[Renovations] Closet removal question

[Arkayne]

Will I hurt the value of the home if I remove the closet? I'm about to fix up an old room in the house and make it into a giant walk-in closet for the wifey. I intend to put 2 close organization systems on opposing walls. There are a 2 sections of wall that enclose the existing closet that will need to be removed.

Oops, I took a screencap with the circle still selected

 

[mchlwise]

As long as none of it is structural (meaning it's holding up another part of the house) you should be fine.

:shrug:

 

[nobody]

If it's an existing bedroom, then the lack of a built-in closet in that room may be a deterrent for some people, thus negatively affecting perceived value. If the cutting and patching is done poorly, that would definitely be a deterrent for a lot of people, also impacting value. Keep in mind that you will need to match floor, ceiling and wall finishes with adjacent surfaces. Best of all would be to do the removal in such a way that a closet could be re-installed at a future time (before you put it on the market) - which is pretty darned easy to do regardless. If it makes Mrs. Arkayne happy, I'd go for it and get some more husband points.

 

[flashfan]

Whether or not removal of the closet would hurt the value of your home depends on some variables (in my opinion only).

Are you eliminating a bedroom? If you're going from three bedrooms to two, for example, then yes I think market value of your home would be adversely affected. There are other factors to consider, including your overall house square footage, floor plan, your neighborhood/community, etc., etc., etc.

Could the existing walls be incorporated into the closet conversion, so that if/when it's time to sell, the buyer can easily convert the giant closet back to its original purpose (or you can do it prior to the sale)? Don't know if it would work for you, but could you simply remove the closet doors, and install removable/adjustable, wall-to-wall shelving inside the closet space?

Such space could be earmarked for the wifey's shoe/handbag collection, along with any other stuff that would go on a shelf, rather than on hangers, in drawers, etc.

My spouse sells real estate and had a listing for a luxury townhome with two bedrooms, plus a den without a closet (nor a door to the room itself). It would have been fairly simple to add a door and a closet, but a surprising number of people just weren't interested because they either couldn't envision the conversion, or just didn't want to be bothered making the change themselves.

Just one, uninformed opinion that is worth every penny you're paying for it.

 

[Arkayne]

Good info ya'll. I did some serious thinking about it and it would probably be best that I just remove the sliding doors and put a system in there. I feel that removing the walls to free up space may have a negative impact if I sell. Soooo, to keep things simple and to keep the wife happy, she'll have 2 huuuuge closets and 1 smaller one. I suppose it could be her shoe and purse closet? *shrug* I don't get it, just like she doesn't get why I have lots of lights.

 

[tradderran]

Good info ya'll. I did some serious thinking about it and it would probably be best that I just remove the sliding doors and put a system in there. I feel that removing the walls to free up space may have a negative impact if I sell. Soooo, to keep things simple and to keep the wife happy, she'll have 2 huuuuge closets and 1 smaller one. I suppose it could be her shoe and purse closet? *shrug* I don't get it, just like she doesn't get why I have lots of lights.

Go for it if she wants it that way. You only live once who gives a rats a&& if it changes the market value.
We have a 3500 sf one bedroom house. with two huge walk ins and two complete baths one hers one mine and we love it. What it will bring on the market after we are gone. who cares. Live like you wont to today.:twothumbs