I also decided to not do the closets with the builder. So tired of spending money.
We had the measurements for the closets from the builders closet guy and took those to a few companies to get comparisons.
So far we have talked to carefree closets, container store, California closets, coastal closets. I have elfa shelving in our master closet now and it was an easy DIY for us. May use them again in the new build. Haven’t decided yet.

Rubbermaid Configurations. It is wire but it is fabulous, flexible and inexpensive. The States has a version that you can add "wood" trim. Canada does not have this version. I use it in all my closets. once your clothes are in, you hardly see the system and you don't loose the space for all the wood supports because of how everything hangs off the wall. Storage Solutions has a version of this system that is nicer, but not worth the uptick in price to me.

Elfa closet systems. I also like the Rubbermaid fasttrack system for flexibility, especially as the kids grow up

I wouldn't write off wire shelving so quickly. It's by far the easiest to configure because you can simply cut the shelves to length with a bolt cutter and cover the exposed shelf ends with caps.

I used Closet Maid (available at Home Depot). It offers a reasonable range of products and it's Shelf & Rod shelf combines a shelf with a hanging rod. Closet Maid does offer brackets and wood shelves, and drawers as well. If you used wall-mounted standards with brackets and shelves or drawers, you could simply move the components up the wall as your children grew. (Install long standards in anticipation of that).

Elfa (Container Store) appears to offer the widest range of components and its shelving system is the best looking of the three majors (Closet Maid, Rubbermaid, and Elfa).

Ronna, thanks for the advice. I might get a quote for custom closets in the master, but there is no way I can afford the splurge on the kid's closets given all the budget overages. You are correct; we will likely lose a weekend (or 2) of our time installing it, but sometimes we have more time than money to spend. :) Plus, it will be a teaching moment for the kids. I never realized how much I learned when my parents made us "help" install/repair things when we were kids. I know too many adults these days that don't know how to change a light bulb themselves much less install a closet system.

Wysmama, have you compared costs of the Elfa and the custom bids you have? I'm curious how it compares. Elfa looks like an awesome product, but it still seems expensive once you add up every little component. The closest Container Store is about 3 hrs away, so I'll have to plan a trip one Saturday to see it in person.

Beth, I love that closet! Care to share a ballpark price on something like that? No way I could ever DIY anything as nice as that, but given the budget overages, I'm okay with functional & organized at this point. Maybe in the future I can splurge for an animal print rug to put in mine. That looks so fun!

My home came with a wire closet system and over time all the white turned yellow and the vinyl changed and is now sticky. I can't tell you if this occurred due to age or if someone use a product to clean it that wasn't compatible, but the wires shelving is sticky to the touch and appears to grow dust. Terrible. I can't wait to get rid of it.

My family members have had great sucess with this system below

http://www.easytrack.com/

Available at a lot of locations and on line. This doesn't touch the floor so you can change our flooring in the future if necessary.

Here are more systems

https://www.homedepot.com/b/Storage-Organization-Closet-Storage-Organization/N-5yc1vZc1x1

BGS990, I saw the wood trim option, but I don't mind the look of wire, it is the fact that stuff falls through the shelves or clothes that have sat too long get the imprint on them. I do see the best inspiration rooms for kid's clothing tend to be wire shelving systems so I'll give them another look.

CLC, I'll have to look into the fasttrack system. I assume that is rubermaid's version that installs similar to the ELFA system.

Lawrence, how easy it is to purchase parts/accessories for the Closetmaid systems? I used their solid shelving version 15 years ago in my old house. At the time it was easy to configure w/ extra accessories, but I don't see that many accessories available in the big box stores. Maybe I'm not looking in the right place? It seems ELFA might be the best choice for future modifications?

I've been installing elfa in my closets since about 1988! 4 homes and an apartment, as well as in a friend's home. I love it. It's easy to install (well, not in the early years, but it is now) and you can use their design services in store and on line, but really it's pretty easy to design yourself. Always have them create the final layout to generate the parts list. Note that they have a 33% off sale in December, January, into February, and 25% off the shelving (including brackets and standards, not drawers) in August. It's only gotten better, more options, with the years :)

I bought all my Closetmaid products at Home Depot; everything I needed was in stock. The HD website shows 200 white Closetmaid products available at HD of which 83 are available in the DC store. HD will ship-to-store the rest.

Closetmaid also sells online (closetmaid.com).

Note that you can also use some Rubbermaid components with HD. I wanted a narrow, solid shelf which Closetmaid didn't offer so I bought a Rubbermaid shelf and brackets (also at HD) and attached them to the Closemaid standards.

Closetmaid doesn't turn yellow or get sticky.

Beverly, do your family members have any of the drawers in the Easy Track system? If so, do they hold up well? I found with the less expensive, big box store systems the moving parts are the first to fail. I had Closetmaid symphony for years. The towers will break easily during install if you aren't careful, but once secured to the walls are quite stable. The drawers & doors worked well for me, but my husband was apparently rougher on his and while they did last for several years, his moving parts didn't hold up as well.

We had the same concerns about the drawers over time with the Rubbermaid system. We ended up going with the elfa drawers/glides.....they just seem like they will hold up better over time. Today is the last day of their 30% off sale at container store.

We just did an Easy Track System with drawers. I love it!

Becky, just for the closet system it was in the 8 range. obviously the more bells and whistles you get raise the price. I went pretty standard. I think it's 16' by 6' ? somewhere in that range. carpet wasn't bad. 700 installed, and I had enough left over to do a smaller closet and make a small area rug.

bpath (or anyone reading this), have you used Elfa in a pantry? If so, do you recommend it for that use? I had my heart set on a custom walk-in pantry with base cabinets & counter tops on the lower portion & adjustable shelving above. Unfortunately, the money got reallocated to cover our framing overages. (The builder underestimated by more than 40%!) Now I'm looking for cheaper alternatives, or I might use temp shelving until we can afford custom. I'm really undecided at this point, but wondering if off the self base cabinets w/ Elfa adjustable shelving above will work?

CLC, I didn't realize today is the last day of the sale. I guess it is time for a road trip to at least see the system today. Thanks for the tip!

Beth, thanks for the info. You've confirmed my suspicions that a custom closet just isn't possible at this point. I'm going to try to find a system where I can put in a base system now and add accessories in the future. The accessories seem to be where the dollars really start adding up!

If you don't have a lot of money to outfit your pantry, you might consider Ikea Knoxhult Modular kitchen cabinets. They're inexpensive enough that you could probably outfit your entire pantry at once. Unlike the Ikea SEKTION kitchen system, everything is included with cabinets.

I use to sell & design closet systems for several companies. California closets is where I started. As competition grew more options with better prices became available. CA closets was a lot more than the smaller local companies which sold very similar products. I went to a local company that had similar product at least 35% less than CA to help save my clients $.

I also used the building from ground up systems a 2 times which I don't suggest anymore, because it uses more material, costs, harder to clean under and restricts storing longer items slid under on floor. I loathe wire. I rather have a metal pole with shelf above than wire.

My favorite systems are the hanging 3/4" thick high density mdf with edge banding. I would call local small business closet companies locally to get quotes. Tell them you want to do the economical package. Ask if I do all closets at once, how much savings can you offer.

Double hang $

Long hang $$

Shelving $$$

Drawers $$$$

I tried buying online, but had too many shipping problems with things getting damaged during transit or not getting what I ordered. Some of my closet companies tried online opportunities with similar issues. If anyone knows an online place of high quality & smooth process, please share.

Hope that helps.

Elfa. We got it when they had their sale. I did the layout design myself ( knew what I wanted), but there are people in the store that can help you with it. It was fairly easy to install, and I have not had any issues with it for years.

We did my daughters closet --walkin,roughly 6 x9--with closetmaid from Lowes for a few hundred. SHe has 3 floor to ceiling stacking units and some 2 level hanging and a section of long hanging. Looks nice, would do it again.

I am happy with the Ikea Elvarli closet system. I think it cost a little under a thousand dollars for both sides of this walk in.

Becky, I've used elfa everywhere BUT the pantry. Because I've never had a pantry bigger than 2' wide! Laundry, garage, bedroom closets, hall closets, basement closet, coat closets, furnace room, but no pantry.

If you are doing shelves above a standard base cabinet, it would probably be cheaper to do a few standards with brackets and wood shelves, tbh. Or some other no-name shelving system. But I don't think you can beat ease of elfa installation.

Here's a question for everyone: How often, if ever, do you adjust your adjustable shelving?

I know it's not standard, but in my closet I plan to buy few clothes rack and combine it with bookcase cabinets for foldable items and some wall shelves..

Something like this:

Clothes racks are not designed to support any real weight. They are temporary solutions, not permanent solutions for a closet.

@Becky - we made sure to get to the container store yesterday because they told us the week before that the sale ended on the 16th. And of course yesterday, they told us the sale was extended...go figure! We ended up checking some things out and will order online tonight (and pick up the order next weekend).

the Elfa system is easy to install and the sales associates can help you with the layout

I recently got a bid on an elfa closet (during the sale) and was surprised it was about 30% more than a closet from a small, local company.

We used the Easy Track system from Lowe's. We have had it for >25 years and I still love it. We had the builders install the original closet rack at 7' and then installed lower racks on 2 sides of the closet. We used their corner cabinets and towers for the rest of our closet. My husband put in shelves every 8" between the corner cabinets and the tower in the middle for my ridiculous amount of shoes!! I will see if I can find a picture of our closet.

If you have a Costco in your area, check w/them.

I did 5 custom closets with https://www.easyclosets.com/ that are looking great two years after install. Very happy with quality.

Free access to a designer, everything shipped correctly and well-packaged, great directions and easy to put up once you get the hang of it. They have sales periodically and discounts over certain dollar amounts.

Sorry for the late reply. I decided to drive 3 hours over the weekend to visit the closest IKEA and The Container Store. We decided to go with Ikea PAX for the kids' closets. Even with the 30% off ELFA sale, we were able to get more bang for our buck with Ikea. I think we will have to do a tiny "hack" to get PAX to work the way I envision, but I think it will get the job done. The sales rep called it a "hack", but I don't think the extra steps are enough to call it a true hack. I'll know once I install them. :) I haven't purchased anything for my master yet. I like the simplicity and accessories available with the PAX, but I worry about quality. I decided to install the kids' systems first to see how I like them. This will also give me time to get a quote from a local company.

While looking at the ELFA system, I saw the custom closets available at The Container Store. Those are by far the nicest systems I've seen, but the sales rep didn't seem amenable to finding a budget friendly solution. The display said as shown $3,000, starting as low as $1000. When I inquired about what the $1,000 gets you, I got the....we don't do partial systems...you can't just buy parts...you get what we design...on average $10k/closet. It is unfortunate. For the quality, I would have been open to designing my closet in phases to spread the cost over a few years to get a much nicer system. Doesn't seem like that is an option.

@Lawarence, thanks for the tip regarding Ikea Knoxhult. They have that system tucked in at the end of the Kitchen displays, so I had never noticed it before now. I had to ask for help finding them. It looks like a great deal. I've decided to wait and see where we are with the final budget before I outfit my walk-in pantry. I know I have extra bookshelves that I can use temporarily. Plus, we've been in temp. housing for 18 months and all my things are in storage. I don't even remember what I have! Once all my things are delivered, I'll know exactly what I need to store and can select a system to store everything.

Again, thanks everyone for the advice. I'll try to update you all on the PAX systems once their installed. I'm sure I'll have more questions moving forward, but it is nice to at least have a solution for 3 of the closets.

Becky - chiming in. My DH and I have decided on PAX also. We haven't gotten it yet, but we've been to the IKEA store enough times to know it's what we want. I also got a quote from The Container Store for an Elfa system during their current 30% off sale. It was really great to get a custom designed solution from the salesperson and it looked like it took advantage of every possible inch of our closet. But it was 3X the price of PAX and I just can't justify that. In fairness, we did get a quote for the most expensive Elfa solution....the solid shelves, solid drawer fronts vs just wire shelves and wire baskets. My DH was pretty adamant that he didn't want wire shelves and IKEA was solid everything so we wanted to compare apples to apples. We have IKEA kitchen cabinets in our laundry room and in our daughter's bathroom (with custom doors) and we love them. Quality seems excellent, so I'm optimistic it will hold up.

Even with a sale, the Elfa system at the Container Store is always expensive. I had some experience with California Closets. Be aware if you want floor to ceiling storage, you may have to remove the baseboard & quarter round (if you have them) & the possibly replace or repair it. Most closet companies will not touch baseboards. As for wire shelving turning yellow and tacky feeling...I agree on the slight discoloration. As for the stickiness, I periodically wipe them down. Use the cleaning solution of your choice.

We have had pax before for the kids when they were babies, and they are great.

That’s too bad they weren’t more helpful at the container store! We didn’t go “all out” with our closets......we did the elfa hanging drawers on their easy track system. Super easy to install and very solid and smooth. We spent around $300 for each closet (5 drawers each), with possibility to expand/add in the future if we want to. Hopefully what we have will work and meet our needs for a while.

For wire shelving, I would recommend Rubbermaid. Closetmaid shelving is dipped in vinyl, which gets yellow and tacky over time. Rubbermaid is epoxy coated steel, which doesn’t discolor or get tacky like vinyl does.

We went with IKEA too. Not my first choice, but after getting bids from two companies, I realized my MAIN choice was not to spend major bucks on an area that is behind doors, in the dark, for 22 hours a day.

A little late to the party here, but I wanted to add that we outfitted the closets in our new home with Pax units. I also have a free-standing Pax unit in my office. We have had them installed since August, and they are working great so far. As a side note, I also live quite a distance from the closest ikea. If you intend to pick everything up yourself, you can order online, and for $5 extra, no matter how large the order, they will pull for you. By the time we rented the u-haul enclosed trailer, and made the drive, we didn’t really save on delivery cost. However, we saved several crucial weeks on delivery time.

I used the Allen + roth system from Lowe's when I updated my master suite 3 years ago. It's worked very well for us. This one runs around $350 in my area; however, I sent out a social media request to Lowe's, and they DM'd me a 20% off coupon. They have options, though this is the one I chose: https://www.lowes.com/pd/allen-roth-8-ft-W-x-6-83-ft-H-Java-Wood-Closet-Kit/3361102

For what it's worth, I'm handier with the power tools now, so I'm getting ready to re-do my daughter's closet, and will build it myself. I'm using this Ana White plan, with a few tweaks to suit our needs: http://www.ana-white.com/2011/04/master-closet-system

Good luck with whatever you decide and Happy Houzzing!

Larri, I looked at the Allen & Roth system a few weeks ago. They look really nice. My only hesitation was the lack of customization. I hadn't seen the Ana White tutorial, but I have considered making my own system. My husband rolls his eyes every time I mention the idea. He is right. We have too much on our to-do list at the moment to even consider a total DIY system. The best we can do is a DIY install of a purchased system. If we weren't trying to wrap up a new build and get moved/settled into our new house I would infidelity consider it! We've been in temp housing for 22 months while house hunting and building. We are ready for some R&R in our own house!

I hope you'll post pictures of your daughter's closet when you finish. If I ever have time to build a full closet system, I'll likely build part of the towers the same width as a name brand system so I can use their accessories.

I completely understand that, Becky!. When you're in the trenches, adding one more thing to the list turns 'almost finished' into 'this will never be done!' Her closet is a spring break project, so it will be a bit before it's completed. i will post pics. That's a brilliant idea to modify the widths so store systems accessories will work with it. Will keep it in mind as I'm measuring. Thanks!

Here's hoping your build is completed soon, and your posting snaps for us to drool over from inside your new home. Happy Houzzing! :)

We actually had the Rubbermaid epoxy/ platinum closet when the kids were little. It worked amazingly and now after our remodel I did not want dressers in their bedrooms, just desk and bed and bookshelf maybe. We installed the Rubbermaid back up but made some tracks for the widths of the Elfa system so I could use their drawers. I just bought the drawers and brackets from Elfa for the drawers. The salesperson won’t help you if you mention this, but it works. Love it! Just need to decide on my master walk-in now between Pax and Elfa ;0)