I got a new pantry and I did all the research for you. So, if you’re thinking of giving a closet in your home a makeover, then keep reading for all the details on Easy Closets.

As always, I created a video for you to go along with my post. If you want to see all the videos I took of the installation process, click the video below.

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5% off with THIS LINK and FREE shipping with code CLOSET165.

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// yes, i bought this myself

First, I want to mention Easy Closets did not send me this for free. I bought the closet myself and am sharing my honest review to help you out with your decision on what kind of closet system to go with.

I thought it would be too much to talk about the whole Easy Closets process AND show how I organized the pantry in one post. So, we are splitting this into two posts.

In this post, we’ll go through the Easy Closets process and I’ll show some highlights of the install and pros and cons of going with a semi-custom closet versus a fully custom closet.

In next week's post, we’ll organize my pantry with lots of Amazon finds. If you’re a little OCD like me, you’ll really like that one, so make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel, so you’ll know right when it goes up.

// Which kind of closet to go with

You have a few different options when it comes to making over a closet.

Build your own shelves and install them (lots of work, but cheap)
Semi-custom (some work, but cheaper than fully custom) for example, Easy Closets
Fully custom (no work, more expensive) for example, California Closets

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

You’ll want to weigh a few different factors to help you decide which type of closet system to go with.

Your willingness to put in some elbow grease
The tools you already own
How complicated your current system is
How complicated the design is that you want to build

Here are some questions to ask yourself to start the decision making process.

How handy are you?
First off, how handy are you? If you’re a woodworker and have all the tools, then building your own shelves may be the way to go.
How well is your current system installed?
It also depends on how difficult your existing system is to remove. If you don’t have the tools to remove your old one, or it is very solidly installed, you may want to pay extra for fully custom because one of the benefits of fully custom is they can help you from start to finish.
How complicated is your new design?

If you have a really complex design in mind, even a semi-custom install could get complicated, so that might be a sign to go with a fully custom.

I put Easy Closets in the semi-custom category. They do custom cut the pieces for your closet, but they do not install. You’re on your own for that part!

The main reason we went with Easy Closets was the cost savings, and the pantry seemed like a relatively small project compared to say our master bedroom closet (which, side note, we did end up going fully custom with the master, so stay tuned for that post this Summer).

For the pantry, we were willing to put in some work for the price savings and at first glance, our original shelves didn’t look too difficult to remove (more on that later).

// Pricing

Based on getting multiple quotes, we found that between a semi-custom and fully-custom design, the savings for a semi-custom was about 2/3’s of the cost of a fully custom.

Most semi-custom closets seemed to be around the same price. And most of the fully custom closets were all around the price. So, it’s more about the TYPE of system you go with versus the BRAND.

// Easy Closets benefits

Easy Closets is known for their online design program, free design service and instant price quotes.

I had a clear vision in mind for the pantry, and since I’m a graphic designer, I even mocked up a few ideas and sent them to the design consultant and he made my edits very quickly. But I could see someone not having any idea of how they want their closet to look and the free design service would be super helpful.

If you want to play with the design on your own, they have an online tool, so you can put your design together. But there is never a time when an Easy Closet representative comes into your home the way a fully custom closet company does.

We went back and forth a few times with the free design services, we measured a few times and got everything looking just how we wanted. There weren’t an excess of drawers or extras, so we figured it wouldn’t be too hard to install.

Once you give your consultant the OK, they will order the parts to be cut to your dimensions and about a week or two later, a very large shipment will arrive on your doorstep. Our shipments came over the course of a few days, so you will want to make sure you have everything before getting started. We even called to confirm with our consultant to make sure there weren’t any more boxes coming.

// The before

Let’s take a look at the before, so you have an ideas of what we were working with. Maybe it’s even similar to your closet. I’m sharing a pantry, but Easy Closets does every type of closet and space. We moved into a new home, so these shelves are in good condition, but the angled bars coming down and awkward corners make this space a lot less efficient than it could be.

I also had to put some pieces of wood down, so that the spice racks wouldn’t fall through the wire shelving.

Here is the pantry all emptied, and you can see there are a lot of those fasteners in the wall. And yes, that is a zip tie that I was using for hanging my bananas.

Those fasteners didn’t just screw out, but had to be pried out. This was a new home, so everything was in there really good by the builder and didn’t have any time to get worn down and loosened up.

Even for this relatively small pantry, there were still lots of really big holes that needed to be sanded, filled and painted. We did end up selling the old shelves and hardware, after our new ones were installed.

// The install (in a nutshell)

Now, Easy Closets has a whole library of install videos, But, I just want to share the high level highlights of how this install went. I’m being honest here, my husband did 99% of the work, so I got his opinions on all this, but there was no doubt just from watching that this was a lot of manual labor.

The directions were fairly clear, but there were a lot of steps, and as he described it, imagine building Ikea furniture, but instead of building it on the ground, you’re building it while suspending it against a wall.

The removal was a whole process and you may need different tools for that depending on what kind of system you’re removing. But for just the install of Easy Closets, you’ll need a level, stud finder, tape measure, drill, screwdriver and hacksaw.

You start by attaching the rails to the wall and then hanging the vertical panels from the rail. My husband said the worst part of this project was using the hacksaw to cut the metal rails. Easy Closets says all you need is a hacksaw, but if you have something like a table saw, then you would be in better shape for this part.

Then there were a bunch of cam screws for the panels to connect and lock the shelves in.

Then the drawers were installed.

Some of the shelves are locked in place (the ones with cam screws), based on the design. But most of the shelves are adjustable with small pins.

Easy Closets supplied covers for the rails and those can be painted to your wall color, if you want to make them blend in even better.

They also had little stickers that were just the right size to cover those cam screws. And that was the 1% help that I put in!

// safety

Easy Closets did provide ways for these shelves to be safe and secure against those walls. There are these brackets on the top of the whole system.

Then the shelving units are sitting on those slanted rails that we installed into the wall.

Then at the bottom, underneath the whole system, Easy Closets recommended drilling the screws through the top of the bottom shelf and into wooden cleats that you attach to the wall.

This was the one place my husband deviated from Easy Closets original instructions and to have a cleaner look from above, he used “L” bars that we bought at Lowe’s.

This prevented having a hole that you would see going through the top of those bottom shelves. There is more going on underneath, as you can see here, but they are so low to the ground, that you have to lay on the ground to see all the wooden cleats and “L” bars. We felt this was better than having holes you would see on the top of the bottom shelf and provides an added layer of strength.

// Was Easy Closets worth it?

So was Easy Closets worth the time, money savings and effort? For this size of a space, yes. We’re very happy with the way this small space went with Easy Closets and are really happy that we did this pantry makeover. Here is that link to Easy Closets and the coupon code again:

5% off with THIS LINK and FREE shipping with code CLOSET165.

There were a lot of boxes, but for the money we saved, it was definitely worth it!

If you found this helpful, stay tuned for next week’s post with my favorite part of this pantry makeover – organizing this awesome new pantry with some Amazon finds.

Easy Closets Installation and HONEST Review