I Turned An Old Phone Booth Into A Modern Closet

At the beginning these colorful iron works of art looked cool and unique. Then, to make them more recognizable on the streets, the post office standardized the uniform base and color scheme. As the mobile became the new standard, all major phone companies withdrew from the payphone market, leaving phone booths without a purpose and the abandoned structures unnecessarily disrupted the cityscape. And yet still here. Repurposed, but reminding us of great conversations.

The first step of the repurpose project was finding the appropriate booth. It took almost two years before a listing appeared on the marketplace. It was a luck that the seller had a crane in service so they helped to remove the dome for the easiest transportation. Later, it was a painful decision not to use the dome at all, as the ceiling height of the room is smaller than the overall height of the booth.

Further cut on the height was needed as some parts were badly damaged by rust. After resizing the side panels, the crossbars, and the beams, the side panels were re-welded. Because of the lengths of the side panels, an industrial size sandblasting chamber needed for proper corrosion control. Powder coated fora perfect and shiny color.

Some glasswork also needed to replace the broken windows, together with the sealing and the sash. LED strips have been installed on the perimeters of all windows. The COB (chip-on-board) looks much better than the old “spotted” look of SME. And the surface mount slim profile is more suitable for the sash. The switching operated by door open sensor mode.

For the wardrobe function chest of drawers is needed. The stainless-steel laminate on plywood gives a sleek and modern brushed metallic finish on the front, which was the perfect choice for a sexy look. The mirror on the back wall of the booth is the trick to optically enlarge the relatively small internal space.

From the beginning, telephone booths have glass walls and are clearly viewable from the outside for security reasons. This is a message to the current owner: you have to be tidy. Always.