You are essentially moving the wall back which enables you to hang clothing on the sides of the closet. You would be adding 2 feet of hanging space on each side (4 feet total), and assuming you double hang, that's 8 feet of additional hanging space. That's a lot of potential hanging space.

I would not want to cut the size of the bedroom for a closet. Closet is for storage, the bedroom is for living and I wouldn't want to lose any of that space.

In our last home our master bathroom had a double reach in closet and on the opposite wall we had a single closet and a small vanity with a sink. At my suggestion we hired a man to come in, take out the single closet and made a much larger vanity with drawer units underneath. Much nicer without giving up any room in the bedroom.

We'd be taking space from the guest bedroom not the master. The guest bedroom would then become a small office, and the current office would become the guest bedroom.
Trying to make the most of the space.

Sounds good. I use my guest bedroom as an office also.

I realize that you are not cutting into your bedroom, but if that were the case, I would sacrifice bedroom space for closet space. Rather than having the traditional bureau and dresser for bedroom storage, I prefer to store everything in the closet. That leaves only a bed, nightstands, and a chair in the bedroom.

Well designed closet space is more functional than traditional bedroom furniture because you can store things from the ceiling to the floor in the closet.

I don't usually post on this forum but mustangs can vouche for me.

We were flooded out of our home by H. Sandy back in October. We had to redo the entire house. We're also in a small 1,250 s.f. ranch that started its life as a hot dog stand in the 1940s and was converted into a residence in the 60s. Storage was almost non-existent.

During the rebuilding after Sandy, we had a contractor who specializes in closet organizers build custom units for each closet in our house (5). He used solid wood shelving/rails/drawers. Each closet was customized to what we store in that area. He TRIPLED at minimum our useable storage without changing any walls. He was so good at configuring the space we had available and executing his plan that I sent him a dozen roses when he was finished! (no joke, I did)

Anyway, you might want to consult with a company in your area that does the same type work. I started my search with Google and found Matt living just a few blocks away. I've referred 4 people to him, so far. You just would not believe how much storage he created and because it's so well built (not flimsy wire shelves & such) it will last forever, or at least as long as I last (lol).

/tricia

I measured our closets, since our home sounds similar (1978 ranch, 1200 sq ft...no brick except on our fireplace though LOL).

Our closet in the master is 2' deep and about 7' wide opening, but more like 10' long on the inside

And the two other bedrooms are 2' deep and 6' wide openings, but about 8 1/2' long on the inside.

We put closet organizers in ALL our our closets, and that increased the storage dramatically. For our master, we bought an organizer that was designed for approximately our size closet. For the other two, my DH just installed pantry shelving on brackets or other custom shelving.

My advice is to install closet organizers; whether you go fancy or basic, they will make a huge difference. If you make the closet 5' deep, what will go into the center area?

The 5' deep closet would have a door at one end. 7' worth of storage (deep enough for hangers) down the far side. And roughly 3' of shallower storage down the other side.

We are planning to do closet organizers for sure!

IME the advantage and the disadvantage of a walk-in are the same: The walking space in the middle.

It is a good place to pile all the crap when company is coming over.... but it is a place where crap will accumulate unless you are very hardcore about tidiness.

I think it's a matter of knowing thyself :). How will you use the space, and will you like how you use it?

There is no such thing as a "small walk-in closet." Change the shape and it's a regular closet. Apartment complexes advertise these as walk-in closets which feels like false advertising.