# Minimum Walk-In Closet Size?



## Micah (Jan 19, 2011)

Hello! I am thinking of doing some rearranging of the closets in my house in order to make my hall bathroom larger. If you look at the before SketchUp image I attached (forgive me, I have just started learning SketchUp), you will see that my master bedroom has 2 closets. Bedroom 2 also has two closets. My hall bath is really small (drawing isn't too scale). I would like to do away with both the awkward closet behind the master bedroom door, and one of the closets in the 2nd bedroom. The after pic attached shows what I want to do. The only problem is that I think the new long closet will be too narrow. It will be 39-40 inches wide, finished wall to finished wall, and 8-9 feet long. I think a good depth for hanging clothes is about 18 inches, so that will leave about 21 inches for a walking path area in the closet. 

Does anyone think this is a terrible idea? Would I be violating any building codes?


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## mae-ling (Dec 9, 2011)

That is the way My closet is, really no benefit, wish it was the usual 24" deep and then the other room had the extra room in it.


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## jklingel (Dec 21, 2008)

39" W, to accommodate both clothes and a person? I'd mock up something real quick, and give it a try. Unless whoever is to use the closet is pretty small, I think you'll find that closet pretty tight. Clothes need approx 18-20", which leaves about that for a person to sneak in.


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## Willie T (Jan 29, 2009)

And I would put that measurement closer to 21 to 22 inches for just the clothes. And then the average person (not chubby) needs another 26" minimum. That's 47 to 48 right there. And this is TIGHT!

I've never made a walk-in less than 60"...... and that is with clothes on only one side.

BTW, with your setup, what's left for bedroom #2? A 30" closet?


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## TarheelTerp (Jan 6, 2009)

Willie T said:


> ...21 to 22 inches for just the clothes.
> And then the average person (not chubby) needs another 26" minimum.


Hey! Who you callin' chubby?

Micah I'm doing something similar as part of my remodel here...
I've been thinking that my 49 5/8" width will be too tight.

I'm gonna do it anyway 'cause I need the closet space.
My compromise will be to NOT have a door there when I'm done.


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## Willie T (Jan 29, 2009)

Hey, if the moo-moo fits..... :whistling2:

The important thing to remember is to never build anything that will become a pain to live with a few months later. Your family should be as happy with it next year as they think they are today.


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## abracaboom (Dec 27, 2011)

Why don't you just keep it as two closets, two doors? Or one closet, two doors?


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## woodworkbykirk (Sep 25, 2011)

willie is right, your dealing in your house which is the biggest investment youll make in your life most likely. you'll be much happier having the extra space so you can comfortably get into the room a dig through your wardrobe than spend years cursing yourself everytime you have to find something or put something away because you cant move in their

i build and design most of the closets on the homes i trim. for a standard closet we frame them to be 24" finished with 16" deep shelves along with closet rods. for walk-ins we build the shelves 16" also with atleast 30" of space between the shelves and the shelving onthe opposite wall which is will lead to being nearly a 5' wide closet now the bigger the budget or the homeowners clothes collection the bigger the closet will be


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## Willie T (Jan 29, 2009)

This has nothing to do with the closet. But why would you go to the trouble to make a CAD drawing that is not to scale?


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## Micah (Jan 19, 2011)

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I think I am going to leave the closets as-is except maybe I will take some depth from the existing closet that is behind the master bedroom door and give it to the hall bath. That closet is 26 inches deep, so I think I can give the bathroom 6-8 inches without making the closet unusable. 

I did a little mockup as suggested of my idea of making the skinny walk-in. It is tight, but it would work for me. Since we might not stay here more than 5 more years or so, I worry that it might NOT work for future buyers.

Oh, and Willie, the first time I used SketchUp was about 45 minutes before I made the original post here! I had no idea how to make a drawing to scale. I have now learned a lot more about how to use it so as soon as I actually measure the house I will make a proper drawing that is to scale.


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## Micah (Jan 19, 2011)

I have also thought about splitting the closet that I want to make a walk-in right up the middle and having two sets of bi-fold doors in both the master and bedroom 2. That way I would have a really long closet in each room. I don't like loosing the arrangeable wall space though. Losing the wall may be worth gaining the space in the hall bath by taking in the master closet behind the door though. The hall bath only has 12 square feet of floor space not including the bathtub.


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## Willie T (Jan 29, 2009)

Micah said:


> ......Oh, and Willie, the first time I used SketchUp was about 45 minutes before I made the original post here! I had no idea how to make a drawing to scale. I have now learned a lot more about how to use it so as soon as I actually measure the house I will make a proper drawing that is to scale.


This is just me, but I think one of the first larger projects anyone would benefit from in S/U would be a full, accurately-scaled drawing of their own home.

Then I would do a drawing of your entire lot, exactly locating all trees, sprinkler heads, and walks, etc.


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## Ironlight (Apr 13, 2011)

You might also consider joining those into one longer closet, as you planned, and putting top-hung sliding doors on an expanded opening in the master bedroom. If the closet is 8' wide, An opening of 5', centered, would give you full access. You could install ELFA shelving or build something similar that would make use of the deeper space that you now have access to.


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