Closet island to ceiling and mudroom shoe storage?

11 years ago

I have never seen a closet island that goes to the ceiling? I want to do 12 drawers on the bottom (6 per side of the island) and then do hanging space to the ceiling. Aside from obstructing the view--why is this not done? Seems like a waste of space to not use the space above the island?

Also, I'm thinking of doing a HUGE mudroom walk-in closet (apx 15x15) storing all of my families shoes so we aren't tracking dirt/mud/germs throughout the house....any thoughts on that or success with a similar plan? Thanks!

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Comments (5)

david_cary
11 years ago
If you can fit an island, you don't usually need any more space. The island surface is a nice surface to have. When you pack for a trip, the suitcase goes on the island. When you bring clothes from the laundry, you put them on the island. We fold clothes and put them on the island before putting them away.

I think most people put all the shoes in a mudroom ... without a walk-in closet. We have an area for the shoes in the mudroom and they all go there. It isn't a walk-in closet - it is more like an expanded hallway
kirkhall
11 years ago
To me 15 x 15 IS a room--would be your mudroom. Will you have 2? Okay then. But, it would be odd to call that a closet.
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Dear friends -- I'm too lazy tonight to straighten up this shameful display. But this is just because I promised I'd post the scene. My excuse is I'm recovering from seasonal sneezes and misery but it does often get like this. Anyway, you see to the right is the refrigerator already! Previously I had a shelf on the wall next to the door facing stairs. I realised one day that I hated to go into the kitchen because I was always squeezing by! Yes, I've got to clean up those magnets on the door. There are some shoes on the bottom two shelves of that book case and the top part becomes a catchall. The tidiest place I ever lived was when my family had a 2nd floor apartment and you came through the door into a long hall that led directly to the kitchen. Things did get dumped there (my poor mother) but they got cleared out right away. I have never ever lived in a place with a so-called landing pad which is probably why I haven't organized better. It's a new term for me. Hoping you can see this and thanks for all the help you gave me. I'll go with the Ikea and reorganize the TINY closet to the right of the bottom stairs in the photo.
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Thanks for the ideas! I can't mount cabinets there though due to the air return vent, it will have to be something freestanding that will allow the air to circulate and also could be moved out of the way when servicing the furnace or water heater. Unless I get really creative with the hack and redirect the air vent around and through a toekick, but I am feeling a bit of project burn-out right now at the tail end of this renovation and just want an easy quick solution :) Here's an old, not great photo of the area. The frame shown is the furnace/water heater closet. We are replacing the bifold door with 2 french doors solid core, so I can mount a shelf and hooks on those, and the new doors will muddle the sounds of the gas appliances better. Below the funny closet door is the return air vent for the furnace - in this photo is is hidden by this shoe rack we used temporarily when we first moved in. We later had a hall tree storage bench, and we did like keeping our shoes in it but they were all a jumble and not organized. We do have a hall closet as well, but it's mostly converted to a cat litter room - has a cat door in the door and the litter boxes are in there, but there is room to install something to organize shoes, like an ikea closet thing... just not sure if DH would bother opening the closet and putting away his shoes inside rather than dumping into a storage bench. We can certainly use the closet for out of season stuff, and only need a small amount of storage for 2 pairs of shoes each in the entry.
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dreambuilder
Original Author
11 years ago
I should have been more clear--it will be a walk-in closet off the rear/garage entry--we live in North country so we have a ton of coats/boots/snowpants/etc...so in addition to all the shoes for the family it will have the cold weather gear, coats/jackets, sports equipment for kids, swim gear, rain gear, scarves/mittens/etc....I'd like it large enough so that it can have an island in the middle--similar to what a walk-in closet would look like for a master. David good point on space to put a laundry basket/etc...
User
11 years ago
My floorplan has a closet off the mudroom. It isn't huge, but we do plan on having a section of it for shoe storage so we aren't hauling shoes up and down the stairs anymore. My husband and I are quasi-minimalists, so we certainly wouldn't know what to do with a 15' x 15' shoe closet! Currently all of my shoes fit on a 18" wide floor-to-ceiling section of closet, and my husband's take up slightly less space.

The rest of the mudroom closet will be for hockey gear, coats, snow gear, etc. (We also live up north, in Minnesota.) An island in the mudroom would be great if you have the space!

I wish we could have an island space in the master closet, specifically for packing/unpacking suitcases. My husband travels about 1 night per week for work, so his suitcase basically lives on the bedroom floor in between trips. I am sick of tripping over it!
auroraborelis
11 years ago
dreambuilder - you may get more responses/suggestions if you post some images of your floor plan.

Regarding the mudroom closet, personally I'd love a large walk-in closet of my mudroom closet, but it was cut out during the planning process as we narrowed down our build to fit in our budget. That said, I think 15x15 might be a bit too large. Likely a long but narrow option will be a better use of space, perhaps 8x10? Then you don't have all that lost space in the middle.

As for your master closet, I think it would feel dark and cramped if you had hanging space above the island. I'm sure there is a way to do it, however I expect there is a reason it isn't done! :)

Closet island to ceiling and mudroom shoe storage?

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Closet island to ceiling and mudroom shoe storage?

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david_cary

kirkhall

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