We worked with our trim/built-in carpenter for the closet lay-outs (so it was way past the framing stage...you have time! :) ). The children's rooms are upstairs with 9' ceilings. We planned for the future with my dd's closet. She is only 8 now, but I wanted her to have a teenager's dream closet/dressing room! The carpenter put two rows of hanging space with shelves above on one wall, a more "medium" shelve with hanging space for dresses on a second wall, then we built two walls of "cubbies" including shoe cubbies, and enough for jeans, sweaters, t-shirts and cubbies with baskets for underthings, belts, purses, etc. Basically, she won't need a dresser in her bedroom at all. I was really happy with how much storage we crammed into the space. I plan to store her luggage on the highest shelves, and I will keep a little step stool in there. Ds's closet is certainly not as elaborate, but we did include storage up high for luggage, etc. We had 9' ceilings in our old house, and accessing things was never an issue.

Now...downstairs in MY closet with the 10' ceilings...this is a different matter! I will need a ladder! lol!

If you have walk-in closets, have you thought about using something like this? I think these things were first designed for use by the handicapped (to get clothing down to wheel-chair level) but it also seems like a great way to get maximum use out of tall closets. Probably wouldn't work with reach in closets too well tho.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pull-down closet rod

Great question. I hope to get some ideas from the post.

Our toddler will have a 9' walk in closet. A bit of overkill, but it was that or dead space. I'm thinking we'll use the top to store his luggage, and tubs with clothes that are the next size. Other than that, I think he'll use it as a play area!

has anyone compared closet features built by the trim guy (like nini's post), vs big box melamine, vs Ikea closet systems? So many things to research...just wondering if anyone has an idea of what is less expensive for a comparable space...

Sorry I should've been more specific about what we're working with. We don't have room for walk in closets in the kids rooms, just a standard 7'x2'.

I think we've decided to drywall the closet ceiling at 7' and then make a 2' shelf above it with a couple of nice doors. I'll have to keep a foldable stepladder handy to be able to access it. But that seems to be the simplest way to handle it.

I'm also curious about juniork's question. When I was looking at kitchen cabinets I see they do "pantries" and other cabinets that would look great in a laundry room, office or bath. I wonder if that would be cheaper than having the trim carpenters build them from scratch?

We're having our cabinet maker (custom cab maker) make our systems for our walk-in closet. We are paying around $7000 including tax and install for two big walk in closets (27 linear feet of cabinets total). That's with solid wood (1/2 inch plywood), fancy stuff like glass doors, cabinets to 9ft ceilings, pull-out trouser racks and lazy-shoesens to maximize corners. I am not sure exactly how that compares to pre-done closet systems but I know it is making the best use of the space possible. HTH

Oops- posted one picture twice. Meant to post this one:

ok beagles, I'm in awe! That's another example of your attention to detail, even down to the closets!

I remember taking a photo of an Ikea closet display, put in along 1 wall of a walk in closet configuration, and it was about $700, IIRC. Have to go price out HD's set up, unless anyone else has any info.

I did a very large master in Ikea for just under $3k. I think the HD/Lowes crap is similarly priced - maybe a tad under since I paid shipping.

The Ikea has done great 2 years in. We have about 30 linear feet of cabs and an island (which is just a dresser that we put painted beadboard on the back of).

I think price for a trim carpenter vs ready made is regional. It was a no brainer for me to use a good carpenter to do all the cabinetry and trim work in the entire house. We're building a 3700 sf house with extensive built ins and a fair amount of trim, and everything will cost us around 40 k. So, it depends on the cost of labor in your area.

Btw-we're having some of the cabinet doors made in a custom shop to get better precision. There's some things that can't be done quite as well on site!