Need more storage space? One closet, coming up

You already have one 6-footer upstairs with lots of bin space as well as clothes-hanging space. Another 4-footer, and bins and two three-footers in the bedroom. And one of those 3-footers is double deep, making it a 6-footer. That totals 19 feet, not counting some of the bins and a huge armoire in another room.

Yes, but, said Mrs. Handyman. Remember, when we redid the back room we lost nearly 4 feet of closet.

Besides, you, the handyman, are taking up six of those feet that are left, and more. I just need more space.

OK, OK, I forgot about that, said the handyman. But where?

The new enclosed porch, of course, said Mrs. Handyman.

That lasted a few days when Mrs. Handyman came up with another great idea: Instead of taking up space in the new enclosed porch, how about using the spare room upstairs; it is very small and is hardly used except as a catch-all for our stuff.

Ah, said the handyman, much relieved at such an idea, especially before he started on the first closet. I'll get out the pencil now and have everything ready -- dimensions and materials -- to do the nitty gritty on the weekend.

One more little thing, said Mrs. Handyman. Let's get a Roll-a-Way that we can tuck in the closet so we can use the room for sleeping in an emergency.

Another good idea. A lot gained and hardly anything lost.

There was a powerful motive for the handyman to get started and finished; the sooner done the more stuff can be stored and taken off floors, sofas, dining room table, other tables and innumerable chairs. And (heh heh!) it will be too late for any more mind-changing.

And, since most of the materials for the closet are scrap and leftovers from other projects, using them for the closet will get rid of a lot of mess.

At last! A house -- and a yard -- free of debris.

But if there is any mind-changing in the future, this closet can be dismantled and disposed of with minimum damage to the room itself.

The space to fill is just over 8 feet wide. The closet must be 2 feet deep to accommodate hanging clothes from side to side.

There were a few features to this closet that made its building a little more difficult. The handyman had 6-foot-wide folding doors left over from the torn-down closet, and he had to fit these somehow into the new space.

There was nothing fancy that was really needed in this new closet space: some hanging space and a lot of bins. Really straightforward, except for that roll-a-way bed, which turned out to be 22 inches wide, needing a 24-inch-wide opening. That is OK, except such an opening leaves only 6 feet left over, not enough for the 6-foot folding doors plus frame.

That too is OK, at least surmountable. The handyman made the frame opening to accommodate three of the four 18-inch-wide folding doors. Those three doors total 54 inches; the frame brought the required space to 57 inches, leaving a scant 12 inches for bins at one end. So those bins will be narrow. Can't be helped.

You can see the arrangement in the illustration; it will have to do.

Thus begins the construction. Instead of building the frame the full height of the ceiling (94 inches), it was decided to build the lower part which is 80 inches high and fit it in place. That makes it easier to manage, because if you have ever built anything the full ceiling height and tried to fit it in place, it is impossible.

One way to get around this is to build it one-half inch shorter, but it was felt that installing the 80-inch bottom part was easier and made more sense. And, with the lower part in place, the top part could be built in situ, also easier.

A problem when building any piece in a room in a house of any age is how to find a wall stud to nail the frame into.

Wall studs don't always line up with the frame of the closet or any other structure, but the handyman was ready for that one. He cut notches in each vertical frame board of the closet and connected the front and back ones with a 1 x 4 cleat. Now, he can nail through the cleat into the wall stud, and no one will be the wiser. Plywood will go up as shelves and covers, and pine boards will make up the bins.

One more glitch, anticipated and solved: The floor is not level, which would make those folding doors look funny with an expanding gap under them. So the handyman simply set an oak threshold level below the folding doors, filling in under the level threshold with scrap lumber.

Most materials were used 2 x 3 studs and, 1 x 3 trim boards, 1/2-inch plywood left over from the enclosing of the porch project, and two bedboards left over after a big queen bed was disposed of.

Result? A free closet, using the scrap lumber and those folding doors, and a horrendous amount of work by the handyman.

But far more important: All that stuff is neatly tucked away, and Mrs. Handyman is content.

It doesn't get any better than that.

But why all this fooforaw over something relatively simple. That's easy: If an aging handyman can do it, anyone can.