Making a Stand-Alone Gentlemen's Closet Out of Old Bi-Fold Closet Doors

So I recently replaced my old closet bi-fold doors with some nice plantation shutter doors.  Because the plantation shutter doors had a few nicks and were missing some hardware, they were deeply discounted (words I love to see).  Nevertheless, with the existing hardware from my old doors and a bit of sanding, I made the new plantation shutter doors work.  

But what to do with the old doors?  I could make a stand-alone pantry, or a bathroom linen closet, or a gentlemen’s closet.  I chose the gentlemen’s closet as some of the space in my closet is taken up by too much winter gear.

Since the old doors were all equal in measurement, the job was super easy with very minimal cutting.

Here are the steps:

(1) Remove all existing hardware (hinges, screws, etc) from the old doors.

(2) Lay the old doors on a flat service (in my case, I had two sets of bi-fold doors for a total of four panels).

(3) Take one door and lay it flat on its back (this will be your back panel).

(4) Take the other two doors and place them on top on the back-panel door (perpendicular). These are your side panels.

(5) Use small metal brackets to mount the side doors to the back-panel temporarily or, (if it doesn’t bother you), use 2 inch wood screws mounted from the back panel into the side panels (these screws will be visible, but then again, the backside of the piece is not something usually seen).

(6) Now, the tricky part.  Measure (what will be the top and bottom bases) of your new stand-alone closet and cut two pieces to exact measurements. (If you have four panels, you can use the remaining fourth panel to simply cut the top and bottom bases and additional interior shelves with only one cut per piece!)

(7) Once the pieces are cut, bolt (or screw) the bottom base by using 2 inch wood crews.  Do the same for the top piece. Use “L” brackets for additional reinforcement if desired (I chose to do that since my old doors were partly-made of a hollow shell).  Attach the “L” brackets from the front of the side panels to the front of the top and bottom bases, respectively.

At this point, your stand-alone closet has taken shape.  

"L" brackets at top/bottom bases provide reinforcement

You can now stand it up if desired.

 (8) Next, create interior shelves (again, using the same wood from the fourth panel or old door in my case) by simply cutting some soft wood to exact measurements (a tighter fit is best).

(9) Use pegs to place your new interior shelves (or use 1 ¼” inch screws).  Just make sure your measurements are even.  If you use pegs, you’ll have to pre-drill holes slightly smaller than the peg width so that the peg fits nice and tight.

(10) Install a wood pole in the interior of your stand-alone closet and cut it slightly less (about 1/8 of an inch less) than the interior side-to-side length. The wood pole usually costs about $3 for a 36” piece or you may want to get creative and find something around the house.  Use pole-closet brackets/sockets (they will not cost more than $4 for a set) and attach them to the sides of the interior panels (again, make sure they are placed evenly and ensure their placement allows for your shirts to flow freely).

You now have a functional stand-alone closet, retro-modern shelf, or pantry.

Because I liked my stand-alone closet quite a bit and because I wanted it to match my other bi-fold plantation shutter closet doors, I added its own plantation shutter door to it.  And, this is where an extra-scuffed plantation shutter door in the bargain rack did the trick ($12).

I installed the door with two simple hinges and added a magnetic door hinge to make sure it shuts tight.  The hinge installation requires no real-skill unless you want them hidden (in which case you may have to shave some of the interior wood).  

Cost

Old Doors/Panels = Free

Hinges = $1 x 2 = $2

Magnetic Door Lock = $1

Screws = $1

New Plantation Shutter Door = $12

Wood Pole = $3

Wood Pole Sockets = $4

TOTAL:  $22

Retro-Modern Industrial look is also an option.

The stand-alone closet also compliments the bedroom's main closet doors and hardware.  The ceramic nautical hardware was on sale at .50 cents a piece (as mentioned in a previous blog).  The stark white color of the doors nicely compliments the bold grey interior while the subtle accents throughout the room provide a relaxing, nautical feel. The best part of the new gentlemen's closet is that I don't have to worry about clothes and boxes falling on me now that I have a bit more storage space!  

No Money for a Kitchen Make-Over?  No Problem…It's All About the Knobs.

Kitchens and bathroom upgrades cost crazy money no matter how much of a savvy shopper you think you are or how small your kitchen might be.  I overheard one promising solution at the local kitchen cabinet dealer (okay, it wasn’t so much “local” as much as the orange and blue big box home-improvement stores can be classified as "local").  As the salesman (*ahem*, kitchen design consultant) condescendingly pitched a high-dollar estimate to a couple looking for a bargain, he eventually relented and told them they could save lot of money by just replacing the faces of the cabinet doors and drawers.  But he warned them “they’d get what they paid for” and that “a fully upgraded kitchen would bring a huge return on their investment.”  Still, I was intrigued by the idea of cabinet and drawer replacement. 

“It makes sense,” I thought, “I’ve discovered a way to upgrade my kitchen at a low cost!”  The sky opened, birds started chirping, choirs started singing, and Aaron Rodger’s did his “double-check” move.

Then the design consultant gave them the estimate for custom-door and drawer replacement.   Hah! 

The Refs penalized Rodgers for excessive display, the choirs were silenced as their lip-syncing came to an end, the birds' chirping turned to evil cawing, and thunder clouds appeared. 

Should have known better than to expect a discount at a home improvement store where even a fit guy  needs a sports drink and some rest to get from one end of the store to the other.  The couple looked at each other and left.  I thought about going to the “bad” side of town to see if one of those “storage-place” shops might be able to offer me a deal on my newfound cabinet upgrade idea.  I chickened out.  Then, I thought, "I can do this myself."  I quickly gave up when my “jig saw” was out of commission and when I realized cutting frosted glass was not something I was interested in doing.

My “Meantime” Solution:   I changed the handles and knobs, or in cabinet-speak, the hardware.  And I have to say it worked more than I expected.

Rather than going to the big-box home improvement stores to look for hardware, I went to a flea market on a weekend.  I found some quirky, ceramic knobs that were great, but they were not my style.   Some were too “country-fied” while others were in the shape of chili-peppers.

 “No thanks, but I’m on the right track,” I thought.  

Say "NO" to chili pepper knobs and hardware!

Then a chance shopping trip to the Hobby Lobby with my sister brought me nirvana.  They had an entire section of custom hardware.  And on that day, it was heavily discounted!  I scooped several of them at my nearby store but had to go to another location to fulfill my quantity requirements.  I was ecstatic.  Each piece was 50 cents.  And the upgrade of the kitchen was soon complete. 

I picked out a Royal Florentine iron design which I white-washed and distressed a bit with the back of a scrubbing sponge.

For the bottom cabinets, I picked out ceramic knobs in the shape of a clock-face with French text and Roman Numerals. (I have no problem with mixing and matching so long as you use one style for lower cabinet drawers and another for everything else).

The work was minimal as you can reuse existing holes (which are usually pre-drilled in a fairly standard method ).  All I used was a wrench and a screwdriver (the wrench to prevent movement from the opposite side as you tighten the new knob).  You may encounter some issues with the non-functional drawer "faces" by the sink, but they are easy to fix (usually, you just remove a backside wood-covering to reveal the drilled hole and bolt).   

The difference was astounding.  And for me, the hardware replacement is now a permanent solution and not a temporary one.  Frankly, the hardware makes the cabinets look exceptionally unique and is superior to an expensive, standard packaged design.  As for the old hardware, I re-used one for a dog house screen door and the rest went to Goodwill.  An extra "new" knob was used for a bathroom closet door.  The cabinets look great and I can't believe I delayed changing the hardware for as long as I did.  As Brini Maxwell might say, "Now why didn't I think of that?"

About the $ 40K Garden-Style Townhome/Condo. . .

In many parts of the country, buying a home right now is not a good idea.  In Central Texas, however, renting is often not the smartest financial move for many.  I found a small, part-brickstone, condo-townhome in a tree-filled community with plenty of sidewalks and spacious land.  Vaulted ceilings and laminate-wood floors sealed the deal.  Actually, the price sealed the deal.  I was waiting for the other shoe to drop.  Something had to be wrong with my new home.   But nothing was.  It was simply too small for big-space minded Texans and had remained on the market forever.  More power to them.  The $297 monthly cost is easily handled (even with my self-imposed income of $850 per month from savings).  Additionally, the back-yard allows me to finally give my Aussie Shepherd plenty of space to do what Aussies do and will be perfect for a garden, zen space and outdoor entertaining (if my Aussie  “River” allows it, that is).  A lot of my repurposing efforts and home improvement projects are a part of my new home now.   Most of my blogging is based on those initial efforts.  So many projects to cover…forgive my spastic-ness…but here are the details on the home.

Enzo’s 40K garden-style townhome:  The Details

- 560sq foot corner unit (I’m not as dedicated as Jay Shafer of Tumbleweed Tiny Homes)

- 1 bedroom/1 bath

- Soaring Ceilings

- Laminate/Plank/Tile floors

- Fenced Backyard with Deck and Zen Meditation Deck

- Mature Trees

- Gated Community

- $135 HOA fee (includes water, trash services, and security...it more than balances out)

- 2 reserved parking spots

I guess my garden style home can be described as a combination of a small beach cottage with a slight Hampton’s influence in some of the interior craftsmanship.  Repurposed shelves, comfy chairs, and minimal Scandanavian style décor can be found in nooks and crannies.  A guy’s décor is definitely part of the visual aesthetic too. Oversized, thickly-framed Formula One Posters along with a French Spy Comedy flick poster  (OSS 117 starring Jean Dujardin is a current favorite—where were these films all my life??!!) keep the place from looking too overly-cottagy. 

 The bold gray walls of the bedroom with stark white furnishings and ash-black bed/nightstands add an additional look of a clean-cut, modern-urban Brazil bachelor’s pad.  The bathroom transitions into the most Hampton-style feature of the house with subtle nautical accents and re-worked tile (think of Emily Thorne's house on "Revenge" and that's the style of the bathroom).  Never a big fan of dining areas, I converted the dining space into a book-reading area (albeit with plenty of oversized, custom-made tv trays for dinner—one with a clock as its table-top.)  The drop-down pendant light makes for a perfect reading light in the reading/dining area.  The kitchen has more than enough cabinet space with hand-crafted hardware.

Just about everything in this home was done with re-salvaged, bargain items (of quality) or massively discounted goods.  Old bi-fold doors were turned into a stand-alone pantry/closet (so easy when the wood cuts are already there for you), ceramic hardware for kitchen and bathroom cabinets were purchased for .50 cents a piece.  Oversized posters were framed (at home) using old jersey shadow boxes with 3-inch thick wood frames (at a 90% discount).  Industrial, modern-retro shelves were made out of 2 x 12 x 16 discounted wood.  And the paint, $9 a gallon.  Suffice to say, time is really the only negative factor in all of these projects (and maybe a bit of  "patience" to find the right stuff).   I'll post each project or "bargain-find" from time to time.    

My Aussie is getting tired of seeing me excited over the interior stuff. She only likes the deck I built for her.

$40K Garden Style Condo/Townhome in a Tree-Lined Community

Welcome to Repurposed on Purpose! This "site" is dedicated to helping you repurpose your environment through smart design, small home-living, and crafty ways of recycling everything to suit your needs.  From landscaping, to home improvement projects, to clothes, to salvaging  vintage and not-so-vintage home goods that make your life better and more economical, (without sacrificing quality), ROP is here to share (and gather) ideas from you.  But realistically, it’s more of a diary of all of my crazy projects.   Hope you enjoy and share a cross-section of ideas and ramblings from all over the map and from all over my mind.


My super-inexpensive $40k garden style single-story condo/townhome is the repository of many of my ideas and completed projects.   The  posted image shows what 40K can get you in the right housing environment.  I downsized with dignity...hmmm, maybe that should be the name of this blog.