These ikea Kallax shelves are very sturdy and can be configured to just about any height and length by mixing and matching different segments. The boxes are great for organizing different types of clothing, and your stacks don’t get so tall that they fall over when pulling something out from the bottom

Some option to go

with island

Now that's a closet!

Do you have a Container Store nearby? Check out their Elfa closet systems, which come in different price points. If you bring the measurements they'll work with you to come up with a design. I think their wire system is affordable (compared to other closet systems) and sturdy. They do installations too, if you don't want to take that on. They usually have a sale in January so take a look.

IKEA has PAX wardrobe system. There is you can use planner to design wardrobe online.

Those builder grade wire shelves/rods are horrible. Closet Maid at HD is reasonably priced. You could mix freestanding shelves like what Little Bird shows with more permanent installations like what Celery shows, or just put some freestanding shelves under the rods you have now - no construction necessary. If you have average DIY skills you can put Closet Maid systems together yourself. But there are a lot of these types of products - which one will work for you depends on your budget and your DIY ability.

Thank you all for the input! The built in closet ideas are so beautiful! Maybe it's worth asking for quotes. If too high of a budget, I'll try Ikea or Container Store.

Container store is not cheap. We have used Easy Closets to design built ins at a couple of houses. Install yourself, so not terrible, but higher than ikea. They will design for you if you give them measurements. Built ins are a must for me, but I don’t like having dressers in my bedroom.

Drove by a Container Store today -- Elfa is 30% off!

I despise wire shelving. I pulled all the wire shelving out of our primary bedroom walk-in closet and put in a system like the first photo Celery posted. I used Dakota Closets from Menards (I realize Menards is a regional big box store). They were easy to install, and can be customized with doors and drawers.

The wire shelving I removed got installed in another walk-in closet, where I needed more shelving and minimal hanging. Not my first choice, but the price was right!

I’d rather, in a few years, end up with exactly what I wanted versus buying something all at once and make do because it fit my budget right then…so maybe consider built in system that you can expand upon over time, as monies become available. As satisfying as being done with a project is, it’s even more satisfying when you end up with something that perfectly suits your needs and wants.

When we bought this house EVERY SINGLE CLOSET (even the pantry, which was awful) had only wire racks…..we replaced most of them. To give you an idea: our primary closet was the pits….small, cramped, inadequate shelving, no room to walk other than one single 20” aisle back and forth, and it didn’t take advantage of the 10’ ceiling height. In early 2019 we had had enough, and hubby tore everything out, incl a wide (2nd) hallway closet (which abutted ours). We stole another 14” from the hallway, built a new, solid wall there, and now we have 42” more width in our closet. It’s still a small closet for a primary, not quite 100 sf, but compared to what we had before it feels huge. Because of its compact size there are no windows, so we chose (via our cabinet folks) a white melamine closet system that was built in, assembled on site. It uses every nook and cranny and goes up to the ceiling, which is great for all kinds of storage. At the time (pre-Covid prices) it cost us $13 K to do this, so your closet (which looks much larger than ours) would indeed be quite costly, I think. If you end up choosing a nice wood the cost will just go up, up, up…..To us it was worth it and it’s one of our favorite improvements here….at least now we can both be inside it at the same time, which was not possible before. Celery shows some really nice examples, so if you plan to stay in your house for a good while, “doing it right” might be worth the expense and waiting a bit. (The $13 K also includes materials and some labor for moving walls and filling in hardwood floors etc, which you would obviously save; I think the closet system, incl labor, was about $9-10 K.) Good luck!