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Need help with master closet

7 years ago

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We have about 3-3.5 ft on each side of the window...We do know that the 5ft area to the left will be husbands area for his work uniforms, gun safe, and area for him to charge some things for work each evening. So we have the right side of the closet for his daily clothes and my things. He is wanting a tall storage cubby in the middle of that 8.4ft wall with upper and lower rods on each side of cubby. But I am afraid that will not allow for long enough rods. I would think the tall cubby/shelves would need to be at least 18in which only leaves about 3-3.5 ft of upper and lower rods on each side. We are just wanting to keep it simple to save $. Any ideas to get the most bang for our buck.

Featured Answer

ascorsonelli

7 years ago

Ditch the water closet, rotate the toilet, use the leftover space for more closet. Plenty of room then for safe, cubbies, and double rods.

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Comments (8)

cpartist
7 years ago
Why is he wanting a tall storage cubby? And how deep does he want the cubby?

If it is a narrow depth cubby, I'd get rid of the window in the closet and put the cubby there because you are correct in that you will not have enough hanging space. Plus where will you hang things like dresses if you do double rods on both sides?
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You probably know that goldfish grow to fit the size of their bowl, then they grow no more. Closets and garages are somewhat subject to the goldfish principle: The stuff we want to store in them accumulates to fit the size. So -- to some extent -- a larger closet gives you "permission" to accumulate more clothes /more stuff and excuses you from weeding out things that just aren't being used. I suggest you take a look at what you have now, and measure it. If your current storage is lacking, ask yourself how much it should expand -- half again as much? double the space? same amount of space, but with more shelves /less hanging space? If you had more space, would you add more clothes? Do you need more clothes? What else will you store in your closet besides clothes? Do you want to store your suitcases there, or do you prefer to keep them elsewhere? Do you want a spot for jewelry? Do you want ALL your clothes to store in the closet, or will you have a dresser in the bedroom as well? How many handbags /shoes do you have? How about oddball stuff like gift wrap? Do you store coats in your bedroom closet? Ski wear? Your old wedding dress? A box of baby clothes even though your kids are teens? Again, measure your own needs. I don't know what's "enough" for you, but I can tell you what we're thinking: - 8x12 rectangle closet in the master bedroom -- based up on our current wardrobes, this will hold everything we have (and more) and will allow us to e x p a n d our clothing storage so that things aren't just crammed in. I like the idea of things being easy to see /easy to reach. - We're placing the laundry room next to the closet -- the convenience feature being obvious. If not for the door to the laundry, we'd have gone with an 8x10 closet. - We're leaving a "blank space" on the wall for some hooks. This'll be for hanging worn-once jeans, etc. - This is to be our retirement house, and the 8' width allows space for a walker. Also, my 99-year old grandmother keeps a chair in her closet so she can sit down while choosing clothes -- the extra width would be valuable for that. - I do not want a window because sunlight bleaches clothes. I do hate walking into a dark closet with my hands full of things to put away, so I'm planning to use automatic lights. - I would not plan an island. Given that you need clearance space on both sides, an island would require more space than I'd devote to a storage space. - A mirror is a good idea, but I'd try to put it on the back of the door rather than allowing it to eat up valuable hanging /shelf space. - I intend to have a medium-sized dresser in the bedroom, which will hold undergarments, swimsuits and pajamas. Everything else'll be stored in the closet -- we'll have shelves for jeans and sweatshirts.
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Interesting perspective! Didn't think about that. My closet door is usually open. One thing that makes me hesitant about B, is additional construction (tearing a wall down, and adding 2 walls VS just adding one wall). Any other reasons B is better, helping convince myself it's worth the costs.
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This is kind of a "walk in but then don't move" closet. That's OK - I have one of those too.....mine is a touch wider (5.5'), but shorter. I agree that putting a hanging rack against the long wall will leave you with just under 3' of space between the racks and the wall (with the doorway), but that's still enough to stand there and choose what you're looking for; I know, because I've been doing exactly that for 12 years. However, it means you can't really put any storage furniture along the wall with the doorway.......So now you've got the back wall for hanging racks (you can do multi levels), and a very small amount of depth for shelves or a set of drawers at each short end. If you make the shelves on the short sides too deep (even where it won't bump into the doorway), it will conflict with the hanging clothes - either you won't be able to get to the shelves, or you wont' be able to get to the hanging things. (Of course, you could use a corner under a hanging rack for seasonal storage, only getting in there two or three times a year to switch out swimsuits and sandals for sweaters and thermal underwear.) You can still get creative with some of the space along the wall with the archway, using it for things that really have no depth to storing them -- a rack for belts or scarves, for instance, or maybe hanging jewelry storage. Also, remember to think about YOUR (collective) personal clothing storage needs, which aren't the same for everyone. I have very little need for full-length hanging space, for instance, as I wear almost no dresses. That means I can use half-height hanging space, and still have space for drawers and/or shelves beneath them......all my jeans and casual pants hanging over a chest of drawers.
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homechef59
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Closet design is a subspecialty. You need to determine how much you want to hang, long versus short, shoes, chest of drawers, a place to set things down, belt and tie storage, and a bench to sit and put on socks and shoes, There are planners available on website with closeting options. You should cover the window with a blind and utilize that space, too. It can get a little complicated, but if done properly it will work like a smooth oiled machine.

As illustrated on the plan, I see some wasted space.

You can hire a company to design you a plan, make it and install it. Or, you can buy systems from HD, Lowes, IKEA, or the Container Store. You can build it yourself. Do as much planning for this as you do for your kitchen.

A well planned closet is the key to organizational happiness.
bpath
7 years ago
DH gets more closet space than you do? I understand that his work gear requires space, but that will leave you with 4-5' of closet space on the long wall. Yes, lose the water closet. Instead of a tower, how about a wall of cubbies on the end wall?
autumn.4
7 years ago
I totally understand the work gear. My dh actually has his work locker downstairs and a whole wall just like that with short and long sleeved uniforms - even with our new build much more organized closet there just isn't enough room! Will the 5' section be double rods?

I too would ditch the water closet and rotate the toilet but that's such a personal preference so....YMMV.

As for cubbies - will you have a space for 3/4 hanging for dresses or anything like that? It would leave enough space for a nice sized shelf that you could fit with plugs for charging. How much stuff does he need shelving for?

Do you have space for linens in the master bath or are you trying to incorporate that also? Our closet is similar to yours but we split it one side is mine and the opposite is his. The uniforms do take up so much space, have you measured the space they currently are requiring?

I will try to post a layout of our closet organizer later, I can't seem to locate the drawing right now.
autumn.4
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Okay here is what we have - my side I have plenty of room. His side has just his day to day clothes - no uniforms and it could be a bit bigger. Do you have dressers in the bedroom? We do not - all of our clothing (besides work uniforms) is in this space. Hopefully it helps with perspective.

My side - far right is linen area as the bathroom is off this side.

His side - bottom has 2 drawers now:

overhead view:

FWIW this seems to really make a large impact on usable space. I would also make that closet door a pocket door as it may be left open mostly and it would allow more light into the bath? That's just me since that is what we have and I love it:
This is our space so you can see it is similar in many ways - we have no issues with the toilet the way it is.
cpartist
7 years ago
Can we see the layout with the master bath and bedroom?
ascorsonelli
7 years ago
Our layout is also similar--about 5.5' d by 8.5' l rectangle. We don't have a window, and the safe is in the spare bedroom's closet. On the left wall (5.5') we did a long hang rod next to a floor to (almost) ceiling shoe rack. The back wall has double rods on either side of a half wall of cubbies for folded tees and jeans. Under the cubbies is a small dresser. The right wall is all double hang. Any leftover space has shelves for luggage, etc. DH's uniforms take up one of the short rods, but we manage to have another short rod completely empty.

Throwing it out there to help you brainstorm. I found easyclosets.com to be a helpful tool designing what I wanted--then giving that to our builder. Measure everything! Shoe heights/widths. Folded clothes depth/width. Rod length currently using. It'll help.

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