Just this past weekend we installed the Rubbermaid Configurations organizers in our MBR closet and I can't get over how nice they are or how easy they were to install. Now for us, cost was a major factor. Our MBR closet is huge (by my standards) 11'x7' and I had wanted to outfit 2 1/2 walls (22') with organizers. Amazon was having a sale on the Configurations so that piqued my interest. The titanium finish is powder coated, not bare metal, and there was no cutting involved. It took maybe an hour to install it on the 11 foot wall and the majority of that time was spent finding studs & measuring. The system went up brainlessly & it's very easy to change things around. Configurations is a wire system but they do have some wooden components like drawers and shoe cubbies. The individual components seem to be expensive, though. But like I said, cost was a major factor with me. I like the look of the wire & the titanium finish is more of a smooth, brushed nickel. Below is a link to the Rubbermaid website. I got my 2 sets from Amazon last week when the 4-8 foot deluxe Tianum sets were 99$. If I can luck ito another sale I'll have done the whole closet for 300$ being able to borrow pieces from each set so that I can get exactly the look that I want. I'm sure that it's nowhere near as nice as the Elfa or the Easy Track but I love it. Nina Here is a link that might be useful: Rubbermaid closets

Ok maybe I should explain a few things that I guess I didn't explain fully...lol. I absolutely love Ultra Modern and we were going to build a very modern house before we bought this house, but when I seen this house I just fell in love with it. The house I plan to make ultra modern with my furnishing and with the kitchen. When we bought the house we knew it needed a major overhaul. What I loved about the house was that the rooms were not closed off and I knew opening them up more would give more of an open layout. Before we start knocking out any walls we did consults with several contractors. We have only knocked out the arches and part of the wall which divided the Sunroom and Kitchen from the Family Room. After we bought the house I found the Original Blueprints to the house which showed that these arches were never here. I thought it was funny how the changes I wanted to make were actually bringing the house back to it's original layout. After talking to the neighbors I found out the arches were added in the 70's and so was the Kitchen and Sunroom. My thinking was by opening the wall it will follow suit with the rest of the house. I think the "Original Kitchen" may be where my Family Room or Dining Room is. It's hard to tell on the blueprints. When the addition was built of the Kitchen and Sunrrom they also added another section of basement. Now there are 2 levels in the basement. They way they laid out the Kitchen is really unorganized and does not allow for a dishwasher and the placement of the basement door and steps make for a very difficult Kitchen Layout. The attached Garage and Rooftop deck were added in the 80's or 90's and I absolutely love it. I guess my question for everyone really is what rooms would you designate for what? What room would you put the TV in cause every room has a door or windows on the wall. As far as the Kitchen I am debating on putting on a small addition so my husband can take off his shoes before he comes all through the house? After posting the pictures on the Kitchen Forum and getting the great advice on there it was suggested that I get a structural engineer to find out if I can remove the 1 column from the Family Room to the Kitchen. My KD also suggested the wall, which I know is weight bearing, be removed and utilize the Sunroom as part of the Kitchen. I do have a Structural Engineer coming out before we make any attempt at tackling that and I also have the Contractor coming out. So no worries to all. I love this house and am not changing it they way you are thinking I just need advice on if I added on how would you do it, from the side or back of the house and where to put a 55" TV and make what room for a Family Room? I appreciate everyone's input. Thank you

Nice place. You've got a great blank slate...stick with it and it will come. I agree about the kitchen backsplash, but I don't think I'd start there. There are a number of things I would think about, but first it's important for you to make the space work for you and your lifestyle. Do you need more storage? Do you entertain a lot and need more dining space? Do you cook a lot and need more surface area to work? Do you need more seating in the living area for parties and such? Or is the seating you have now adequate. So, for example, I would think about adding an island to the kitchen which people could sit at with their backs to the long wall. It would add storage below and work surface above and not block off the light from the living area. If possible, think about adding pendant lighting over the island. I would move the dining area so it is closer to the long wall. I would help define that area by using an area rug underneath. In the living room, you could use another area rug to highlight the space. The drapes look skimpy, especially with the knot in them, and the color isn't helping to bring in the strong colors from the tile floor. I would think about getting a bookcase style entertainment unit to add more storage and mass, and I would put that on the long wall...put the seating area more into the corner to make it feel cozier. If you're open to new furniture, a sectional sofa might be nice there. A lot of it will come with more wall decor as well. Right now there's only a few pieces and they are small in scale relative to the size of the walls. But you've got a good start.

It sounds like you made really good choices. I was in your position a year ago and we moved into our house 8 months ago. We also used California Closets and I was very happy with the experiences. Having your shoe shelves be non-angled is very practical in case you want to use that space for storing other things in the future (which you couldn't do easily with slanted shelves). I also upgraded to the soft-close dovetail drawers, which I love. The only thing I sort of regret is letting my designer talk me into a few frosted glass door fronts. She wanted it to feel more open and for me to be able to "display" beautiful handbags, etc. but the reality is that it's a closet and not a display space and I would rather have had totally concealed storage. I am happy with the accessories I chose: a jewelry drawer, safe, tilt-out hampers, ironing board that tucks into a drawer, full length mirror, pull-out rod and belt rod. For my kids' small walk-in closets, we got full-length mirrors (that fold away) and pull-out hampers. For my youngest daughter's (10 years old) closet, I did not pay close enough attention to the height of the hanging sections. One section is too high for her to reach so I ordered extra shelves to put in that area until she gets taller. Same thing for the drawer sections. She can reach the top 2 drawers to open them but she isn't tall enough to see what is in them. I also wish we would have been able to have pocket doors for the smaller walk-in closets but our room design did not allow for this. For the benefit of other readers looking at closet options, yes, CC is pricey but they really do handle EVERYTHING from the design to the installation and the clean-up. I wanted/needed help to design our spaces to maximize storage space and could not do that without the help of the designer. I did look at The Container Store's custom system (not elfa) but when I went to the store to open drawers, see the finishes, etc. to get a sense for the quality, they felt flimsy compared to CC. I did notice, however, that they have recently revised their custom closet offerings so maybe they have improved.