The 30% big elfa sale starts December 26 to Valentine's day. Then in August they have a 25% off all shelving sale. That includes elfa shelving, but not the drawers if that is part of your plan. You could plan for them, install the rest, and just buy anything else in January if you want to save $$. I love elfa, have put it in four homes, it is the only time I ever use my drill! I am not particularly DIY, except for elfa. They will help you plan it, too! They can install it, but really, if you have a stepstool, a level, a pencil, and a drill, you can install it. If you don't have one near you, you can go to the website; they'll make a plan for you and you can order it all.

Remain consistant in your choices of finishes for your home. Elfa is a low end entry level system which will fit well in a home that is a starter home using formica and linoleum. If that is not an accurate description of your home you may want to contact a reliable cabinet shop to assist with the design and fabrication of a closet system. Having said that....the most important part of any closet system is an accurate use of space designed by by and experienced designer. Many of the modular systems rely on the homeowner to try and fit a closet together. It rarely turns out well. I was in an expensive home this evening and they used a system similar to Elfa. It looked cheap in their home because the rest of the house was tricked out in granite and lots of natural woods. Good luck!

I have Elfa ventilated shelves (and some drawers) in my pantry and laundry room both. I love them BUT I use liners so I don't have the wobbly issue going on. That would drive me crazy. Elfa's ventilated shelves, unlike what you can find at Lowe's, HD or Ikea, have the wires a lot closer together. They also "lock" into place so the wire part is sitting really firmly in the bracket - not just a piece of wood sitting on top of the shelf bracket. As far as organizing little things, Elfa has "shelf baskets" that you can put dividers in and stack stuff in if need be. In the pic below, I have one of those on the immediate left (3 shelves up) and above the counter top oven in the back. I use it for bags of baking stuff like chocolate chips, coconut, etc on the left and treats in the back. And I absolutely love their big drawers. Container Store's return policy is great too - anytime with a receipt and the best Elfa sales is 30% off all Elfa products. It starts Dec. 24th and goes through the end of January typically. There is one in the fall that isn't as good - 25% of Elfa Shelving. (No, I don't work for Container Store, I am just a big fan and will be buying some more Elfa stuff during their Dec. sale.) Here's a picture of our new pantry.

@einportlandor Thanks for your feedback. I agree that the system is a good value especially given how flexible it is after installation. We looked at the option of a California closet for my wife's WIC but the cost was exorbitant and it's not adjustable. Our goal with this project was the same as yours in terms of maximizing the capacity of these two main closets without going nuts on price. The quote we received for elfa was on sale, although it seems many vendors nowadays will list everything as on sale, so in effect the sale price becomes the regular price. Thanks again for the input. If you have any photos I'd love to see them.