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Tips for Making Your Closet Function Better

Anthony Cuomo • Nov 25, 2014

When we design and install your custom closet, our goal is to help you enjoy the organization and ease that a customized storage space can give you. While our products go a long way in achieving this goal, homeowners also need to put in some effort to get (and keep) the closet organized as well. We often receive questions from our clients on the best and easiest ways to keep storage spaces neat and tidy. Here are a couple of them, with our answers included:

Q: How can I start the organizing process before having my custom closet installed?
This is an excellent question, because the more work you do before we come, the less work you’ll have to do after your closet is fully installed and ready to use. We will need your storage space to be empty before we start working anyway, so this is the perfect opportunity for you to purge and get rid of the items that you don’t need any longer. Remember the Pareto Principle (sometimes called the 80/20 rule), and apply it to your closet: Eighty percent of the time, you’re probably wearing only twenty percent of your wardrobe. This means that you can probably give away, sell, or otherwise relocate well over half, and probably more like three-quarters, of your clothing, shoes and accessories.

It might help to label a few boxes with tags like Seasonal, Donate, Sell and Trash. As you take out your items to prepare for your new closet installation, look for items to go in these boxes. The outfits that are out of season can be stored on a shelf in your new closet or in another area of your home, depending on the space you have available. The ones that are to be donated, sold or trashed should be taken out of your house right away to avoid having them sit around. By the time you have your custom closet installed, you should be down to what you wear most of the time, along with a few outfits for special occasions. Voila, much of your work is done!
Q: How do you make more space in my closet?
Many of our clients are surprised at how much space they have available when we’re done customizing it. We have the experience and expertise necessary to look at a space and see various configurations that will work to optimize the square footage, as well as work around or integrate any special features in the closet. We also have 3D software that allows us to put in our measurements and calculations and figure out exactly what the finished product will look like.

We use some methods that you might not have thought of, such as installing clothing rods parallel to one another and going from front to back, instead of side to side, in a smaller closet. We have wardrobe lifts to make use of overhead space in closets with high ceilings, and we have a variety of accessories available, as well. When we’re done with your closet, you will gain more space than you might have imagined possible! If you have any questions about custom closets, preparing for installation, general maintenance or anything else, please don’t hesitate to give us a call.