Closet Organization - Removing the Existing Closet

Scott Roewer: Hi! I am Scott Roewer of solutionsbyscott.

com. I am a Certified Professional Organizer. And in this segment, I am teaching you how to organize your closet like a pro. We are going to move on now and remove this existing shelf and pole, so we can put in a much better system called Elfa. In order to do that, you are going to need a few tools. First, my favorite drill. You may need a pry bar to loosen some of the boards that are attached to the wall. We want to be safe, so we are going to wear some safety goggles and also a box knife or an exacto knife so we can cut along the edges. So to begin, the very first thing I am going to do is remove the pole. Your pole maybe screwed in underneath the bracket, but ours is simply going to lift out. Next, top shelf. The top shelf may be screwed in, you may need to put some extra pressure in there, so just look for screws that are attached and if not, just give it a good little shove. After the shelf, the next thing I am going to do is the brackets. If your brackets have paints over the screws, you may need to scrape out that paint so you can actually get the screws undone. We will remove the brackets. And then the next step will be the boards that are attached to the drywall. This is where it could get a little messy and you may need a pry bar. So do it as carefully as you can, so you are not to damage the drywall. If you do, I will be showing you how to patch up the drywall shortly. So, now that the hard part is done, I have a little repair to do here. So you can see there is a stray nail, so I am going to pull this out with the hammer, and the paint and some cocking that fixed where the shelf was, is still there. So I am going to scrape that off and then any holes or any other damage, I am going to fill that with a fresh coat of mud. Ad hoc once the drywall mud is dry and you have sanded; that's when you would take time to paint. We have decided, since the back of this closet is going to be covered by clothes, we are going to save a little time and a little money by not painting the back of the closet. So, I am going to get started here in fixing up the wall. Well, the hard work is finished. Now we are going to move on to something what I think is a little more fun. We are going to sort through everything, I am going to teach you some rules of downsizing, so you at home can continue to organize your closet like a pro. Stay tuned.