How to Put up a Closet System That’s Wall Mounted

Hi Ron, my name's Karen and I'm really hoping you can help us.  We've got a disaster spot that we have floors and a bureau in here for clothes but it's just not working.  I can't reach up here to put the folded clothes and sweaters up. And there's no organization. There's shoeboxes and just stuff all over the floor.  Do you think you can give us a HouseCall?  We'd love to have you over.
RON HAZELTON:
Well I'm gonna see if I can give Karen a hand.
[DOORBELL]
RON HAZELTON:
Hey guys.
KAREN:
Hi Ron.
RON HAZELTON:
How you doing?
KAREN:
Thanks so much for coming.
RON HAZELTON:
Karen -
FADI:
Hi, how are you.
RON HAZELTON:
So you've got a closet catastrophe, huh?
KAREN:
Yeah.
FADI:
Yeah. 
RON HAZELTON:
Love to see it.
KAREN:
Let's go. Ron, we're so happy you could come.
RON HAZELTON:
Oh, my goodness.
KAREN:
Really bad.
RON HAZELTON:
This is a perfect closet for a makeover.
KAREN:
Well good, good, good.
[BOTH SPEAK AT ONCE]
RON HAZELTON:
Yeah, look at this. Shelf sagging, unused space up here. 
KAREN:
Broken door.
FADI:
Broken door.
RON HAZELTON:
Broken door, wow.  And you guys have been online, right?  You've got some ideas.
KAREN:
Yeah.
RON HAZELTON:
I had suggested that Karen and Fadi use the Internet to get some closet organization ideas. They landed on ClosetMaid's website. And after a little exploration, they came across some designs they felt would solve their problems.

That worked out pretty well.  You’ve got some pretty good thoughts about what you want. The system components they're considering include cabinets with doors, drawer units, open cubbies and wire racks and shelves. This arrangement will accommodate sweaters and other folded garments, socks, underwear and lingerie, plenty of shoes, shorter hanging items like shirts and sport coats, longer hang-ups such as evening dresses, and provide ample shelf space for other foldables as well as boxes.

All right, so what I suggest we do is hop in my van.  Let's go down to the home improvement center and get you some stuff.
KAREN:
Sounds great.
RON HAZELTON:
Let's do it.  See it.
KAREN:
Yeah, this is it. This is what I saw that - I like the cubbies and the doors and - that would be perfect for us.
RON HAZELTON:
Now this is the solid product here, right?
KAREN:
We need two of each kind so one for his side and one for my side.
RON HAZELTON:
Okay so -
[MUSIC]
Well that was painless, wasn't it?  Yeah.
[OFF-MIKE OFF TOPIC]
Okay, ready for a little assembly?
KAREN:
Yeah.
RON HAZELTON:
Our storage system has 6 cabinets.  Two with drawers, two with doors, and two with cubbies. Right now we're going to assemble the cases. Very good. Directions. Who needs them?  Right.
FADI:
No.
RON HAZELTON:
Okay. Cabinet assembly is basically the same for all 6 units. The parts are held together with screws driven into predrilled holes.  One indispensable tool for this job is a cordless drill fitted with a driver bit.  That and, of course, a good bit of couple teamwork.

So it's starting to look like a cabinet huh? Those are the doors.  This unit has doors, which pivot on plastic pins. Other cabinets will be fitted with drawers or dividers. Last step, the back.

I would say it's better to strike a nail than each other -
KAREN:
That's true [LAUGHS].
[MUSIC]

Wow.
  [BOTH SPEAK AT ONCE]
RON HAZELTON:
Avalanche of clothes, all right. Right. It's amazing, all those were fitting in there.
FADI:
Oh yeah.  I can't believe it.
RON HAZELTON:
You ready for step two?
FADI:
Yes.
KAREN:
Yeah, let's do it.
RON HAZELTON:
Here we go. With the clothes cleared out, we waste no time in taking down the old wire shelving and removing the anchors from the wall. Finally Fadi and I dismount the doors. Demolition is complete.

Before we can begin installing the new closet system, we'll need to do a little refurbishing work on the walls. First by filling the holes left by the anchors.  Then by rolling on a fresh coat of paint. With the basics taken care of, we're now ready to put up the new system. It all starts with this hanger bar which screws directly to a horizontal 2 x 4 at the top of the wall, called the top plate.

We'll run the hanger bar the entire length of the closet.  Well, we're making some progress. You know what I love about the system we're about to put in, is its flexibility -- its adjustability, if you will.  You can move shelves up or down.

You can move things left to right.  Now we put in that hang rail up there first. And you know that's what's gonna really take all the weight. From that we're going to hang these standards.  They just hook in to the rail like that.

And they can be placed anywhere along the rail.   And then everything else in this system right here attaches to these standards. Into these slots right here.  So if your needs change later on (more kids, less kids as they move out, whatever) you can reconfigure this closet to meet your needs.

Remember now, the hang rail at the top carries the weight of this entire system.  However to keep the standards from swinging side to side, we'll drill a hole. Tap in a wall anchor.  And install a single screw near the middle. There you go, standard number 2.
FADI:
Standard number 2.
[MUSIC]
The cabinets assembled earlier all have clips attached to the rear that hook directly into the slots on the standards.  Okay, one wire shelf - X60.
FADI:
Okay.  You got it.  And this is 60.
RON HAZELTON:
Okay, let's cut.  With the cabinets up, we move right on to the shelving.  After measuring, we trim each one to length, using a pair of bolt cutters. Then slip caps over the ends. Each shelf is supported by several of these brackets, which hook into the shelf standards.

The shelves sit on top and snap securely into place.  These brackets fasten onto the shelves and the hanging rods in turn clip into them. And these hook into the standards to hold the shoe rack, which is simply a shelf installed upside down and at an angle.
KAREN:
Oh wow.  Alex, look at the closet.
RON HAZELTON:
Hey -
FADI:
That one's done -
[BOTH SPEAK AT ONCE]
KAREN:
That looks wonderful.  I love -
[BOTH SPEAK AT ONCE]
RON HAZELTON:
Alex, we're just  putting in your shoe rack here.
KAREN:
I love all the -
[BOTH SPEAK AT ONCE]
KAREN:
Space for hangers.
FADI:
Wow.
RON HAZELTON:
You happy with this?
KAREN:
Oh it's beautiful.  I like - this is exactly what we wanted.
RON HAZELTON:
Well Alex is demonstrating the drawers, they work, right Alex? Want to try this one over here?
FADI:
Try the other one.
RON HAZELTON:
See, this can be your drawer.  Here you go.
[BOTH SPEAK AT ONCE]
KAREN:
That's for the shoes, I guess.
RON HAZELTON:
Give it a shot.
KAREN:
Oh, that's wonderful.
RON HAZELTON:
Nice, huh?  Yeah, shoes up here, or maybe scarves, and then clothes storage up here.  And then all the way across the top, now you've got shelving for that space that was unusable before.
KAREN:
Perfect.
RON HAZELTON:
You know, and the great thing about this is you guys can reconfigure this whenever you want to. Because it's all hanging on those standards.  You can add to it. Replace bars with cabinets or vice versa.
KAREN:
It's great.  I never knew it could look like this.
FADI:
Which part is yours, which part is mine?
KAREN:
That side's mine.
FADI:
Use that side.
[LAUGHTER]
KAREN:
This right here is yours.
RON HAZELTON:
If you get half of this closet, I gotta tell you, you're gonna be in the minority.
[LAUGHTER]
Guys.  I once figured guys get about 15 to 20 percent of the total closet space. That's it.
KAREN:
Yeah, I think so.   I mean my shoes could take up the whole closet.
FADI:
If I got 15 it’s fine by me.
RON HAZELTON:
So, shall we put the clothes back?
KAREN:
Yeah, let's do it.
FADI:
Okay, yeah.
[MUSIC]
RON HAZELTON:
All right you guys, I'm gonna hit the road. Tools are all packed up.  I leave you with one very important thought. An organized closet begets an organized mind.
KAREN:
I like that.
RON HAZELTON:
Yeah. So you're ready to go here.
KAREN:
Yeah and our minds are organized now too.
FADI:
Yes.
RON HAZELTON:
So as your mind is organized, so are your clothes.  Okay.  I think we've got the philosophy of this pretty well covered, right.
KAREN:
Yeah.
RON HAZELTON:
All you gotta do is put your doors back up. You gonna put new doors on?
FADI:
Doors what doors.
  KAREN:
We may, we may just sit and enjoy the closet the way it is now.
RON HAZELTON:
Come on, really.
KAREN:
Yes.  So nice and organized, we want to - we don't want to get back into our old ways.
RON HAZELTON:
Boy, what a compliment.  Okay, well I'll leave it up to you guys.  All right.  I'm gonna head out.
KAREN:
Thank you so much.
RON HAZELTON:
Okay.  You're welcome.
KAREN:
Thanks for everything.
RON HAZELTON:
Give me a hug there, big guy.
[ASIDES]
FADI:
Thank you very much.
RON HAZELTON:
All right, enjoy.