Front Room Closet Done: Before & After

My holiday cooking series was a long one, so I'm starting off the new year with some remodeling updates. First up is the front room closet. Dan got it finished! I'll start with what the closet looked like when we first moved into the house.

Before. These first 2 photos were taken in 2009.

Before

Here it is now. 

Now I can easily access all that closet space, including the 32 cubic feet above the old closet shelf that was impossible to get to before.

Between the standard height sliding closet doors and the shelf above, I've got lots of storage space!

The track (from Amazon) is for glass cabinet doors, but works really well
 for the plywood doors Dan made. They slide easily on the plastic track.

The interior of the closet, I left open for now. I don't need a clothing rod or rack, but I need shelving for storage because I'm using the room as my weaving studio. Dan offered to make shelves, but I opted for stand-alone wire shelving units to allow for future closet refittings. The problem is that the ones I ordered from Amazon don't work, because the actual size of the shelves is one inch smaller in length and depth than the stated size. So my yarn and fiber totes (which would have fit the advertised size) didn't fit these. 

So what I'm showing you is Plan B, which is temporary until I can get two longer shelf units. 

 As you can see, I've already put the space to good use!

I put one of the shelving units in the center of the closet for now, for storing smaller items. On either side I've stacked the totes. As soon as I can I'm going to get two wider sets of shelves for them because it would be nicer to have each on it's own shelf. 

Even with the shelving set back, I'm really happy with the new closet. I do kinda wish the door stain was a lighter shade, but it's what we already had so it's what got used.

Next I'll show you how Dan finished off the wall to the left of the closet, which is the back of the masonry stove.

Front Room Closet Done: Before & After © 2026

 by Leigh at https://www.5acresandadream.com

Front Room Closet Progress

Making progress, a little here and a little there. (Continued from this post.)

Corner molding installed and front edge of floor added.

Track for sliding bypass doors installed.

In my last closet post I mentioned that the door opening is 79 inches. The longest track we could get was 72 inches. But it wasn't a problem because the wheels were inset somewhat on the door.

Slider wheels attached and door hung on the track.

Doors installed

Floor stained. Dan used leftover cherry stain.

Brace for upper shelf.

Under side of upper shelf

The left-hand and middle boards in the photo above are the boards from the original closet shelf. Since we added four inches of depth to the closet by tearing out the wall, Dan had to add another board to complete the new width.

Inside view of the new upper shelf

Dan's going to add a pair of sliding doors here, using cabinet door track. And of course, the new shelf needs to be painted. And polyurethane put on the closet floor. And the doors stained and polyed. And then, I think, the closet will be about ready to use. (Yay!)

Front Room Closet Progress © Nov 2025

by Leigh at https://www.5acresandadream.com

Front Room Closet: Decision About the Doors

I make a trip to the library once a week and on one of those recent trips I stopped by Lowes and Home Depot to see what they had on offer for closet doors. As I mentioned in my last closet post, I was hoping to find hollow core wood bypass doors, but alas, these apparently aren't popular nowadays. What both stores did have was a vast selection of bifold doors.

My reluctance toward the bifold doors is because they need unhindered space to open them. For two 36-inch width doors, that would be 18 inches of space out into the room. But space is a premium feature in this room and I'm not sure I want to give it up for bifold doors, especially against the outer wall, where I'd like to use the wall space. Lowes does carry sliding mirrored closet doors, but I really don't want to look at myself that much. Home Depot offers barn door kits, but sheesh, they are expensive. 

The other problem with finding doors is that the closet opening is almost 79 inches wide. The widest doors of 36 inches each would only cover 72 inches, and that would leave a gap of 7 inches. 

The solution? Dan decided to make the doors. He made the sliding doors for the chicken coop, old goat barn, new goat barn, and hay loft. The track is available separately, so why not?

He knocked out two doors for the front room closet in a couple of afternoons.

First of two barn style closet doors.

So that's done and they're ready to install after the door track is installed. 

There's still the question of how to finish them. At first I thought to paint them the same color that the walls will eventually be. But then we talked about staining them. That would certainly enhance the rustic look of the plywood, which would be perfect for the rustic farmhouse look I want in this room.

Anyway, that's done and I'm quite pleased with them.

Front Room Closet: Decision About the Doors © 2025

by Leigh at https://www.5acresandadream.com

Front Room Closet: Painting & New Closet Floor

This is where we left off last time.

And this is what it looks like at present.

So, you can see two changes, the walls painted and a new closet floor.

The paint was leftover from another project and I wasn't sure I'd have enough, but I managed to get two coats on both walls and ceiling. It's a very pale yellow. After Dan re-installs the quarter-round trim in the corners, I'll use the last of the can for touch up. It could probably use a third coat but being a closet, it's doubtful anyone will pay much attention to the walls.

Next, Dan wanted to do something about the floor. The quickest, cheapest option was unfinished shiplap boards. They need trim, stain, and a poly finish. 

Next, is closet doors. 

Front Room Closet: Painting & New Closet Floor 

© 2025 by Leigh at https://www.5acresandadream.com

Front Room Closet Remodel: Assessing & Planning

Dan's fall and winter project is to finish the front room. Originally a bedroom, I set up my big floor room in it and am now using it as a weaving room. Or at least I will be when all the remodeling is done! There are several things that need finishing in this room: the walls where he replaced the original windows, the back of the masonry stove, and the closet. He starting with the closet.

The first step was to tear out the remaining closet wall.

What's immediately curious is that paint job. Why would they only paint it green part way up? Probably because that was a high as they could reach.

Our ceilings are high at 8'10." The original closest door measured 72" in height (standard door height is 80"). The closet shelf was at installed at 64." Include the door molding and this configuration only allowed 7 inches between the shelf and the top of the door for shelf access.

You can see more photos including the original room layout here.

That meant that the 32-cubic-feet above the shelf were pretty much inaccessible for storage. I definitely want to remedy that.

The other problem with this closest is that the original interior depth was only 17.5 inches. That's barely wide enough for a clothes hanger! By tearing out the wall, we gained 4 extra inches in depth. You can see the difference in this next photo looking up into the closet ceiling.

The original closet interior is painted white. The unpainted part is where the wall used to be. The 2x6 is where the new closet exterior will be. 

The next step was to cover the exposed bricks on the lefthand wall.

I missed getting a photo, but before he put up the plywood, Dan added a thick piece of ceramic fiber blanket to insulate the wall, the same stuff that he used to insulate the masonry stove core. Because it's just the inside of the closet, he used plywood instead of trying to match the tongue-and-groove.

The plan is to install standard hollow core bypass doors, with a shelf over top to give me access to the additional storage space, similar to what Dan did in our bedroom. 

In the bedroom closet, Dan built shelves. He asked me to figure out what I want to do with this closet, so I've had to think about how the space will be used. What I really need is storage space for my totes and boxes, not a clothes closet. Considering that the room could still be used as a bedroom, however, I don't know that it would be wise to put the whole closet in shelves. At the moment, I'm considering some stand-alone wire shelf units, something like these. One on either end of the closet.  

So those are our tentative plans. Next step is paint those walls. 

Front Room Closet Remodel: Assessing & Planning 

© 2025 by Leigh at https://www.5acresandadream.com