I've used the Elfa Decor in my previous house and the basic Elfa system in the new home and been very happy with it. I didn't think it was worth spending more for the wood trim of the Decor version, so went with the basic second time around. Not rickety, but then again, function and maximizing storage is my first priority in a closet. Having it look like furniture is not important to me.

You can definitely mix and match the shelving with actual dressers. If it works for you, do you really care if someone else doesn't like it?

We also used Elfa in the pantry when we built last year. I used white in the pantry and the darker brown color in the bedroom closets.

In my prior home I did have a regular furniture chest of drawers in each DD’s closet. One of them was an oak dresser from the old Unpainted Furniture store and it had clean lines and excellent drawer action, so was good for closet. I think it just depends on your space measurements ( ht, width, depth including room to pull out drawers) and think what you want to store where- how you get dressed, how you reach for things, what is preferable in bedroom or closet or other storage.
I would be leery of a lot of “ modern” wood furniture but might get second hand items like good maple or oak small chest of drawers ( if not ancient mildew odor) which you could paint to match. Really, for drawers for things I use every day, I pay a lot of attention to how smoothly they open because it is then a good experience , then how deep or if need a combination.
I actually have a some decades- old Techline furniture that is still going strong and use a small cabinet inside my closet.
Have some fun looking at “ closet candy” and thinking about what variations work for your stuff.

Don't forget shoe storage. I've used the 3 different drawer/shelf versions from Elfa and narrow shelves. I designed the layouts myself and then told the Elfa designer what I wanted. I got more storage space than they would have designed and it fit my needs and not their idea of a generic closet.

We also have high ceilings and made sure they installed the vertical supports higher than normal to get 2 shelves up high for off season storage and even a couple of suitcases.

I have Elfa systems in all of the closets in our condo. They're great. There are different tiers of finish for them; you don't have to get the basic white wire ones (although they function perfectly well). We have the Elfa Decor in ours with the stainless look shelving/brackets and walnut fascia. We put these in nearly seven years ago and have never had an issue with them.

I'd recommend using their pullout drawer pieces instead of building around a dresser.

The Avera line is new since we put ours in; not sure you have to spend the money on the upcharge unless you really like the look.

We have California Closets in our home, which had some nonstandard issues, and they've worked great -- the consultant even found a way for us to reclaim some space in the walls for additional shelving! In renovations, I have frequently used EasyClosets.com, which has nice finishes for a reasonable price -- would consider them for my own space too. Can have shoe shelves and lots of other stuff I tend not to use.

Oh, I'd also put a dresser in the main part of the room, perhaps a long low one on the wall where you show a chair. Much better for all the stuff that gets folded than anything in the closet!

Diana 8-Drawer Dresser, White/Oak Structure · More Info

Maybe it’s just me, but the Elfa stuff seems cheap and flimsy.

Definitely not flimsy as far as the ability to hold the weight of clothing, food etc. Is it the prettiest out there? Definitely not, but it is adjustable, versatile and durable. I care more about paying for function in my closet than paying for pretty wood!

The wood shop we used to build our custom front door sent us a quote by mistake, intended for another customer. It was for a custom master closet and it was around $40,000 for the wood cabinets and components alone! I'll spend crazy money on some things, but closets isn't one of them!

Yeah, I think the first closet photo I posted was $500 total, with all wood and parts, but we hung it ourselves. Pre-covid pricing, of course, so who knows now...

The Elfa isn't an inexpensive option either, the pantry I posted above was $3,500 for parts and $800 for installation. My total for 6 Elfa closets in the new house, installed Dec 2021, was $15,500 for materials and $4,800 for labor.

I think using dressers on the bottom can be a great idea if it fits the space. Go for it. I didnt put hanging space above, but I just used two ikea Songesand 4 drawer dressers, backed against each other, to form a center closet island. I have two other matching dressers in the closet room.

I also can recommend Easy Closets, They’re really helpful with design. I bet if you told them what you need above dresser space, they can maximize the use of your wall space. You might even be able to put together something for the full wall and be pleasantly surprised. We used it in our master closet (not the closet i use) and were able to include drawers, hampers, shelves and all.

We have Elfa mixed with some IKEA Hemnes (mostly because we already had the Hemnes and I don't love the Elfa drawers--we have them in our other closet). I find Elfa solid though sometimes do have to screw in the vertical hanging standards if the wall isn't perfectly flat (which they recommend doing anyway, but which isn't required and I usually don't find necessary). If you screw them in, it's rock solid, and most of the time I find it solid enough even without that step. It may well look hodge podge, but we're the only ones who use the closet, so were more concerned about functionality. It would look a little more integrated if I'd gotten the Elfa graphite finish to be closer to the Hemnes hardware, but we just stuck with platinum because that's what's in our other closet and I wanted to be able to mix and match the pieces.

Thank you all for taking the time to provide your experiences, thoughts, and guidance. I really appreciate it! I probably should have been more specific about my comment regarding concerns with Elfa -- overall it seemed strong and sturdy, but the drawers just did not have a feeling of being substantial. Sliding them open and closed vs. for example Avera was a night and day difference. Maybe the store we were at did not build them well? Since we want (well, I do at least) a substantial amount of drawers in our closet, I am placing a priority on how the drawers feel. I could see using Elfa with a dresser that had solid-feeling drawers, too.

Easy closets looked really nice online and i really like their planning tool! But, I am really worried about the fact that they don't have a showroom -- given that sometimes things look great online and then you can have a different reaction when you see something in person, it feels a little bit too risky for the amount of $$ to spring for them sight unseen. I just wish they had a showroom so I could test out the glide and feel of the drawers for example!

Thank you all again for your help!

Re: Elfa installation, the Container Store usually runs a promotion at the beginning of each calendar year. Buy all the pieces from them and they will give you free installation. If you can wait for that (find out when it is, exactly) it's a substantial savings.

FWIW that‘s my Elfa drawer experience too. We just skipped the drawers in the new closet since I really like the shelves and rods and found it more flexible than Pax. But we also have a dresser in our bedroom, so that makes drawers in the closet pretty unnecessary anyway. They’re more for long-term storage.

For my walk-in closet (8 ft long, 7 ft wide) I used EasyClosets for the main walls. Divided each side into 3 sections, with shelves and various hanging heights. In the middle section on both sides I bought Ikea Sektion kitchen 5-drawer cabinets (15" deep, 30" wide, 30" tall, 6" metal legs). I bought an Ikea countertop and cut it to fit each cabinet. The cabinets have full-extension slides ("Maximera") and hold socks, underwear, etc. The deep bottom drawer is great for hoodies and sweatshirts. The best part is that the hanging bars, shelves, etc. can be quickly rearranged, added-to, removed, etc. The photo shows the left closet wall; the right wall is configured similarly. The end wall has a tall Billy bookcase with multiple extra shelves and holds shoes.

Drjsmith, that looks really cool! I appreciate the visual since it's similar to what I had in mind and it's good to know it can work. Can I ask, how does the width of the cabinet compare to the width of the elfa? Does it fit perfectly between the vertical supports? Or if not, does it stick out at all from the wall in any kind of awkward way?

@drjsmith I am curious about the two horizontal steel bars in the centre of your closet, set near the back. What are they for?

I have a similar situation as kandrewspa, Home Depot down both sides with a 16” shelf added above everything, then an antique dresser that isn’t my taste but reminds me of my sweet mil on the back wall for drawer space. Probably less than $300 total.