So, I was looking at my closet & thinking of you- again, it depends on what you need space for, but what about if you did:
long wall- 3 ft of a single rod (for dresses/long things) and 3 ft of a double rod (for hubbie's clothes) with 2 shelves above, then on the short wall, some narrow shelving with a hamper or other custom stuff,
then on the other wall (I think there is a 3rd wall that is probably like 3-4 feet, right?), you could do some less deep shelving or the stacked shoe rack with shelves or something like that.
OR, if you need more hanging space, what about (like one of my photos below), do 3 ft of double & 3 ft of single on the short wall, then another 3 ft of single (or double) on the long wall in addition to some custom shelving/drawers/cabinet/hamper?

Our closet is about 5 1/2 ft wide and about 12 ft long(with door in the center of the long wall) but here are some pics to see what kinds of things might fit...The areas where you see the double rods next to single rods (there is one on short wall & one on long wall) are about 5 1/2 ft long. The short wall opposite the first photo here is all shelves.

Rods are on about 5 1/2 ft wall, drawers & shelves are about 4-5 wide and block the one rod slightly which is really not a big deal.

Our MBR closet is 5'x7', and our ceilings are 8'. Our door opening is different from yours, but I'll describe how our closet is set up.

The door opens on the right edge of one of the short (5') walls. On the left side (which is deeper b/c the door doesn't interfere), is a double rod. The lower rod stops about 12-18 inches from the end to give me a small space for my longer dresses. I also use tiered hangers for my skirts in this section. Under my long clothes, I keep two storage bins with DH and my off-season, folded clothes. DH uses the bottom rod and I use the top rod. We keep our off-season, hanging clothes pushed to the back of our hanging space. Our clothes are not crowded, but I will admit that DH and I are purgers. To make a closet of this size work, you have to keep the clothes pared down to the "good" items.

On the short wall facing the door is a set of 5 deep (16"), adjustable shelves with a hanging rod/shelf over the top. I keep extra hangers on this rod, but if necessary, I could remove the top 2 shelves and use the rod for clothing.

On the second long wall, we have a stacked set of shoe shelves. Above this I hung a kitchen organizer that holds my shoe buffer, lint brush, static spray, etc. I have a little wall space left beside the organizer. I may eventually place a hook there for purses/totes. Beside the shoe shelves is a full-length mirror and 2 more hooks for robes.

On the back of the door is another hook, and over the door (on the inside of the closet) are 3 hooks for DH's favorite baseball caps.

We use dresser drawers for socks and underwear. DH keeps his shorts, t-shirt, and jeans in a drawer, and I keep exercise clothes in a drawer. To be honest, several of our closet shelves are empty so we could move some of those items into the closet. But I need more shelf space for sweaters in the winter so I haven't bothered to move anything.

Here are a few other ideas to help you maximize your space. Bins are great. Piles of clothing and blankets tend to fall over and look sloppy, but bins keep things in their places which saves space in the long run. I use bins in my son's closet for his socks and underwear. You can also buy shallow, hanging shelves that slide under your regular shelves to store small items like hosery, scarfs, etc. If you are a purse collector and your 2nd long wall isn't being used, consider placing hooks right below the ceiling and hanging your purses there. Likewise, don't waste that short wall behind the door. That would be a good spot for a tie and belt rack.

Nin

I hate folding clothes, I want to have everything on hangers. If you haven't seen my blog, check out what I did recently. I sold my dressers and replaced them with some really nice wardrobes. I gained tons of space to hang up clothes, and as a bonus my bedroom seems twice as big. They were also less expensive than using a closet organizer system like elfa.

Here is a link that might be useful: New Wardrobes

Camaro, I apologize in advance for doing this, but I'm going to do it anyway :).

I only DREAM of having a walk in closet, much one that is 5x6.4 feet. What a luxury that would be...my 'master' closet is a grand total of 5' x 3'. No walk in. And not nearly large enough for 2 people's clothes. My husband shares space w/my son in his closet-which is 4'x3'. Oh, and we don't have any closets at all except for one in each bedroom and one very small linen closet. Period. So I won't lie, as the kids say. Every time I see this title about an extremely small walk in closet I boggle all over again. Boggle, boggle, boggle.

Whiner signing off now. But seriously, sometimes it's all in the perspective, ya know?

Ann

Thanks so much for the great advice. I think I am going to trade sides with dh and then put some drawers and a shoe rack below. I can't seem to justify tearing out what is there and replacing it with custom.

OH Ann! There was definately no offense taken. We bought this house a year ago and I was thrilled that it had a walk in closet. We had built our "dream home" 6 yrs ago and a foot of the long wall of our "walk-in" closet got taken in the dining room and it was a miserable closet to say the least. I was actually being a little sarcastic in my topic because I had went to some of the closet design websites and the standard was an 8 x 8. They didn't even give the option of something as small as mine. Hehe Alicia

Hey if I get it straightened up I will take a pic and post a pic of mine. My dh built it out of a tiny open upstairs porch I think it is smaller than yours.He put up the white wire closet organizers from Lowes and it works well. Now if I wasnt so messy...Sue