Remember that the first thing you need to do is make a list of each type clothing, so as to know what sort of storage is needed. IMO, the must/should haves: clear-front drawers. I prefer the stackable, ready-made transparent sweater, boot and shoe boxes. Not for boots and shoes but because they are perfectly sized for sweatshirts, sweaters, jersey/knit items as well as stockings and underwear. Anything that must be folded instead of rolled goes into the sweater boxes, one item per box. No searching, I can see where what is and I don't dig through a pile to get it. I don't press jeans, but do fold and roll carefully (one pair per boot box); bootflares are hung using pantsclips. BTW, I no longer use bureaus or chests of drawers -- that sort of furniture is not really useful. Minimum 1½" rod-length for each hanger. Suits should have enough space to hang the skirt/pants beside the jacket. There should be enough rod that you never have to shove clothing aside to remove or put back an item. Nothing should be hung that can be put into a drawer. Double-rods so that skirts/slacks are hung below the blouses. The rod for dresses/long skirts is high, and a set of deep cedar drawers is on the floor beneath (storage for extremely bulky winter wear). I wish I had used transparent instead of cedar. Hanging shoe-pockets so each pair has its own place. You may be happy with shoe drawers or a spinning rack -- just be sure there is a place for each pair. Hooks for jeans & shirt to wear again, (If it didn't get dirty, I honestly don't see the point of washing something that was only worn a couple hours. YMMV) Hooks for shoulder-bags. Clutch purses should go into transparent drawers. Full-length mirror. A small basket for nylons to be washed. DH has pull-out racks, one for ties and one for belts. Test-drive before buying to be sure they slide smoothly and are sturdy. Neighbor's recent closet update used shelves instead of the drawers, but retained the idea of one seeable item per shelf. She did get adjustables (a heavy sweater needs more height than a light-weight). She also used the shelf area above her head for bulky storage, again one item per container.

In our new home, we went with three types of closets: for most closets, we had a closet company install their white melamine closet system, in the pantry we did our own installation of adjustable melamine shelves, and in the master we used the Elfa closet system. I'm least happy with the closet company system installed by a local closet company that uses Closet Maid products. Although the shelves are adjustable, overall it is less flexible because they require melamine boards on the sides - which meant the closet corners became dead space when used in a closet with multiple sides. The products are quite sturdy - I have no problem with quality. The Efla is a true joy - more expensive than the closet company, but very flexible with lots of options including drawers, shoe racks, belt hooks, etc. Elfa is only sold through The Container Store. We used their installer, but it would have been easy enough for a handy husband to install. For the pantry, we bought tracks, standards, brackets and melamine shelving from a big box home improvement store. It was really inexpensive even with the carpenter we hired to do the installation. Look at the box home improvement stores - Home Depot, Lowes, Menards - they have some do-it-yourself options that include drawers.

Check out the Antonius system from Ikea as an alternative to Elfa. We just got it for my son's bedroom closet. They are very inexpensive and have quite a few options. I wasn't completely sold on the wire system so I wanted something that I could re-use in my basement or give away without too much guilt. I already like it so much I am going to put it in my bedroom closet. The website doesn't present the options very well, the best way to see is to click on the catalog and go to the buying guides at the end. There you can see a page that shows all of the sizes and choices.

Carolmka, I will try searching the Organizing forum, thanks. I considered Elfa because it is a very nice looking, flexible system. We know from experience that we want half of the hanging space to have 1 shelf and rod and half to have 2 shelves and 2 rods, and it will cost less to have our cabinet maker or GC build and install the simple elements we want.