Guest Room Closet (Jul 1996)

From a closet... in seconds... to a desk.

Room Location and Layout --

The guest room (Bedroom #4) is upstairs next door to the master bedroom. I decided I would "claim" this room's closet for a computer table and desk, as I had done something similar in our previous residence and liked the arrangement (since there is no extra desk needed "in" the room, the room is less cluttered).

Closet Redesign --

The closet used sliding wardrobe doors, which provide access to only one-half of the closet at a time. To gain access to the full closet width, I decided to replace the sliders with bi-fold doors and special hinges that allow the doors to swing flush with the wall. By doing do, I had plenty of room for a lateral file cabinet. Just above the cabinet is a 3/4-in thick plywood desktop that runs the full length and depth of the closet. Affixed to the bottom of this desktop via a "lazy susan" is another desktop that swings out into the room. This provides for a nice L-shaped working surface. The computer monitor is tucked in the corner and a small shelf was installed above the monitor to hold the printer.

Another shelf was added above the existing shelf and clothes rod, which were both left in place. By doing so, the closet remains somewhat functional for guest use.

Construction --

The construction of this project was fairly easy.

The bi-fold doors were a stock item at Home Depot. Unfortunately, the closet opening didn't quite match any of the stock sizes, so I had to take about 1/4-in off each vertical door edge.

The work surfaces are all 3/4-in plywood. Since both ends of the closet are angled, I created a template to cut the plywood to size. The rounded end of the secondary work surface was cut with a sabre saw. All exposed edges of the plywood were covered with 3/8-in thick screen (edging). I was somewhat concerned with how to cover the edge of the rounded-end work surface, until I found a VERY flexible synthetic wood screen at Home Depot. Cleats were screwed to wall studs to support the primary work surface.

Locating and installing the lazy susan was somewhat of a pain (too difficult to explain, but getting the screws in place was not fun), but carrying the two joined work surfaces back through the house and putting them in place was a nightmare (a very tight fit, and the lazy susan didn't make it any easier as the two boards kept moving on me). I should have either asked for help, or been a little smarter by clamping the two work surfaces together.

In Use --

There have been both advantages and disadvantages to this design. The advantages include efficient use of a "guest" closet that would otherwise become cluttered; the work surface, which gets quite messy at times, is easily stored behind the closet doors; and the L-shaped work surface provides plenty of space. Disadvantages include the reality that I'm lazy and don't close the closet doors as often as I should; the secondary work surface is wobbly, which could be fixed with better legs, and shouldn't be leaned on (I'm afraid the screws in the lazy susan will pull out); and the printer is hard to reach. Overall, the advantages significantly outweigh the disadvantages, and I've been satisfied with the design and implementation.

Update 22 Feb 04: The closest remains as originally designed and I still use the space to pay bills. The lazy susan is more durable than I thought it would be and there hasn't been any indication of it wanting to come apart, even with quite a bit of abuse. I'll chalk this one up as a success.