Removing closet doors?

[pastrygirl]

Have you removed your closet doors to create a "built-in" area? I keep seeing gorgeous photos online, but am wondering if anyone has tried it, DIY instead of professionally.

We don't have a mudroom, but there's a very wide closet with bypass doors right across from the door we use most. We're replacing the hardwood flooring with tile later this year, so I'm thinking about trying to create a mudroom area with a bench, lots of storage, etc. We store TONS of coats there now, but I think that will have to change. I'd need lots of shoe storage, handbags/diaper bags, household stuff like medical kit and batteries, etc.

ETA: My husband originally talked about converting the bedroom closets to built-ins, with some smaller cabinet doors, shelves, and drawers. I love the photos I've seen of reading nooks in kids' rooms!

[alien_host]

We did this with DD's old room while she was an infant. It was a double wide closet but of normal depth. We put a dresser (3 drawer) and TV in there (for those late night nursing sessions, I used to watch tv) and Elfa Shelving around it. It worked really well for the first year. Then we removed the TV and put another Elfa shelf in its place for storage.

IIRC I put up a curtain rod and curtain to be able to close it off.

[PunkyBoo]

I made DH remove the doors off Boo's closet. It had 2 sliding doors, but is not very wide, so it was almost impossible to even get a Costco-sized box of diapers in there without major maneuvering. Plus, the glider/ rocker sits kinda in front of part of the closet (small floorspace in that room), so access is really tight. So we (like PP) hung a tension-mount curtain rod and a curtain across it. I LOVE it. We put a closet system in and I can actually take bins in and out of it pretty easily.

DH complains because he's storing the old doors in the garage, in case we decide to use them again. He thinks the whole idea is whacky, but I'm the one going in and out of that closet everyday, and it works great for me. So :tongue5:.

[WatchingThemGrow]

DH and I laughed at the idea of turning a closet into an office yesterday. Our closets are tiny and few. Our master bedroom closet doors are off, though. If they were there, you could only access like 24" of it. Our room is tiny, so some sheers on a curtain rod give us much better access to our FULL 40something" of closet space. :ROTFLMAO: My mom says I have to replace them to sell the house.

[pastrygirl]

Yeah, we took the doors off our master closet and hung up a curtain instead. I don't love it, but at least we can access everything. I'm really wondering about changing it to look like it has built-ins, so you can't even tell it was a closet: http://www.orgoptions.com/images/_mudroom/mUDROOM.jpg