I love seeing your closets!! We have his and hers closets in the master, and I'm not satisfied with them (and we haven't even moved in yet). Our trim carpenter suggested a simple layout for rods and shelves, which looks great. Then I asked for shoe storage like rows of cubbies (meaning get more shoes in less space). He put in a slanted shelf along the baseboard. He was so proud of it, I didn't have the heart to tell him that it wouldn't meet my needs. Now, I'm kicking myself because I'm too wimpy to insist that he rip it out and redo it. Also, the floors have been finished now. I'm to the point where I have to pick my battles. Anyway, our best storage plans for our master are to de-clutter before moving in and to keep as much as possible in our huge cedar closet (for out of season clothing and shoes).

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: On the other side of the door is my husband's shoe storage, our scale and above, a rack that holds 5 tennis rackets. (You can see we need another!) On his side, underneath his shelves are two baskets, one for laundry and one for dry cleaning. 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.

Thanks! Yes, we're actually getting french doors priced for that space too, although expecting them to come in too high for the budget. (Unfortunately that project would necessarily be linked to significant re-stuccoing and a new deck to meet code, which would be lovely, but $$.) Would having the door swing to the breakfast area instead be awkward? We also have a screen door, so during the summer the main door is often left open, so we like having it mostly out of the way now, but certainly not wedded to it (and it's getting replaced one way or another as part of the remodel, so we could switch the swing). DH would love doors to close the area off---this was a long debate---so I'll have to revisit that idea and see. I'm just worried that I won't be good about putting everything away if the hooks aren't right there. The other challenge in rainy seasons (~6 months of the year) is that this is where wet dogs, wet people, muddy boots, etc. all come into the house, so they need to be taken off or toweled down before they get into the main part of the kitchen. That was part of the appeal of shelves, since we could put towels there and grab them quickly. The one thing we really, REALLY want to avoid is the table being the go-to spot for things, since that's what we have right now and it's rendered the table all but unusable. We have a built-in baking cabinet where the bench is right now, and do use it for garden tools, etc., as well. Trying to stop mixing uses like that, since it's a fairly regular occurrence to have flour (or worse, molasses!) on the coats (though in fairness, the order right now is door-baking counter-coat hooks-main kitchen, which is asking for it!) I'll ask about the toe kicks, though I think in general the cabinets shown are very hypothetical, which does make it tricky to visualize.

We have had separate reach ins for 33 years until this house where we have a shared 7'6" x15' walkin/ walk through closet bisected by doorways. One door opens to the bath and another to the study (laundry is just steps away through the study -- close enough that it has become our habit just to drop dirties in the laundry). Contrary to some, we very definitely prefer the closet through the bath! It's nice to get up, put on a robe, make the bed and open the blinds first thing before coffee and then not have to go back into the bedroom area to get dressed. Also, instead of having to walk past closets on the way from the bed to the bath, it makes for a much shorter trip for nighttime nature calls. His end is 7'6" x 5' with a dresser and cubbies on one side and couple rods on the other with a bench on the end under a high window and my end is 7'6" x 7' with a single rod on one side, double rods across the back, and dresser on the other side with room for a small chair (still have to put my cubbies up). It's perfect for us.