the ark every time I needed a fresh pair of socks.

Are they all like that?

There's always curtains. I don't mind curtains as closet doors, I actually quite like them, but I doubt you'd find this option on one of those "How To Make Your House Look Expensive" Pins.
      

We will probably stay with some kind of bi-folding doors - despite how awkward they are - and try to find some way to spruce them up.
   
{source 1}    {source 2}     {source 3}    {source 4}

Mirrors on the door would brighten the room up. Light = always nice. Paint or wallpaper are bold but interesting. I do care about how they look, but I care more about how smoothly they open and close, but I didn't source any images of hinges. 

So. What do we do? What do we do? Bypass? Curtains? Folding? Turn one of the closets into Lucy June's room?

I'd really love to hear your thoughts!!!

27 comments :

  1. All of the options have pros and cons - I can see your dilemma. My first thought was curtains - I love that idea. Of the 3 options, I like the middle one (wood) of the bypass, any of the curtains, or the green or white bifold. I'm not a big fan of mirrored doors anywhere.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I really like the white folding doors. It will give it a clean look, which is especially important if the space is small.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I say curtains. I've never lived anywhere with highly functional bypass or folding doors, and while granted, I've only encountered them in crappy apartments, I still feel there's a lesson here. Curtains are attractive, cheap, functional, and easily changeable if you think you need to do something different in the future.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Curtains do seem like a great temporary fix.

      Delete
  4. Resale: no curtains (too hippie), no mirrors (can rub people the wrong way).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes... lots of mirrors in a master bedroom is just kinda...awkward.

      Delete
  5. I like the white bifold doors best, and if you're planning on reselling soonish, I think those would be your best bet. We had bypass doors that never made it back on the closets (in any bedrooms! underachievers) and while I like not always having them in the way, it would be nice to hide the mess a bit better.
    If you don't end up using both closets as closets (although that sounds dreamy in my small house!) maybe you could set one up for a mini office/craft area or something?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I actually like open closets just fine...and JACOB is orderly enough that he could actually swing it. But ME...not so much.

      Delete
  6. I like the style of the green doors but the color is probably too eccentric. But the sort of repurposed window shutters look appeals to me.

    Mirrors=porn. That is all.

    You could totally make a mini-nursery in one of those. I would do it. I've thought that if we ever built our own house (probably never gonna happen), I would want a baby room attached to the parent room which could be converted to a walk in closet when there weren't any more babies.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jacob loves the idea of a nursery. He wanted to make Murphy bed for our first born that would fold out of the wall.

      Delete
  7. What about a mini office instead of a mini nursery? Or both if you have so much room--ha! I like closet doors that don't fold. I'd rather have an actual door on my closet than a folding one. But doors that slide on really good rails is good, too. Ikea has those curtains/parchment paper doors that slide on ceiling rails. They always look nice...at Ikea. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  8. I say bi-folding doors. As the owner of a curtain covered closet, it never looks as clean as I'd like it. Plus, I can never decide what curtains I want and the ones I like are expensive etc etc etc.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Curtains are great in a kids room. Unless you find something that feels posh, they probably won't feel good in your room. If you take out the carpet, that will solve your open/close problem with current doors, most likely. You may need to repair the hinges and oil them too. Then, spray paint the doors something bright. For a few bucks, you can postpone dealing with this forever (which is my preferred method of postponing).

    Found you through Dwija's post--can't wait to read more. You both have a similar way of seeming conversational, which I love.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! And you're right about getting to a place where you can "postpone dealing with it" - With most design issues I find that I have to get to a happy enough place right away and forget about perfect.

      Delete
  10. Could your incredibly handy and genius husband who is also hilarious and clever (I'm trying to help you out in the convincing department) create pocket doors? That will solve the room real estate problem of the swing out doors and the half the closet is covered problem of the bypass doors. Plus: fancy!

    ReplyDelete
  11. If the current doors are in good enough shape, you might just try painting them first. Our last house had very similar closet doors, but they were made of metal and painted an awful, sickly green color. They also had terrible, '70's faux gold, floral knobs. Anyway, my husband painted them white and replaced the knobs with ones that were simpler and white -- and the whole thing was a million times better. What a difference it made! If you go with different bi-folds, I love the third. Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  12. i'm loving those green doors -- can't wait to see what you do with the place!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Sliding barn door. I'm doing it someday. I already pinned the hardware:
    http://m.homedepot.com/p/Crown-MetalWorks-Dark-Oil-Rubbed-Bronze-Decorative-Sliding-Door-Hardware-12590/204323529
    I'm so jeal of all this reno.

    ReplyDelete
  14. What about keeping the closet on the left and using the one on the right as a nursery/nook area? It looks like it would fit a small crib/changing table and a rocking chair...maybe put a small window there too?
    Other than that, I'm the WORST at giving decorating ideas...I just like to play with walls and using "hidden" spaces...

    ReplyDelete
  15. Whoa. I'm so impressed about these comments, so good. I have crap-tastic bi-folds so the idea of pretty closet doors is foreign. But all these options are doable for sure! As in gorgeous. I'd lean away from curtains if you're renting, because I don't think lots of renters would like them. But maybe I'm wrong??

    ReplyDelete
  16. Are you ready to learn about camping? One of the best things that you’ll find when camping is the time you’ll get to share with those you love. Make the most of your next trip by putting great advice to memory and using the tools that experts suggest.
    http://www.okanaganautomation.com |

    http://www.nhbensautobody.com |

    http://www.finanauto.com |

    http://www.autoenergy-gr.com |

    http://www.ppautocenter.com |

    ReplyDelete
  17. I simply want to mention I’m newbie to weblog and honestly enjoyed your website. Almost certainly I’m likely to bookmark your website . You surely have wonderful articles. Many thanks for sharing with us your website.
    http://www.business-rating.org |

    ReplyDelete
  18. This is a smart blog. I mean it. You have so much knowledge about this issue, and so much passion 
    ifoundaschool |

    ReplyDelete
  19. You actually make it seem so easy with your presentation but I find this topic to be really something which I think I would never understand. It seems too complicated and very broad for me. I am looking forward for your next post, I will try to get the hang of it!
    biztechproseries.com |

    ReplyDelete
  20. Thanks for the blog loaded with so many information. Stopping by your blog helped me to get what I was looking for.find it here: 
    www.dynamik-3d.com |

    ReplyDelete
  21. The roof was replaced a few years ago, but not before some serious damage was done to the drywall in the master and so we're having to replace half of it. custom closets toronto

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...