For whoever owns the soil, it is theirs up to Heaven and down to Hell.

Air rights are a type of development right in real estate, referring to the empty space above a property. Generally speaking, owning or renting land or a building gives one the right to use and develop the air rights.

This legal concept is encoded in the Latin phrase Cuius est solum, eius est usque ad caelum et ad inferos ("For whoever owns the soil, it is theirs up to Heaven and down to Hell."), which appears in medieval Roman law and is credited to 13th century glossator Accursius; it was notably popularized in common law in Commentaries on the Laws of England (1766) by William Blackstone; see origins of phrase for details.

- Wikipedia

It may have originated in medieval Rome but I venture we can all agree that the best contemporary example of developed air rights is New York City.  I'm going all out NYC style with my approach to closet remodeling - I cannot find additional hanging space outwards, so I will find it upwards.  

It seems a Queens hallmark to have weirdly, wonderfully high ceilings in the closets.  I've been wasting it's potential using the shelf above the hanging rod for linens - that changes today with the addition of a $4 set of fixtures and a $9 closet rod.  And $4 worth of screws and anchors because I really can't figure out the stud finder. Damn thing.

Here is my closet beforehand.  It's a good sized closet for New York.  To the right of the shelf the space becomes more shallow because that wall is the entrance to the bathroom on the other side.  You can see the hangers are not hanging straight on the rod because the space isn't wide enough at that juncture.  I want every square inch I can get so here we go.

A little crowded...

 Step inside, and look up.

Like a gigantic atrium in a Midtown office building, that's all air.

The hardest part of this was accessing the space.  It was a tight squeeze up into a vertical cave.  Got the supplies ready before climbing up the ladder.

Screws with anchors.  I bought two sets, always helps to have extras in case you lose some, strip the screw head, or bend the anchor out of shape by trying to hammer it into a hole that isn't big enough.  Not that I would ever do any of those things...

I endorse this product.

The first hole was the most difficult, it took all these drill bits before I found the right size I needed to get the anchor in.  Always a good rule to go from small to largest gradually.  (The larger to smaller approach involves plaster, and that just gets messy).  I had to climb up and down the ladder a bunch of times to get more drill bits but at some point it was like, hey, drill bits are kind of pretty. Thanks to that and the magic of Instagram, I now have my background image for this site.

It really helped to have that built in light in the closet (kudos to my landlord) even if I did have to contort myself with sweaty feet on the ladder to avoid getting burned by the hot glass shade.  Three holes for each fixture times two fixtures, six anchors to drive in with the mallet hammer, then six screws, hang the closet rod and boom:

 Cuius est solum, eius est usque ad caelum et ad inferos!

Can it be true?  Have I really graduated into that elite class of people who can separate and store their clothing by season?  After hanging my winter coats and more formal clothing on the High Line, we still have a work in progress (also known as a disorganized mess because now everything that lived on the shelf is on the floor and tripping me).  Next phase: shelves.