7 Tips When Creating Your Custom Closet

If you’re lucky enough to have the space to build a custom closet, that’s great, but designing a custom closet is certainly not the easiest task. It takes a lot of time and patience to organize your clothes and accessories so you can best access them. The best thing you can do is to determine the type of storage you need and implement the best possible solutions. Here are seven tips to follow if you’re in the process of creating a one-of-a-kind closet.

Take Inventory

closet organizerTake inventory of all the clothing items you have when trying to determine how much space you’ll need for hanging items. For examples, if you have only blouses and no dresses or coats to hang, you’ll have a better idea of where you can place the hanging bars and what types of storage units you can place under the clothes you hang. Also, think about how many pairs of pants you have and determine if you’ll hang or fold the pants for storage.

If you’re designing a men’s closet, those spaces don’t require many single-hang spaces unless long coats or hunting gear is being stored. If you can, add more double-hang sections to better accommodate shirts and slacks.

Measurements

You need to know the amount of space your clothes will command. This is extremely important, whether you’re planning on hanging your clothes or putting it on shelves, you want to make sure you have the best solution for your storage areas. Most of your clothing items will fit inside a 24-inch deep area, so ensure that space is correct ahead of time. The best thing you can do when designing a custom closet is to look at the type of clothing items you have and plan around those items.

Cutting Corners

When looking at the corners of your closet, you’ll want to determine the best solutions for those.  The best thing you can do is to utilize as much of the closet space as you can, such as building in corner shelves. Smaller accessory items can be stored on these shelves, or you can use them to store bags and purses. Corner shelves may not be the easiest to access, to make sure whatever you decide to store there are not items that you need to gain access to everyday.

Island Dreams

Make sure when you design your custom closet that you leave enough room for an island. This is a great addition, but you need to ensure the spacing is right by leaving at least a 36-inch walkway on either side of the island. You can get away with a slightly smaller area if you’re willing to sacrifice a bit of space. However, if you’re using pull-out drawers in your island, you’ll need as much space as possible.

If the Shoe Fits

No custom closet is complete without a shoe rack, but trying to save enough space for one can be a small challenge. If you don’t want to incorporate a shoe rack in your closet, you’ll want to ensure that your cubbies or shelving units are big enough to hold your shoes.

Women’s shoes usually measure between 5 ½ to 10 inches wide, and a pair of men’s shoes generally measures from 6 ½ to 10 ½ inches wide. The best way to ensure you have enough room is to allow 7 to 12 inches of storage space per pair of shoes.

On the Bench

If you can, find room to incorporate a bench in your closet. It’s a great area for you to put your shoes on or button your blouse. A free-standing bench is the easiest option, and you can place it up against an unused wall or your island.

Accessorize

Make sure you have enough storage space for your accessories. From hanging belts to purses, ties or jewelry, you’ll want to create a space that keeps all of these items neatly organized.

You can mount belt and tie racks to any unused space on your walls. Racks to hang purses on can help you put your outfits together quickly.

When it comes to building your custom-designed closet, the sky’s the limit. The biggest things you want to remember is that you need to plan ahead of time, knowing exactly the type of clothing you’re going to place in your closet once it’s built. Plan for extra storage to accommodate your growing wardrobe, and don’t forget to add lighting. But, most of all, have fun.