DAMP CLOSET IDEAS

It is the middle of winter and probably cold and wet outside where you live. If you are residing in a house that is older and not airtight, you might have a problem with closet dampness. Anyone who can't afford to keep the heat on all the time might also be living in a house where some of the rooms are colder and you might have a mildew problem

Basements usually are the main source of frustration with dampness but closets can be a problem as well. If you have closets that are damp, they might also smell bad and that is a very unpleasant situation. Smelly closets that are wet are not a good place to keep clothes and you need to do something that will eliminate the odor and wetness.

Chalk works well for this and you should put chalk in a paper bag and put it in a corner of the closet. The damper your closet is, the more chalk you should use and it is best if it is kept there year round. Just plain old white chalkboard chalk is all that is needed and it should be changed every six months or so. It is kind of like putting baking soda in your refrigerator to eliminate the smells.

If your closet really has a problem and is very wet and full of mildew, this is one of those closet ideas that might not work. You need to attack the problem before it gets too bad. Likewise, if you have a big walk in closet, you might need to put chalk in every corner. This closet tip for dampness definitely works best with small closets.

GLASS SLIDING CLOSET DOORS

Glass can mean see through glass (like in a window) or it can mean glass like in a mirror. Glass sliding closet doors usually mean the latter and they are great for a couple of different reasons.

If you have a small bedroom or any kind of room, having mirrors on the wall help to create the illusion that the space is much larger than it really is. You have probably at some time, walked into a room that had a wall totally covered with a mirror and had to do a double take when you realized you were in a much smaller room than you originally thought.

Glass closet doors can help greatly with this illusion and that is one of the reasons they are great for small bedrooms. You can have either a closet sliding door that open like the picture below:

Or you can have one that just slides back and forth:

Glass sliding closet doors are also wonderful for providing a full lenth mirror for dressing. Many homes and apartments don't have a mirror in the bathroom where you can see what you look like from head to toe. Full length glass closet doors work well for this and once you get used to using one, you will find it difficult to go back to just a small mirror like most bathrooms have.

The only drawback with closet doors that slide open and closed is the rails that are above and below the doors. You have plastic pieces that slide along those rails and sometimes they break or become detached. This can be an annoyance and if that happens, you will have to fix the problem before the door will work. The rails also have to be aligned perfectly with each other or else pressure will be put on the door that might make it be noisy or create friction and not glide smoothly.

Besides those minor drawbacks, glass sliding closet doors work well in many types of rooms but you need to make sure they don't look out of place. Glass can look great when placed in the right spots but it can look terrible if it just doesn't fit in with the decor of the rest of the room.