Custom Closet

I dream about having a custom walk in closet, but living in NYC that dream hasn't ever been a reality in any of the apartments I've lived in thus far.  (It's already on my "Want" (not "Wish") list for the floor plans for upstate though!)  I have two very basic closets in which I have to try to maximize the space.  I've always liked the shoe shelves you can find at Target or Bed, Bath, and Beyond.  (I got them a long time ago, and I think that's where I found them).  They have lasted the test of time.  Two of them fit nicely above my hanging shirts, but there was a little space left over that I wanted to utilize.  (Every inch counts!)  I used to just put a tall pair of boots up there, but in my week of being a housewife and getting things organized, I decided to make it into more shelving.  The space was a little wider than the other shoe cubby holes, so I thought it would be perfect for fall booties.  I went to our local Home Depot and the very nice people there helped me find some wood that would work.  All I really needed was ply board, but since Manhattan Home Depots don't have fancy table saws, they couldn't cut it to size for me.  I found a piece of wood that was close enough in width and long enough that I could cut it the right depth and get all of my shelves out of one $10 board.  The sign in the department clearly states they will only make one cut per piece of wood, but without even having to wink or bat my eyelashes the nice gentleman pulled out his old school saw and clamps and made three cuts for me.  So, I walked out of that place with all of my shelving pieces!  While I was there I also picked up two yard sticks (to use as $2 shelf supports) and a staple gun and staples because 1) I've been wanting a staple gun, and 2) we left our tool box upstate so I didn't even have a hammer or nails to work with at home.

Here is the gap in between the shelves...

At home, I pulled out our old school saw (the ONLY tool we had in the apt.) and stool workbench and cut the yardsticks down to about 9" pieces.    My dad would not have been happy with my "work station."

Then all I had to do was staple gun them to the sides of the existing shoe shelves and place my boards on top.  Good thing I had the iHandy level app or else it would have driven my husband nuts to have crooked shelves.  

Voila!