Closets

Can you build a closet inside any wall? When looking at new houses and needing to add a closet- what do I need to look at to determine if we could put a closet somewhere?

Re: Closets

A closet is essentially a permanent piece of furniture. If you could put a very large bureau or cabinet there, you could put a cabinet there. You'll need enough space to build the cabinet and door. It won't be supporting any structural weight, so you don't have to worry about headers over the door.

Re: Closets

It depends on how you plan to add the closet. You can either build the closet out into the room, essentially adding another wall (with the door) out in front/parallel to the existing wall. Or, you can build a closet in an existing wall. This is more difficult b/c you'd have to find a hallow wall which doesn't often exist (or there would already be a closet!). You'll have to check for pipes and/or ducts running in those walls.

We're buying a house and adding closets so we're going through this now. We're adding closets in front of existing walls in the basement. And upstairs, we're likely going to combine a bedroom closet with a linen closet (they're back-to-back) to give us 1 larger closet. We're also widening a doorway or 2 to make the closets more accessible.