How to Make a Closet Rod Extender

If closet space is at a premium in your home, extending your closet rod may be the solution. If the existing rod traverses the entire length of your closet, as most do, it is not possible to make it longer. With a double closet rod, however, you can effectively double your hanging space. By creating and installing a chain-suspended lower closet rod, you will still have room to hang long garments such as dresses and coats. The lower rod is used to hang shorter garments such as blouses, slacks and skirts.

Measuring tape
Closet dowel rod
Saw
Drill and drilling bit
2 eye bolts with nuts
8 feet mid-duty utility chain
Bolt cutter or hack saw
4 steel carabiner clips

Instructions

- 1
  Separate the clothes in your closet into long clothes and short clothes. Move the long clothes to one side of the closet and the short clothes to the other side. Distribute the longer items on the closet pole so they hang properly. Mark the pole where the hanger holding the long garment closest to the center of the closet is positioned. Measure the distance between the mark and the wall closest to the shortest garments. This measurement, minus 2 inches, will be the length of the second closet pole.
- 2
  Measure the length of the longest short garment. This distance, plus 1 inch will be the distance between the upper and lower closet poles. Remove the clothes from the closet.
- 3
  Use a saw to trim the closet pole to the necessary length, calculated earlier. Place the pole horizontally on a flat surface. While holding the pole steady, drill one vertical hole through the rod at each end, approximately 1 inch from each end. Push the threaded shanks of the eye bolts through the holes in the closet rod. Screw on the nuts and tighten.
- 4
  Cut the chain in half with a bolt cutter or hack saw. Attach one length of chain to each eye bolt using carabiner clips. Attach a carabiner clip to each of the free ends of the attached chains. Loop one chain over the end of the existing closet rod, near the wall where the short garments will hang. Open the carabiner clip and attach the free end to the vertical portion of the chain to make a loop. Repeat to suspend the chain at the opposite end of the lower rod.
- 5
  Measure the distance between the bottom of the upper rod and the top of the lower rod. Reposition the upper carabiner clips, if necessary, to level and position the lower rod as needed to give ample room to store your hanging garments.

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