How to Make a Closet Under a Sloped Wall

Kitchen Closet

• When your pantry is a pie-slice of space with a slanted ceiling, custom shelves and bins will maximize storage. Rolling bins on casters go on the floor with shelves starting just above them. Wheeled storage bins pull out where they are easily rummaged through and slide back neatly into place. Stacked shelves that narrow progressively to the ceiling display seldom-used pots, appliances such as popcorn poppers and mixers, serving bowls, baskets and dishes, and boxed or canned goods on the shelves that are deep enough for them. Avoid, if possible, double rows of storage. Your closet will stay organized and everything in it will be instantly accessible when you can see what is stored on each shelf. A few hooks on the inside of the door will hold aprons or hanging spice racks.

Graduated Shelves

• A closet under a staircase can be a storage bonanza designed to squeeze every inch out of the space. Wood strips attached to side walls support shelves. To ensure sturdy shelving that holds heavy items, screw the wood strips into the studs behind the drywall. Graduated-width shelves climb to within a foot or 18 inches of the ceiling. At the very top of the slanted wall, hooks to hold coiled extension cords, cleaning rags, or off-season sports helmets prevent wasted space. Under the shelves, you can store the vacuum and other cleaning appliances, bikes or other bulky sports equipment, or plastic-lidded bins that hold holiday decorations or off-season clothing.

Crammed Couture Closet

• A bedroom clothes closet that suffers from a slanted ceiling and limited depth can still hold your fab fashion collection comfortably. Move the hanging bar as far forward as it will go while still allowing you to close the door or the curtain. Depending on closet height, this may provide enough vertical space to hang double rows of clothes in part of the space. Use double bars to hang jackets and shirts on top, skirts and folded slacks on the bottom. Behind the clothes, wall hooks allow robes, nightgowns, windbreakers, scarves, purses or belts to hang neatly. Below the hanging clothes, shoes and sweaters in clear plastic keepers on wheels keep contents visible, and the bins roll out when you need something.

Kiddie Closet

• The attic bedroom can be a magical place with its birds-eye views of the yard and sloping ceilings. Those ceilings provide a ready-made closet corner that works for small people when it is designed with height in mind. First, a hanging rod across the alcove or corner closet area holds a floor-length sweep of pretty fabric to complement the room's décor and hide the closet. Behind the curtain, a high bar near the front of the closet supports one or two canvas columns of shelves to hold folded items such as pajamas and t-shirts or rolled-up socks. Those vertical canvas shelves flank the open center area where a lower bar allows the shortest of the room's residents to hang up clothes. Toward the back of the sloped space, a second low bar provides more hanging space for dress-up clothes. A few hooks on the side walls can snag a hat collection or off-season coats. A shoe rack on the floor holds sneakers and mary-jane shoes.