Walk in Closet Organization Help

8 months ago

We are renovating our master bedroom and creating a small walk in closet space that leads into our bathroom, in addition to a 10’ reach in closet. I have never worked with a closet organization person/company before and welcome any advice on how to approach this space.

This is a sketch of the space with the two blue lines representjng doors. The rest is open drywall and a blank slate.

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Comments (4)

BlueberryBundtcake - 6a/5b MA
8 months ago
last modified: 8 months ago
You didn't specify which way your doors open, so I'll assume they open inwards, since that would be most restrictive. You also didn't specify what your needs are.

This is really rough ...

Hanging clothes take about 22" of space out from the wall ... allow 2' if you want to enclose the hanging. As I said, the above is super rough, so I just used 2', since it was easy. The section on it's own (across from the 30" door) is not as deep, so that would be something like shelves. Arrows indicate how drawers/gliding elements could open if in that section; depending on the system, drawers may not need that much extension space. You'd need to decide how many sections you need drawers in, how much long hang you need, and whether you want more shelves, shoe storage, or just lots of hanging.

There are a number of companies that will offer free design services for their specific system(s). The Container Store has a few different lines that you can get your space designed in depending on the aesthetic you want and your budget/timeline. If you have one locally, they have displays in store, or you can look online. They can work remotely, too (virtual, phone, email), if you don't have time to meet in person or are too far from a store.
M M thanked BlueberryBundtcake - 6a/5b MA
M M
Original Author
8 months ago
Thank you! I should have mentioned that the 30” is a pocket soor (with a mirror) and the 36” swings outward, so neither go into the internal closet space. These are great ideas and considerations. I really appreciate it!
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I installed a very similar shelving unit in 2 closets in our bedroom a year ago. I think my closets are about the same width, but not as deep. For us they work beautifully! I did not add drawers, as we have a chest of drawers in the bedroom; I just have shelves for jeans, shorts, heavy sweaters, ski gear. In my closet, I have 2 hanging rods. Out of season or less frequently used clothes go in the back - they are not as convenient to reach, but it is still possible. The shelf above is for out of season storage - but the new shelving unit (and a healthy purge) means I have very little need for that high shelf. In DH's closet, I moved the hanging rod up as high as I could reach to hang up clothes, and added 2 shelves below the clothes for shoes and boxes. If you find that arrangement completely unacceptable, I suggest you take out the existing shelves/rods (I don't like hanging clothes on wire shelves anyway), rotate the shelving unit 90°, and add double clothes rods in the remaining space. It looks like there are a few pairs of pants that need a longer space - in my closet, I have a rack on the back of the closet door for long dresses.
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That layout sounds kind of like what the 2 bedroom units in the HOA I lived in when we were still in SoCal was like...The vanity area of the bathroom had a closet facing the vanity/sink side that was the two sliding door type, with a door to the toilet/tub+shower part of the bathroom to the right (left if you're coming in the door from the master bedroom) and a door to the master bedroom on the left (right if you're coming in from the toilet/tub+shower part of the bathroom) - another double door slider closet was in the master bedroom. They almost always painted all of the walls, the closet doors, and the doors in/out of each space the same color as the master bedroom because it was adjoining. The smaller bedroom accessed the bathroom through another door off the upstairs hallway, so sometimes that smaller bedroom would be painted a different color but not always. White (the same one as was used elsewhere) was a popular and sensible choice, you can always add color with accessories and art! White bedding can start to look dingy if you don't wash it in hot water (occasionally adding bleach to go into the load while it's running), so think about how much 'maintenance' you're willing to do before buying all the bedding in white (sheets and pillowcases in white aren't as big of a deal because you typically have 'decorative' pillows and a comforter/duvet covering them when you get the bed made each day). :) When we had the house on the market the 'stager' had us buy one of those cheap bed-in-a-bag comforter/shams/decorative throw pillow sets in white with a little area of patterned print down at the part that goes on the foot of the bed, which I thought was totally impractical given that our dog loves being on the bed and washing the thing would have made the fiberfill migrate around so it would be lumpy when it went back on the bed! At least the place sold in less than a month after being listed so we didn't have to worry about it for very long. :P
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bpath
8 months ago
last modified: 8 months ago
The 30” door is a pocket door, and the pocket door has a mirror? I have never seen that before! Is the door heavy, then? Hard to close?

Which door is to the bedroom, and which is to the bathroom?

What does the walk-through closet buy you that reach-in closets in the same space don’t?
BlueberryBundtcake - 6a/5b MA
8 months ago
last modified: 8 months ago
Pocket doors can complicate mounting, since nothing can be screwed into the pocket, thus it is relavent where the pocket is. If the door slides into the 8.5' stretch, you may be limited in what can be mounted there due to how the system mounts and the structure of the wall containing the pocket.

You'll still need the walking space, so the change in the door style/swing doesn't change options much, though you could probably have drawers across from the pocket door, since there wouldn't be the risk of damage through the collision of an opening door. Less awkward though, since there's no door blocking viewing/navigation.

Walk in Closet Organization Help

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BlueberryBundtcake - 6a/5b MA

M M
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Walk in Closet Organization Help

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BlueberryBundtcake - 6a/5b MA

M MOriginal Author

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