101 Ideas: Turn your spare bedroom into a walk-in closet

A continuing compendium of tips and tricks from Home & Garden Television:

Is your closet bulging at the seams? Do you also have a spare bedroom that rarely gets used? Then closet nirvana is at hand. Simply turn your extra bedroom into a large walk-in closet.

While such closet conversions are not common, they are a fantasy for some empty-nesters, says Ginny Snook Scott, director of learning and development for California Closets. "There's a bit of idealism in doing something like this," Scott says, estimating that perhaps 5 percent of the company's clients turn bedrooms into closets.

Closet converters tend to be older women, says Ellen Rose, co-owner of SpaceMakers Closet Interiors in Marietta, Ga. "They typically won't do that until the children are past college," she notes.

If you're ready to give your clothes a room of their own, here are tips for the project.

First, assess the room. Not all bedrooms make great closets. "We've run into a few that have not worked — rooms with a very, very odd shape or lots of windows," Scott says. Make sure that windows, electrical outlets and thermostats are not blocked by clothes.

Weigh the room's location. Where is the spare room? If it's on a different floor or far from your master bedroom and bathroom, it might not make a convenient closet.

Consider installing an island. An island could hold drawers and provide a surface for packing clothes or folding laundry. "Putting drawers in the center frees up space for your hanging wardrobe," Rose says. But make sure the island isn't too big. You need 3 feet of walking space around the island.

Think about extra luxuries. How about putting a seat, vanity or even a washing machine and dryer in your closet? "The dream is a little area with a bench, mirror and makeup area," Scott says. Deluxe features turn a closet into a multifunctional room, rather than a place just for storing clothes.

Don't go overboard. Keep resale value in mind. Potential buyers might want to use the room for a different purpose.

Courtesy Miranda Hitti on hgtv.com

Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service.