Hall closet vs bedroom closet?

[CivilWarHome]

We are going to try and "finish" one room before the summer ends (bedroom for my oldest). Of course we have no bedroom closets, however, we do have a pretty good sized storage/hall closet that borders one wall of her future room. Since her bedroom is the smallest, we are debating on breaking through that closet and giving it to her. The layout upstairs is two bedrooms (will both be kids room) and a small bathroom. The closet is about 10ftx4ft and I want to say it has the original ceiling height. (9 or 10 ft).

Thoughts on this? We debated on making the original entrance to the closet flush with the wall and then having a small storage closet remain, but this borders the top of the staircase and with the bathroom on that side it seems to cluttered already.

She's 9 now, so assuming a closet would be a must. Anyone have suggestions for a soon to be tween/teen room?

[KristenS]

We were originally thinking of breaking through a wall in our bathroom to annex a closet in another room. Because our bathroom is TINY and can use the space. But we finally decided not to, just because we want to keep the house how it is. I admit that up front so you know my bias!

How small is this smallest room? Would it fit a wardrobe? Or even a built-in against-one-full-wall closet?

I've always loved wardrobes. When I was around 12, one of my best friends had a gorgeous old white painted wardrobe. It was shabby chic before that stupid phrase was ever coined. I coveted it so much! It seemed to hold everything cool she owned. She had it decorated much like a locker, so the insides of the doors were covered in photos and stickers. It was just awesome.

And Buffy the Vampire Slayer has a full-wall built in, too. It's awesome.

[CivilWarHome]

The room is roughly 12x14. Guessing because the tape measure is currently hiding, right in front of me no doubt lol. Two of her walls are exterior walls. One has a chimney and the other has two windows. The third wall (with her door) was added in the 20s to frame out the bathroom. The only wall left is the closet wall, and if I build out it interferes with her door swing.

I'm already questioning this because as much as I like to stick to the original, I have a bedroom that sacrificed space for a bathroom, and an unused closet we could gain some of that space back with. We already decided against making the closet flush with the wall, so the change would only be how we access the closet.

The tween/teen question is in reference to the decor itself. How far do you let your kids decorate their rooms? Is it always strictly period appropriate or do you allow leeway for things that can be changed at a later date?

A wardrobe sounds like a great solution, I was thinking along those lines for the second bedroom we have. I have tried to think of other ways to make this work and we keep ending up where we started. I'll see if I have any photos online, they would be outdated but you'd see what we are working with.

[oldhouseluvr]

I'm not sure I understand the layout exactly, but it sounds like you want to open up one of her bedroom walls which is the back of the closet. If you do that, my only caution would be to make sure there is still adequate wall space for furniture placement. Our kids both have small rooms and only my daughter's has a closet. That's a good thing, but with two windows, a radiator and two doors, furniture placement options are very limited.

In terms of practicality, I think opening the closet into your daughter's room is a very good idea. And I wouldn't worry too much about installing a door to cover the closet. You might want to consider using curtain panels hung on rings to cover the opening. It should be relatively inexpensive and she can coordinate the closet covering with her window treatment and bedding.

As far as decorating, I let my children choose furnishings and bedding that suits them. For DD, who is now 14, when she was a tweener we painted the entire room and the ceiling in white. I bought geometric wall stickers that we used to decorate the walls and she taped up a few posters too. Now that she is a teen, the stickers and posters are gone. For DS, his room is papered in a neutral tone-on-tone stripe. He could care less. lol He likes impressionist art and his girlfried is artistic so he has some Van Gogh prints and her work hanging on his walls. When he was younger, it was pictures of his favorite baseball players and framed posters. Both have Ikea furniture and contemporary bedding and window treatments. Its what they like and since nothing is permanent, I see no need to try and decorate in a more period style.

It sounds like this could turn out to be a fun and rewarding project (in terms of your daughter getting more space and her own closet). Good luck!

[CivilWarHome]

I'm terrible at describing things! Here is a quick sketch from paint.

Elizabeths Bedroom Layout.png (8.94 KiB) Viewed 449 times

Since the closet has so much space I was debating on making some sort of build in inside of it to eliminate one of her dressers. I never thought of hanging a curtain or something in the opening. I figured 2 small 5 panel doors to match the bedroom but that works! (And gives me time to search for something I like for the future!)

Thanks for the decor suggestions. I had thought of all the bedrooms I had seen on the forum and never recalled one that was kid like.

Now that you can actually see how the room is, is there a way to gain space other than the closet? Or a possible build in arrangement I'm just not seeing? I'm really leaning toward the closet and I guess I want to alleviate some of that guilt

[Josiecat]

Have you thought about an armoire?

[angolito]

I actually did exactly what you are considering and it is now my small reading nook in the master bedroom ( VERY SMALL) . I doubt that the layout upstairs in our house was completely original but i get those who would want to keep original layouts if they include un-moveable trim or builtins.

I have used old armoire for closets, the problem being that they are usually too shallow to accomodate todays hanger/shoulder widths. I chose to purchase pretty badly crapped out old pieces and slice the backs off. then i built out from the wall about 6" and stuck the armoire back on permanently. when we bought the wayward girl i made one bedroom adjacent to our MBR for a whole room closet/dressing room. There were nasty stained plywood "closets " in each room which were hideous and cheap, obviously added in.

As for re-sale value i think it would be much more advantageous to have a closet in the bedroom ( with doors) than that location of the hall closet.

[CivilWarHome]

Have you thought about an armoire?

I have! She has a full sized bed though, don't know where I would put it. I don't like the cheaper smaller versions, and would rather spend the money elsewhere- like my 100 things we need to do list!

[CivilWarHome]

Sarah (I think that is the right name? Been awhile!)

I already know the layout on that end isn't original. There is also a small closet that lines the chimney in the hallway that I think would work as far as linens go.

I love your idea for re-sizing the armoires! I will have to try that in the other bedroom!

I've been dying to hear your update on repointing! Did you tackle that project? I'm off to search he boards and see if I missed it!

[SkipW]

Where does the bed go in your drawing? With the head on the bath wall? Chimney wall? Between windows? That would help a shot at a layout, or maybe give dimensions....Also, what about breaking thru as you say and adding bypass doors on the 'new' closet so as to avoid door swing issues?