The Little Closet that Grew

Jamie Bevec lacked sufficient closet space in the master bedroom of her 1930s home. Luckily, she had the credentials to fix the problem as a designer with the Carlstadt company Closets by Design of Northern New Jersey (closetsbydesign.com).

"Before, less than a third of the space was the original master closet," she said. "There was a crawl space into an unfinished area that had an old wood floor and rafters, but no sheetrock or insulation."

Bevec had the wall in between torn out and the area sheetrocked to expand the closet. This provided enough space for her wardrobe on the left side and her husband’s on the right.

"The slanted ceiling was the only major challenge," she said. "Usually, I do double hanging rods, but here I didn’t have that option — I used only the bottom rod." Fortunately, Bevec added, she doesn’t own a lot of long dresses, so she keeps the ones she does have in another closet.

Shelves at either end, which accommodate shoes, folded clothes and accessories, were stepped down to fit the slope of the ceiling.

"We normally attach our shelving unit to a flat wall," Bevec explained. "When the slant goes all the way to the floor, it’s more of a problem. I had a contractor build out the wall a little so it was flat."

Track lighting near the ceiling along the outer wall takes up minimal room while keeping things bright.

Bevec said Closets by Design frequently helps homeowners make the most of small and odd spaces with shelving, cabinets and cubbies. "We just had a client with a Cape Cod house and a nook at the top of the stairs," she recalled. "It had a built-in bench seat that was unused, so we built a closet in front of it. Everybody needs more storage!"

A Pantry Repurposed

When Richard and Jill Berson moved into their Craftsman home in Pompton Lakes almost 30 years ago, it had a small, galley kitchen but a substantial butler’s pantry. They expanded the kitchen outward in 1987 and reconfigured the pantry for a modern purpose — Jill’s home office.

"On either side of the window, it had floor-to-ceiling shelves," Jill said. "I wanted two full file drawers and cabinets that matched the ones in the new kitchen."

Their kitchen contractor (no longer in business) filled this request, topping the lower drawers with a kitchen-style countertop to form a desk and hanging shelves and another cabinet to flank the window. The fact that the room has a doorway on either side — one leading to the kitchen and the other to the dining room — keeps it from feeling claustrophobic.

The opposite wall came with a small pantry closet. The Bersons expanded this to accommodate a washer and dryer, hidden most of the time behind attractive raised-panel doors.

The Bersons expect that these tasteful and practical updates will also appeal to prospective buyers, now that they’ve put their home on the market with Phyllis Fields of Coldwell Banker Realtors (973-694-8000, Ext. 178).

Finding More Room

"Older houses often have oversized pantries that are under-utilized," noted Mike Alleva, president of Alleva Construction, Hackensack (allevaconstruc-tion.com). His firm installed custom racks in one such space to turn it into a wine room, and updated another by extending the kitchen cabinets into that area.

"A lot of older homes have no first-floor powder room, and this is a typical place to put one," Alleva added.

His team will gut the space and run plumbing, which is vented through the second floor and out the roof. New electric will include a GFI safety outlet by the sink. They’ll then put up walls of water-resistant sheetrock and finish the room with a tile floor and a new door.