the last pic is the right inside of the closet

the left inside of the closet

Some ideas.

1) Open up the closet opening so there's easier access to the whole closet. Maybe you don't need a door there at all. Since you prefer drawers, can you find a dresser that will fit into the closet? This could be removed easily if needs change.

2) Leave the door the way it is, and put shelves/drawers in the right side, and keep the part in front of the door for hanging clothes. She won't be little forever, so she will need space to hang long clothes eventually.

3) I love the idea of a little hiding place in the floor!

4) What would happen if you closed up the current door, and open the closet from the side (where the crib is now)? It looks like it's a stairway making the floor at an angle, could you work around that and wind up with more closet space? This all depends on what's behind the current back wall of the closet, of course. If it's usable space, maybe you could just remove the back of the closet and make it extra-deep. You could put shelves back there.

We used to have baskets on shelves in our closet. We didn't have room for drawers but the baskets helped keep things organized.

Is your daughter getting to the age where she wants to pick out her own clothes? You may want to put everyday type clothes in the bottom and save the top rail for special or seasonal items.

orangecamera: I like ideas one and two. my concerns with idea 1 is that we've already done work in her room, and now it's finally spackled and painted, to start destroying walls and adding dust is annoying. Will speak with hubby about it. Also, our home inspector said that there was lead somewhere in the closet, and I'm not sure if cutting away a wall is an option. My husband had screwed in new sheetrock over the existing sheetrock in the closet, so I dont think demo will work here. (Although I do like the idea of expanding the opening.) I like idea 2, but the drawers would be tiny on the right inside of the closet and i'm not sure if there's enough depth for normal size drawers and hanging space.

Joice: I like the idea of having things within reach - except for the inevitable mess that she will make pulling things off shelves and trying on many clothes on top of the clothes she is already wearing!

LOL, that's part of the fun of having a toddler!

Have you looked at IKEA? They have wonderful closet systems at reasonable prices. www.ikea.com Their EXPEDIT system looks like it would fit. You can then purchase doors and drawers that go into the cubes.

2219: i was thinking of an ikea PAX system. but i'm not sure if those sizes would work. let me look at expedit, thanks!

White wire shelves, they have the type where they are not fixed, you attach vertical bracket bars, then attach the wire shelving, you can change the spacing of the shelving as she grows. Get trofast bins from IKEA to put on the shelves. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/childrens_ikea/18706/

i dont like wire :-(