or even share some ideas. thanks

Container Store! They're expensive but have great inspiration ideas!

www.containerstore.com

sorry -- my closets have doors for a reason. :) You might have more luck with the very organized folks over on the Organizing a Home forum.

laurience, do you have pictures of your closets and what you need to store in them? That would really help. Or are you wanting to redo them completely? Start from scratch....?

Here is a link that might be useful: Our walk-in

I have found that the best thing is shelving. We've always had the couple of shelves above the racks, but never shelving that is down lower....until now.
With the shelving down lower, you can actually use it for everyday stuff.
Here are a couple of pics from my girls' rooms. Of course they aren't all that organized at the moment, lol. But, you can see the shelves. Our shelves were made from that mdf board at home depot. Very inexpensive and it works great. Good for a DIY project.
Our master closet has hanging on one side, and floor to ceiling shelves on the other side.

justgotabme, LOVE your walk-in.

Without knowing what kind of closets you have, how large they are, what you need to put in them.... it is hard to advise you!

This is my closet from The Container Store.

I will take a pic of my closets tomorrow and post them. My room has an average size walk in closet.

I agree that shelving would be very very helpful however there are a million other things that need to be done before.

Thanks so much for your responses, I love this site. Your closets look very organized.

Joanne

Disclaimer: My photo was taken while the house was on the market. Not normally that neat or sparse.

My biggest suggestion? The most important tool, I think is underused, are shelves. They can go all the way to the ceiling, and around the closet since it's unused space anyhow. Ironically, I've been designing the master bedroom closet and trying to envision it at the end. I wondered how one decorates a closet? I added a plant to the window, an itty bitty trash can for those irritating dry cleaning tags!, a rug, and then thought about lighting.

justgotabeme, what are the dimensions to your walk-in closet?

-Robin

I'm not where I can post a pic, but will try to explain. You don't have to spend alot of money to be organized.

Our master br walk-in has the wire shelving and places to hang clothes. The closet is basically done in a u-shape. There are also some wood (white) shelves and at the far end a unit that is drawers with a large two-door cabinet below. The wire shelving is double shelves all across hanging clothes and the shelf/cabinet unit. We did the shoe shelf on my side only. My husband's side has the dual rods and shelving.

tina

Robin, our closet rack space is basically fourteen by six feet plus an angled wall and door swing area. It was suppose to have one area on the right side that bumped into the room next to it which would have formed space for a closet in there. PIX 1. We had no need for a closet in there since it was planned to be my sewing room and I already had fabric storage. All it would have done for the master closet was to add a bit more unusable (other than walking) floor space. PIX 2 shows how I changed it before construction. The sewing wound up being our home gym, which also doesn't need a closet. It wall worked out well because it allowed us to move the entry to the room making it more centrally accessable to all bedrooms.

{{!gwi}}

Nice plans just. I really like your room name. Our closet is half that size (832 sq feet total in our house!). Some day we'll have bigger closets. 14X6, Yep, that sounds perfect. :)

For a fast way to gain shelving space -- check out places like Target or Big Lots, Walmart, KMart etc. Just get a few of their "build-it-yourself" bookshelves. Metal kitchen shelving or even garage shelving can really help out in a pinch in closets too!

Key to ANY organizing is to start with clearing out the Closet Clutter. Be ruthless -- and sell, donate or even throw out unneeded items. Make sure that you have necessary items like a good full-length mirror and TRY it on! Yep. Scary ---- but necessary.

Then grab a good measuring tape, notebook and pen. This is no time to forget exact measurements LOL!! And start by measuring the whole closet. And then the height, width and depth of your "compartments" ((long hanging space; shelves AND the floor height UNDER the hanging clothes -- incase there is enough space for a short bookcase.))

In my closet -- there is a short bookcase from Ikea in the corner for my shoes and purses PLUS a double wire shelf under the hanging section for more shoes.

There is a place to hang the ironing board and stash the iron. PLUS a thin small bulletin board for a yearly calendar. And we bought racks to hang belts -- one for him --- and one for me.

Figure out how much space you need for shoes (I keep mine in their boxes), handbags, belts, long dresses, pants, shirts, skirts and stacked items like tee shirts and sweaters.
I keep all my sweaters and foldable things in our dressers in the bedroom.
I did our closet myself and made adjustments for everything I needed. Our closet is 7' x 16'. It has one door and I share the space with dh. After all, 73 pair of identical khakis don't require that much space!
I have about 2/3's of it though.
We also have an ironing board set up permanently which is wonderful.
I'll try and post a picture but can't today.

Laurie, in my new home I have a fairly large walk-in closet, and i'm giving it the look of a dressing room.

The first thing i'll do is wallpaper it in a very neutral, tradional pattern paper. I've placed outlets so I can have wall-type lamps.

I'll be using two old, but not antique dressers, to hold folded clothing~i've painted them black, with the braided moulding and trim given a little gold Rub 'n Buff. I'll also be buying a 6' mirror(gold/black)to either hang or lean against the wall. I'll be building shelves for shoes, purses, and bulky sweaters that don't fit in smaller drawers. I've measured it all out, and it should work on the 9' wall.

On another wall i'll have a dressing table/stool and more shelves. The wall opposite will be for hanging clothes, one portion for double hanging, with a shelf above. The only wall left will be the one with the doorway. I'll probably have a chair or something in one corner.

This will definitely be a 'girly space' since I don't have a mate. ;o)

patty cakes, that sounds like a dream closet you are building! I'm assuming you'll have wall space to hang / organize jewelry also? It sounds like something I was looking at in a magazine recently.

To the OP: bumblebeez and teacats brought up important points. Don't run to buy storage containers or systems until you have weeded out your closet and know what you are going to keep. Oprah's organizing guru, Julie Morganstein has that for her first rule. Declutter first and only then will you know what you need for storage or containers. Good luck!

Wow,

My head is spinning with all these great ideas. Thank you, thank you, thank, you..I have started clearing out my whole closet. I have those plastic drawers (2 of them)in my closet now. I keep all my picture albums on the top shelf (no choice)unless I put them away however then I will never look at them.

It would be nice to pretty it up. Great idea, why shouldn't this be a warm and appealing space.

Joanne

I can relate to 'closet hell'

We tackled my closet several months ago...was tired of clothes jammed in & could never find anything!
Went to Home Depot and bought the Closet Maid system. Great as I can easily adapt space to have more hang space, more shelves etc-as needs change. I would say it cost @ $600 to do this closet. I could have utilized the back wall, but was trying to keep it open. (see how much more shopping I do:)) Over the dresser I now have a mirror.

Next...hubbies walk-in! Still needs to be tackled!

Good luck!
L.

We're empty nesters and you know what that means? CLOSET SPACE! We turned our existing bath/dressing area/closet into a whole room. This photo is only one view, let me know if you want more. The closed cabinets hold my shoes, purses, sweaters, both of our dress clothes and luggage.
There's another niche which you can't see in the photos that is too small for an treadmill so we put in more cabs that house a small fridge (great!) and micro (which we never use) and a love seat. There's a full length mirror too! The island has drawers on each side and cabs at the front and back. It really was a dream come true and will probably keep us from moving into a smaller place! ;-)

Here is a link that might be useful:

More more more pictures compumom! I love it. It looks like it's ???16X16??? My bedroom isn't that big :)

(Truth be told, I would've started this if you hadn't, laurience. I need motivation to finish building mine. Right now, there's a bathtub in the middle of the closet and the sink, and the... oh wait, it's still a bathroom. We'll soon finish the new bathroom so that the old one can get torn out, I hope. Soon.)

No problem! Tonight when DH is here I'll have him take some other views of the room. Yes it is big, but I forget the exact measurements. We did an addition over the garage and it cost almost as much to go 1/2 way as to do it all the way over. (Structural reinforcements required were the same) so we did a big closet room and master bath. It took 2 very long years to plan and build, but we're thrilled! Other than our kitchen, it's the first redecorating of any substance that we've done since finished decorating some 20 years ago!!

sorry -- my closets have doors for a reason. :)

Ditto that! I'm actually turning fairly green with envy over these pics of beautifully organized closet spaces. My DH took the backseat out of my Jeep and it is taking up space in my closet. I'd like to be able to say "temporarily", or "at the moment" -- but the truth is that it's been there for a couple of years now. My closet is truly a certifiable disaster area, but I'm inspired by what I see here!

Ditto the trash can in the closet! We use it for all the excess wrapping from the cleaner's, new clothing tags etc. It's always full!

I put doors on the closet spaces that I didn't want others to see or the light, dust or moths to find. We have two large solartubes in addition to recessed cans. The solartubes are wonderful, many times during the day I never turn the lights on in that room. At night they add just a hint of light so that you aren't waking into a pitch black space. They're amazingly great!

I wanted an ironing board built into the wall, but the city requirements for sheer wall tabled that idea, no niches for me! I do have space in one enclosed cabinet to place one, but as of now it's holding a step ladder and luggage!

I'm in the process of trying to figure out a new walk-in closet layout myself, so mine is NOT photo ready! There are several great threads about closet storage over on the Organizing Forum. You should do a search and check those out, as well. Lots of pics. My dilemmas are what to do with all DH's hats (we live in the West and he golfs, what can I say!). My shoe storage was another dilemma, but I got many great suggestions on this thread I started over there. Check them out. I'm going to use Brugloverz idea for the shoes I don't wear as often. Brilliant!
"Shoe Storage Ideas For Closet"

Lisa, I have never been a wallpaper person, but I have to tell you, I'd use that paper in my own closet in a heartbeat . . . beautiful wallpaper; great closet!
Compumom: That's one drop-dead wonderful dressing room/closet . . . Enjoy!
Lynn

I did buy one of those thin, folding turtle stools that Mustangs recommended and it's great! Quick and easy to open and close, lets you reach the higher closet shelves and stores in a very small, narrow space.
Lynn

Lisa, your closet is so pretty! I never would have thought to wallpaper a closet other than shelves in a linen closet. How pretty it looks too.
Compumom, I know a some other's that have used a bedroom turned closet, but your's tops them all.
~Becky

Thanks for the kudos, it's a glorious addition that we enjoy daily!
DH took some more photos, but keep in mind that we truly use it and it's not staged--all I did was remove the daily junk that accumulates out of pockets etc. The plugs and cell phone chargers are what you see on DH's side of the island. It's so handy to charge our cell's there.
Looking at the photos tells me that we need more art up on the walls. Sigh, we have a hard time agreeing or finding stuff we like. I bought two little things at Homegoods over a year ago and we still haven't hung them cuz DH doesn't really like them...whine...
The settee was an antique that we picked up at auction more than 27 years ago.It was in our bedroom, but w/ the remodel we completely changed the style of the furniture so it doesn't fit. Eventually we'd like a nice chair or more comfortable loveseat. The mirror is resting low so that I can see the bottoms of my pants and shoes. It's from our old bedroom set and I want to keep it. The full length mirror is around the corner in the entry to the bath/closet area.
Also the walls are PL swiss coffee. After it was all done I'd have preferred to use the darker color of the entryway, but it was too late!

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

OH MY.. what a gorgeous room. I would live in there if that were mine.
I cannot believe the storage space you have. You are so lucky. I see you probably do spend alot of time there, is that a fridge and microwave.
Thanks so much for sharing these photos. So many do not want to share closet pictures and I can completely understand. Mine are an embarrasment.

Thanks! You should have seen the exploding closet that preceded this one. NO WAY would I have shared photos of that one! LOL

Wow, wow, wow.. I think the above closet is bigger than my garage. That is incredible, enjoy.

Such great ideas, very very inspiring and I love the wallpaper idea.

For all the ladies that are trying to finish their closets, good luck and we will do it one piece of clothing at a time.

Joanne

For now, I'll just thank Lisa_mocha for the color (I love the wallpaper, but I have to settle for free, and I already own that color paint), just's design that I'll do a smaller scale version of, and compumom for just letting me live in the heaven that my future will be. I must have that in my home when I get to stay put and add-on. It's nice to see what I wanted can be done. It's all so awesome. Wonderful inspirations.

When we bought our house 3 years ago the master closet was a big (11x10) empty room with one hanging rod all the way around the room, and a very ugly fluorescent light overhead. We had a local cabinetmaker do closet units up to 7ft. I knew we couldn't reach higher than that and planned to put pretty covered boxes up on top of them. Of course that didn't work----within the year we had the ugliest collection of junk atop our nice closet organizers, so I had them come back about six months ago and put in more cabinets above, to the 11 ft. height of the ceiling, and wrap everything in crown molding. We installed a chandelier and can lights in the ceiling, and had just enough wallpaper from the bathroom to do the walls that weren't covered with storage. We opted to have the units built a full 24" deep so that our hangers would not project out at all (instead of the usual 18"), and so that our built-in dresser would not project beyond the hanging and shelf storage either. We sacrificed floor space to do that but I did not want one shoulder of anything to get dusty.

I am a headband and scarf junkie, and two Elfa racks mounted on the wall just inside the door take care of the current season stuff:

Since we travel a good bit, we have three telescoping hanging rods (short, about 10") mounted high on the sides of several units so we can hang clothes to get ready for a trip.

The telescoping rods are wonderful! I have those and tie & belt hangers installed too.
Your closet looks great!!

Here's ours we marked walls for heights of ventilated shelving, builder put them in for us.. we have 4 walk-ins
the 2 in master suite mine:right side/left side
{{!gwi}}{{!gwi}}
hubby's{{!gwi}}
2 in guest suite one strickly storage vaulted ceiling:
{{!gwi}}
second a litle of both:{{!gwi}}

Thanks, compumom. We have found the telescoping rods to be the best "extra" in our closet. Now if I only had as much floor space as your fab closet I would REALLY be organized---or at least that is what I tell myself :)

Laurience, I will say that in some cases having a smaller closet actually forces you to be MORE organized. In our last house my husband and I both had separate, identical, smaller walk-in closets and we got very creative about storage. Our main principles were: all shoes OFF the floor, hang everything that CAN be hung, special clothes together (for example, tennis stuff--all shirts and shorts for that purpose on a single shelf), and sweaters all folded the same way and VISIBLE. One of my friends uses a folding board for t shirts and such; I hang everything of mine unless it's in a drawer---underclothes, socks, pajamas, yoga stuff, etc. DH has lots of folded stuff---- scrubs, tennis, tennis towels, etc. and I have thought about a folding board for it. If you do baskets it helps the visual clutter to use only one kind, and to label if you can't easily see what's in it.

Oh my! These closets are amazing. You all are so lucky.

Our house is a small 3 BR, 2 BA built in 1938 very close to the city. My closet door is two feet wide and the closet is just a little wider. I have a double rod with one shelf over each rod. We also found a short rod at the Container Store that goes inside the door (Nothing shows from the outside.)

Out of season office clothes go in the upstairs closet and knits go in boxes under the bed. I agree with teacats and neesie - the first thing to do is sort everything out and get rid of what you don't want. We take stuff to the thrift shop every few months. Luckily, my MIL likes getting my stuff, too, so some goes to her.

Wow...these closets are truly amazing! Coincidentally we just called someone today to come by and do an estimate for our closet for a system. It truly needs some organization.

I had a custom cabinet builder do mine (this is during construction so I don't have finished pics...we move in on Monday). It was cheaper than doing California closets, and so much nicer. And the added value of the closet to the house value was four times the cost (we were doing an appraisal for other reasons).

And these boxes now have doors on them. A dresser will sit in the space below it. We have a full legnth mirror on wheels in the bedroom so we don't need one in the closet.

All of the half door cabinets on the long wall have rods in them, as well as in cabinet lighting that turns on when the doors open. The storage on the end is for gowns and furs (ok I'm dreaming) and winter coats. The smaller shelfs in the middle of the rod cupboard are for shoes. The desk is my sewing room, since I had to give that up to my son (he used to sleep in this closet). The two cupboards on and above there are sized specifically for my sewing machine and serger as well as the embroidery machine so they can all be stuffed away. I also have the room wired for computer (I need it to embroider and to surf the GW) :oP

I'll have to take a pic of my son's closet (done by the same company). It's fairly simple and would be easy to duplicate. It is copied from his closet in our rental, which is well designed. Because it's a child's space it has no full legnth storage, but one of the shelfs is removable so if we want that later it can be converted.

Susieq,

You did a really nice job organizing the closets. The same boxes on the top of shelf makes it look very neat and organized.

Kswl,

thanks for the great advice.

Igloochic,

Your closet will look amazing. Please post pic once finished and enjoy your new home.

Joanne

Igloochic, your closet looks great and I'd love to see a photo when it's finished! Our island was done by the cabinet builder to match the master bath cabs, but the rest of ours was done by Calif Closets. I love the reeded glass in your doors!