Walk-In Closet

[TulipsAndSunscreen]

I am the THRILLED owner of a walk-in closet - seriously, I'm about to cry with joy. I am going, however, from a situation where I had almost no closet space to one where I have tons and I have no idea how to store things.

I'm thinking bins for underwear/bras/socks but how do you store shirts, sweaters, pants, workout gear, etc.? Shelving? Bins? Hanging? Do you do cedar dividers? Drawers/dresser in the closet?

Happy to take all suggestions!

[ladymoreta]

I love the custom wire shelving (like Elfa). Check out The Container Store for some neat ideas.

[weeniegeniewife]

We hired Portland Closet Company to install custom cherry shelving. We have places to hang our shirts and pants, shelves to store sweaters and shoes, drawers for socks, undies, etc, and a place to hang long dresses and coats.

[ms.conception]

http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/cleaning-organizing/easy-closet-organizing-tips

[DCJenn]

We had California Closets come design our spot for us. I have everything I could ever want, including an ironing drawer which is a hidden ironing board that's hidden behind a fold-down drawer front. Sweater go on shelves, pants on hangers on the lower rack, shirts on upper racks, dress pants and coats on one full-length area, my dresses on another one. One wall is floor to ceiling shoe storage shelves. I have a hat rack hanging over the door. I also have drawers for bras, hats, jewelry, etc. I need to reorganize through. I had elfa storage things rust and then fall out of the wall (on me! and it hurt!) and that's why I went w/ the fully warrantied closet re-do.



J.

[weeniegeniewife]

and that's why I went w/ the fully warrantied closet re-do.

J.

Totally worth it, IMO.

[ladymoreta]

Wow, I'd never heard of Elfa doing that! That's what we have in ours, but it's only 4 years old. I like the wire ones because they don't gather dust, but they don't look as nice as the solid ones. I think most of the brands have options for wire or wooden shelves.

[Deebs]

Where we're at now (financially), we just had California Closets come in and re-do our closet. It cost $3000, and that was for a fairly basic layout. In our last home, DH redid our closets with the product that Home Depot sells (it's much more sophisticated than drilling into the studs, and so it won't just pull out). Those, while slightly smaller, were redone for about $500. DH and I are both handy and were able to do it ourselves. Here, we just didn't have the time or interest. If you're looking for options, I'd definitely check out HD. If you have space above or below your hanging space, you may be able to do a ton of organizing with bins and baskets.

[peggyfromwastate]

I can't see us ready to invest in custom shelving for a long time. Maybe when the twins are thru with college lol. We did our shelving at home depot/lowes-- the wire shelving. Works for us, and it's easy to install with lots of configurations. That being said, they have more non wire options now and I'd def go with that. I don't love the wire shelving-- and we have it in several rooms-- almost all the closets have it. I just prefer my regular drawers in my bedroom furniture. But it's held up very well over time- we haven't had any issues at all.

Have fun designing it--- you really can make it just however you want!!

[SuzySunshine]

We did the Rubbermaid system which you can get at most hardware stores for a couple hundred bucks in our residency home. I loved that closet and it wasn't even walk in.

We had a two short hanging areas one on top of the other, one long hanging area and shelves for folded things. One neat trick I saw that I've done in my closets here is using shower curtain hangers to hang your handbags so they don't take up shelf space and its better for them to be hanging.

[moonlight]

I had to make do with what was already in my closets. The previous owner had put in a simple system of shelving. I was thinking about bags and purses. In my walk in closet the previous owner nailed two 2X4's vertically on one wall and put about 6 hooks all up and down those boards. It's perfect for hanging my bags/purses and doesn't take up any space.

[TulipsAndSunscreen]

We will check out all these options - thanks ladies!

We're pretty handy and in residency so I'm guessing we'll go with a HD/Lowe's solution.

[medpedspouse]

Our walk in closets have shelves for sweaters and different rod heights for clothes on each side. The shelving was not enough for our clothes. The closet is actually big enough that I put a 6ft bookcase in there (that we did not need in this house) and that is where I keep my fold-ables (tees, camis, shorts, workout stuff). I also have a narrow lingerie chest in there for undies, socks, etc. They are both pine and I have been meaning to paint them white to match the rest of the closet. In DH's walk in, we have a full dresser for all his foldables.

Could you add a piece of furniture in your walk-in? It may be cheaper than the HD/Lowes route. I also like our dressers because we use the top shelf to hold pictures/jewelry/his wallet, etc.