I just drop the ceilings on 10 foot closets, other than walk-ins.

I'm having cubbies built the length of the closet above the hanging clothes. They will be 18-24". They will be for the things that I don't often use...hats, specialty purses, etc. I have a concept in my mind that will allow me to have a built-in area (inside the cabinetry)for a foldable step stool. I also have a step-stool cabinet in my kitchen. I'm vertically challenged so I need easy access to stools!!
I don't know what else will allow you to use the space besides what you had already mentioned. Shelves or cubbies are all I can come up with...

Sorry, I just realized that you weren't talking about walk-in closets. Disregard the first part of my response!

All of our closets are 9' high, quite a bit narrower than the standard closet. My thoughts were to put the double hanging rods in each, with a cubby above the upper rod. However, when we have reached the lighting layout for the closets, I had to change my plans since some of the closets will have the can lighting fixtures in them, and the lighting fixtures require a certain clearance from shelving along the top of the closet space per code. I beleive it was something like 24" from all fixtures. This may impact your layout design a bit. Keep in mind also, the type of lighting you will need for the height of this closet. On the closets that will not have the can lighting, our lighting designer planned a lighting fixture just above the door opening, a tube-type fixture that will shine down and in front of the space, vice over it.
I have decided to do the double hanging rods and built in shelving along the lower portion of the closets in these spaces, or a shoe rack built in along the bottom. With the closets wide enough and deep enough, I plan to put in a shelf unit with longer hanging items to the left/right of it and keep the upper bar for shorter items.
A step stool will be required.
I know this is not very creative, but I hope this helps.

Theres a few 3d closet design progams that are free to use. It might give you some ideas. THey also show different set ups.

Something to keep in mind, if you have high ceilings are you going to have high closet doors too? If not, then the framing for the standard height doors and the wall above will block your access to the higher space inside the closet. I have found that getting things off a shelf above 84" in a 'standard' reach in closet (about 2' deep) with 6'8" doors difficult, especially if that upper shelf is deeper than 12". As for utilizing the space, a shelf that will accomodate plastic storage containers is my favorite for the top shelf-most things we store up there get little use and this keeps the dust out.

Yes, luckymom, that is a good point. Our doors are 8 foot doors vice the standard 7 foot (6'8" door), for that very reason. I forgot about that!

lorraineal: what a great idea with the cupboards! It's perfect for our laundry/office where I couldn't figure out what to do.

jimandanne: the access up there is really the problem, plus whatever light problems the building code presents. What I usually do is install a shelf that's not as deep as the ones below. You can use hooks for rarely used hats, handbags, etc. As an aging woman, I have those reacher tools in all my rooms to extend my reach and keep me off of stools and ladders. They're really handy for those high corners and lightweight items.

What a great idea lorraineal, it looks really nice.

lorraineal, that looks great! First the outhouse that was a spa, now this. As my kids say, you have the best ideas!!

Amy

That's a good point about the closet door size. I need to mention that to my DH before he put ours in. Hope I'm not too late. LOL

Thanks, *blush*...

Just to clarify, The 'cupboards' shown above are actually drywalled cubbies with a face frame and doors. We built shelves into them as well. Doing them that way cost less than doing full-blown cabinets. I figure they will be good for bulky, seldom used items like sleeping bags or luggage.

Does anyone know off the top of their head the difference in price of a 6'8" door and an 8' door? Are they like double the price?

Thank you all for your input which has helped to clarify my thoughts on this. I checked the code book, and the clearance between the fixture and the nearest point of a storage space needs to be 6" for fluorescent and 12" for incandescent, so we're ok.

lorraineal, I remember seeing your picture earlier and thinking what a great idea it was. It really makes that area look special, as well as being very functional. We had some issues with our framer, so I was hesitant to come up with anymore changes, so we didn't do this.

I think what I'll do is put a rod at 64" and shelves at 66" and 78", or double rods at about 45" and 85" with one shelf above. Then put a shelf on each side above the top full shelf. I'll have to do some measuring over there to check this out.

Thanks, Anne

Don't forget the DUST that will decorate your open shelves! Enclose what you can.