Expand Your Closet Storage With This Hack From HGTV's Christina Hall

Christina Hall, host of HGTV's "Christina on the Coast" is known for her stylish remodels, creating rooms that exude beauty and functionality. Hall recently gave a hand in making the perfect nursery for her friend Cassie Schienle, a cozy and youthful room that involved a striking navy accent wall, geometric molding, and crisp white trim. One eye-catching detail is Hall's removal of the doors of the room's small closet to make way for a neat set of shelves, room for hanging items, and baskets to hold everything a new mother will need.

This solution makes sense on many levels. Removing the existing closet doors can open up useful space. Even accordion and sliding doors, which they take up less space, can sometimes serve as a pinching hazard to young children. Essentially, any type of door can block homeowners from creating the storage system they need. By removing them, the closet allows deeper shelves, drawers, and bins. Being able to see at a glance the entire closet makes it far easier to keep things tidy in the nursery for harried new parents. It also works in other rooms like bedrooms and home offices to take better advantage of space.

Christina Hall's solution for the closet in question was to create a system that takes advantage of her friend's baby storage needs. Since a baby's clothes are small, running parallel bars at different heights makes sense to take the most advantage of the space. Shelves on the opposite side make room for an additional rod above, and lower shallow shelves for cute baskets and folded items. There is even room for a display shelf, which Hall has populated with a collection of plants and toys. Over the closet hangs a rare piece of sports memorabilia, which Hall tells HGTV,  "I got this [vintage Brooklyn Dodgers pennant] at a client's house. He collects a lot of antiques. He had a whole stack of these, and this was at the very bottom." 

Taking the door off your closet can be a great way to transform your space. Even a slender closet can accommodate a small set of drawers or shelves that may make more sense than hanging space. In a nursery, a wider closet may house storage or a changing table. In a bedroom or home office, an open closet makes a perfect spot for a small desk or craft station. If you would prefer your closet interior still hidden, you can swap out the doors for curtains that add a soft touch to the room while hiding anything you don't want to see.