10 Elements of the Perfect Closet

Becky Harris I am so jealous of these. I'm obsessed with celebrity closets - my favorite closets are Tamara Mellon's (the founder of Jimmy Choo), Oprah's (designed by Nate Berkus, of course), and Carrie Bradshaw's in the first SATC movie :) .

KK B These are all lovely but, here in the real world I do not have room for any of these organizers in my closet. Please help with ideas for closet doors and closet organizer for the every day closet in a small bedroom. I do not have room for opening doors on my closet and our bedroom door is to the left of the closet. We had two sliding doors on our closet but it made it difficult to access everything. Please if you could show me other ideas I would be soooo grateful.

The Stow Company Karen -- My name is Adrienne and I work for The Stow Company. We have a lot of different types of closet and home organization systems you may be interested in. Feel free to check them out at http://www.thestowcompany.com/brands/brand-overview/

Good luck!

hislala Karen, try a curtain. Get the grommet kind so they move easily. In a pinch you can use a shower curtain rod--the tension type. Plus, woman, straighten up those shoes! haha!!

hislala it. So "it" moves easily. Just use one curtain so it can easily be out of the way. :)

Linda Karen,
A roman shade tpe would work. You could put two up- side by side, then you can either open both or just one side at a time. See if plastic shoe boxes would fit on your shelves for shoes, if shelves are adjustable, hopefully you can stack two on a shelf. If you put all colors together, it will look more organized. Put all hangers with the hook facing you, when you wear the item, turn it around. You will know what you wear (most of us have favorites and wear 20% of our clothes 80% of the time) after a season or year, get rid of the items you dont wear. This is more than you asked..as a professional organizer thought you may like some additional comments.

k2insr Karen,

A nice curtain on grommets would be a great solution. You can add a curtain tie back hook on one side if you don't want to slide it open and closed all the time. (Don't throw the sliding doors away. If you own and want to sell, buyers will want the doors back on the closet, and if you rent, your landlord will ding your deposit if you don't put them back.)

The shelves in your closet appear to waste a lot of space. You can buy pull out fronted, stackable plastic bins that would hold sweaters, shoes or purses and make these shelves more organized. You also might try an over-the-door wire shoe rack to hang on the back of your bedroom door. There are some out there that hold 18-21 pair of shoes. Also, it appears that the hangers on your closet's bottom shelf are the bulky, wooden kind. You should trade these out for the thinnest non-slip hangers you can (Huggable Hangers are great) and hang pants on tiered hangers so they take up the least amount of space.

jtierney Awesome! My closet is my favorite room in our whole house! ;)

ncamy Karen: If you put a solid piece of wood across those wire shelves then it will be easier to arrange your shoes. (The heels won't fall through the cracks!) I second the ideas of "color arranging" your hanging clothes and putting a curtain across the opening. You'll be amazed what a difference it will make to group your clothes according to color. Also if all your hangers match, it will add to the cohesiveness.

Audrey Hennefer I recently did a major bathroom reno that involved taking some space from a large walk-in closet. With less space, I had to get organized. I used the IKEA Pax system to create a very organized closet in a small space. It works much better for me than the larger closet. Karen, some of the Pax pieces will work in your closet. Then you could use the curtain as suggested or bi-fold doors. Good luck!

jendach Sliding doors waste a lot of space, in my opinion. Doors that open out on hinges give you access to the backs of the doors for other types of organizers and hanging space as well. Can you change the doors?

mariannette Consider using the external-mount doors (barn door hardware) in this section:
, which would allow complete access to the closet space.

the ikea chest/shelving components shown in this section might also be a consideration to provide
versatility in a smaller closet

gretchen sleeth I have a walk-in closet that basically needs better light. Can anyone suggest something? The current light is a ceiling fixture with 60watt bulbs.
Also, what is a good color for a closet--does it have to match the bedroom color?

dancingfish My bedroom is smaller than these closets! lol--but a girl can dream right??

dale Not everyone has a room for a closet. What I would love to see is how to efficiently organize a small space. Now, that's a real challenge!

A & D Glass Inc. If you have room, use three sliding doors with a triple track. That way you can gain access to 2/3 of the closet at one time.

The Stow Company The company I work for offers many options that cater to small closets, both Do-It-Yourself (DIY) and professionally installed.

Check them out at http://www.TheStowCompany.com and on our profile at http://www.houzz.com/photos/professionals/23078/The-Stow-Company

nataniel09 What if you have medium walk in closet with low hanging beams that limit you to 180cm, and awkward divide in the middle that can't be removed. I tried ikea (as I'm on a budget) and their pax or any other system is for min 2m height! Any cheap solutions for my rented apartment?

Yolanda Would love to see more realistic solutions to inspire my closet design. Several of these rely on an enormous room which most homes don't have the luxury of; others show great examples that fit ~6 shirts and 1 handbag per shelf. Could we have a few more "real closet" ideas, please? Would love to see what the readers have controlled closet clutter without sacrificing function & style.

libby landy karen, ikea sells panels and tracks - i bought a 'triple' for the hall closet. it not only acts as a door but art, too! FLYN JORUN, Panel curtain, dark gray is 1 of them.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60143746

heleneclaire love all the great helpful hints on this page...thank you

heleneclaire once my Walk in Closet is complete I'll pop some photos up for you, nearly there!

meljb Dear Karen, May I state the obvious? how much can you purge? Twice a year, go through the closet and try to cut 20% of what you own. Try to live/fit in the space you can afford. If that only means 10 pairs of shoes, so be it. You will find, fast that living within your means, financially as well as space wise, will be rewarding in ways you can't imagine now. Warm wishes.

Therese Andjeski As a home organizer, it is
a breeze to work in a well thought out closet. But the more space you have , the more you tend to clutter up your space. Therese / Clutered Solutions.