Sounds like you have a plan and materials. What is your question?

Because the opening runs floor to ceiling, I find it difficult to know what to do with the space. What to put there - curtains, bi-fold, sliding door, etc ??????

You can price out mirrored sliding doors. If custom is out of reach for your budget, try standard sizes and put in the header yourself. What was wrong with the old doors? Curtains would look teenager-y.

Thank you apple pie order for your input! I am not sure how to do the header, more research. I personally dislike the doors. I'd rather have nothing there until I figure it out.

Can you flip the old doors around so the formerly-inside plain side is visible?

What are the measurements of your old doors? Home Depot has a lot of 96 inch tall styles.

Sorry, I meant the height.

Good news on the height because that is a standard height. With the 58.5 " width, you can buy ready made 96 " by 60" sliding doors. It is very common for sliding doors to overlap in the center slightly more than the absolute minimum. Real houses are different from ideal houses. Here are some sliding mirrored doors; Home Depot has many styles. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Contractors-Wardrobe-72-in-x-96-in-Concord-Mirrored-White-Aluminum-Interior-Sliding-Door-CON-7296WHN2X/205830874?

click on the menu to find the 96 by 60 inch size.

They also have online videos on how to install.

why not consider bi-fold doors with mirrors mounted on them? that way depending on how you open the door you will also have a dressing room all around view effect. And the mirrors will make the room feet bigger and brighter. Consider premade pull out drawers on the floor of the closet for shoes, boots, and purses. Or a hanging pocket organizer on one side wall for hats, gloves, ear muffs etc. add a 2nd rod halfway across so you have hanging space for shirts and pants and then use the top rod for dresses and skirts. Or screw in coat hooks for backpacks, purses or sweatshirts. Or skip the doors and go with the split curtain idea and pick up the pattern of your bedspread or rug to tie the room together. Consider hanging a large mirror over your dresser one that you can adjust to slant down (not hang flat) so that you can check your full-length appearance from the other side of the bed.

i had sliding luan doors in my house which i thought looked dated. i removed them and put a pre-hung hinged door on each closet. that now gives me open access to the whole closet. doors are very easy to hang if you get these Quick Door Hangers: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Express-Products-Quick-Door-Hanger-Single-Bag-201/202366685 but you may need to do a little drywall work if it doesn't cover the top. You won't really need a lintel since there's no weight on the top. Just a 2x4 toenailed in above the door (screwing is easier) would be enough to add trim and one at the ceiling would be for attaching drywall. drywall is pretty easy to do. there are lots of youtube videos showing you how. Once the door is up you can put a full length mirror on the inside of it if you want. a bit more work than a curtain, but will look and function better.

youtube is your friend. i learned just about everything from it. also helps to have a decent drill/driver. makes the work a lot easier!

A rose by any other name...a wall of closet doors or a wall of curtains is still...a wall. I agree with another commenter that curtains - on closets or under kitchen sinks - always look like a temporary fix that never got fixed. Put the closet doors back and paint them a contrasting color, maybe even metallic. Paint or decal a lovely tree or other interesting object - staying away from 60's flower decal-type sticker-look. Do consider mirror closet doors if that is your need to open up the space. Folding shutter closet doors are very nice, but do tend to get stuttery (not a real word, but descriptive) when opening and closing, after a while. We had them before. Good luck!

I would also see if you can add simple planks of plywood shelf above your top shelf-to be used to store off season shoes, files etc, and maybe a few planks of plywood below where the clothes end on the bottom --so you can store more items below off the floor. I did that in my closet by nailing in small wooden strips to hold the wood planks up ( cottage style). Home depot will cut wood to size. Whole project cost me $60. If you rent-they can simply be removed when you go. If you own--you can even use nicer finished wood. I am happy with the cheap plywood because once the items are on them you don't even see the wood and it's fine. Living in NYC you get used to maxing out every inch!

Well, I have curtains on my closet and am perfectly happy with them. We have several doors in our bedroom as well as a large wardrobe right next to my closet. I had to break up all that wood, it was just too much. Helps soften the room and I personally don't think it looks temporary or teenagery. Besides, I have Elfa in my closet and hardly ever close it anyway, since it's so nicely organized.

Curtains make all of the closet so much more accessible! I used great drapes...they did not look teenagery at all. ;) They looked classy. Especially since they were hung on elegant curtain rods. I chose drapes with fabric that could handle 'handling'. (From Home Depot...the pattern looked something like suit fabric.) I am going to do the same thing in my 'new' home here. Just the thing for small closets. Btw, I also put two rows of shelves above the closet. That's a great idea for extra storage.

One more thing. Each shelf consisted of 2 wood planks about 5 inches deep, painted white, and put on black metal brackets. Made two rows like that. Looked clean and cottagey.

IKEA has a system that holds several flat panel fabric or nylon material panels and you can mount it on the ceiling . There are very nice and different panels you could hang and it has an aery look to it not like those solid doors that make a room look smaller. http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/30079370/

Great to know about this! Thanks, fefie!

I used 2 soft tapestry drapery panels that matched the wall color in a soft yellow/gold. Opened up the closet so I could see everything at once and loved it. The rods matched the one over the one window in the room and the color made the room sunny and cheery. I'm in my 60s, not a teen, and have contemporary furniture and modern crystal chandelier for some bling.

I can just see it! Yesterday I saw some fabulous drapes, gorgeous fabric, so now I know what to do for an area that I will need to close off now and then...16 ft...I'm looking for classy and I can see that you have managed to do that very thing yourself! I am still working on colors, so was very interested in yours...still have to paint the room. Tapestry. Nice. The drapes I saw were brocade, I believe. Gorgeous in soft gray. I'm with you on the crystal chandelier! Right now the room is a blank slate. "Sunny and cheery." That's what I need. Thanks for your comment! It's so helpful for me!

Hi, 2minou. The soft gray sounds very sophisticated, the ones I had were probably more of a mat brocade than tapestry, wasn't sure how to describe them. The paint was a soft buttery yellow and it really work for that dark room. Wish I had taken pictures since I move 4 yrs ago. It sounds like you have it together and grey is such a nice neutral you can have a lot of fun w/ it. Have fun decorating and enjoy the Bling!

Him dlwbunny. I had to struggle to come up with the word 'brocade'...don't hear it very often. If that is what you have, it's beautiful stuff. Thanks so much for your comment! I should have been taking pics since I moved here last summer. A lifetime ago! So many things have happened! I was told I will have a 'new' home by the time the restoration company is finished here. Sure need it! Meanwhile, I wait....the house is 3/4 empty with so much in storage now...At least, I have time to plan, right? Robin

Go with the curtains---if you find you don't like that, then you can eventually put doors, but I have a 10 foot long closet my sons built me and I put up curtains and it softens the room plus I can get to all areas of the closet without a door getting in the way. Also put a curtain in the too small closet that I switched over to shelves once that was built---it was too narrow to even put a hanger in properly. An idea for your boots---saw it made on Hometalk---take PVC pipes and attach to a sturdy board to put your boots on upside down--you can do different heights for different size boots--a great idea and really helps with your boot problem. Don't forget to put some sort of light source in the closet---it will help---even if one of those stick up lights--work great and you can put it where it really can't be seen if you don't like how it looks.

I removed the mirrored doors in my previous bedroom closet. They made the room look too busy, only opened-up 1/2 the closet. Loved the drape replacement. Now I am doing it again in a 12ft area. But, as above in mdcathy note, I have some small closets and will put curtain in front of them. Will paint white inside. AND get some lights for interior. Hadn't thought of that!

I am the maid to cats. I like that I can close the closet doors to keep them out. I hope to eventually add mirror's to the sliding door closets in the guest rooms. Enlarge the room with reflection and brighten, as well as give them a full length mirror for after they've dressed. Sometimes.. when I see an oddly put together outfit while I'm out and about.. I think" hmmm.. they must not have had a full length mirror in the house"

I think my bedroom was too small for those mirrored doors. When we put the home on the market, we put the mirror doors back in. They looked great without anything on the night tables, dresser, etc. Different strokes for different folks. I am fascinated with other people's decorating ideas.