Love California Closets, but quite expensive!! We have a combination of Pax wardrobes from Ikea and Closetmaid system from Home Depot. I'm offically out of hanging space so am thinking of taking out the dresser to place add'l hanging space on back wall. (DH says I just need to get rid of all the things I don't wear...I guess there's some truth to that! Left side has shelving for sweaters + hang space and right-siis mostly double-hang space + section for dresses etc. (Pic taken before everything got piled back in! Add'l storage hidden in these pics) I keep all casual T-shirts etc in Pax wardrobe in DH closet + space in 2 spare rooms...yes, it's time to re-organize so perhaps this thread will motivate me to do it! I would love to have everything including storage for shoes in 1 spot, but this closet simply isn't large enough! What is lacking in my closet is space for shoes...they are all over the place and something that I would certainly want to address for any 'do-overs'!

I agree, you need more shelves in those spaces where the shoes are not. So that you DO have space for shoes--look at all the air above them! You want those shelves narrowly spaced so they're almost perfectly sized cubbies. (MiMi's pics show you a good setup--nice job, MiMi!). You also need to have some discipline, so you actually PUT those shoes on those shelves (I see lots of blank space on those shelves; clearly nobody's using them). And there are empty hangers--but clothes piled behind them. So, that's because of a combination of a system you don't believe in or find hard to use, AND a lack of discipline. (First, those are crappy hangers; get ones that don't bend. I'm a fan of chrome) The other set of shelves is in an annoying position, since you have to reach around the dresser to get to it--that's not working. Can you move that dresser over? (No need to center things)

I was messing around in Sketchup can came up with this layout using hanging towers. The middle rod would hold dresses and unused dressy clothing for both of us. I'd skip putting in the bottom rods to see how it works with just the top first. If the bottom rods aren't needed, then the laundry basket and perhaps a shoe system would go there. The towers have adjustable shelves using pegs. Top shelf would be 12in from ceiling, and with a 72" hanging tower, that would give about 12" off the floor. Currently we just keep a carry on bag on our top shelf. Thoughts?

I think you're giving the taper too much power. If something needs to be in a bin, that bin doesn't need to exactly fill up the whole shelf. Lots of stuff may not need to go in bins or baskets anyway. You could get 12"-deep boxes and put them on the deeper side, and leave the rest of the shelf for setting things that don't go in bins or boxes. Or, if you do need a bin that exactly fills the shelf, can't you use your plethora of woodworking tools to make your own in a trapezoidal shape? It's just an oddly shaped wooden drawer, which is itself a lidless wooden box. (I made a storage box/bin for an oddly shaped space by cutting up foam-core board and hot-gluing it together. Now and then I have to reinforce it, but it works great! I'm too lazy to make it out of wood, and I don't have a lot of experience using thinner wood like 1/4" luan or masonite, and 3/4" stock would be too heavy) You could install shelves, or you could make "pockets" to hang on the wall based on what's going to go in them (if you make your own pockets, you can make them as fat as you need for whatever you're going to put in them). I'd say: First, figure out how to put a single hanging rod on the 24"-deep side (and limit how many coats can go in there--everybody in the family gets two hangers, and any other outerwear goes in the bedroom). Or, put in one hanging rod (those Closet-Maid/Elfa wire shelves?) for long coats, and install second one halfway down the wall to convert one half of that space for jackets? My experience is that especially in winter, there are more hip-length coats than short jackets, so plan for winter, not spring or fall. Then see what sorts of other storage needs you can fulfill there--would the vacuum bit on the coats side? Can you put pockets on the side wall for gloves, hooks for umbrellas and dog leashes? Can you put a tray or basket on the floor to hold boots or shoes? Or something on the shelf above the hanging rod that would be useful for what you store there? Then stand in front of that tapered side with all the stuff you're going to put in there, and see what inspires you. Do you want shelves you can put boxes on? (You could make a small trapezoidal bookcase and bolt it to the wall, leaving space below it; or use brackets on the back wall to install tapered shelves--you can buy brackets of varying lengths.) Would pockets or baskets on the side wall be useful for stuff like cleaning supplies or shoes? Would hooks allow you to use the most shallow section for hanging the vacuum hose?