While creative storage solutions are great no matter where they're located, the closet is the place where you can really go crazy with customized organization. The standard closet typically consists of a single bar to hang your clothes from with a shelf above it. This design is inappropriate for most wardrobes and doesn't make the best use of the available space. When building a new closet isn't an option, you can try some do-it-yourself design tricks to create the best closet design for your needs. Does this Spark an idea?
Measure
Before you can decide on the best closet design for your wardrobe, you will need to take some careful measurements. First, measure the closet space that you have to work with. Include the height and depth of the space along with the width. Next, evaluate the items that you need to store. Is your wardrobe comprised mostly of skirts and suits that must be hung, or do you have a lot of jeans that you fold? How many pairs of shoes do you need to store? Take stock of everything that needs to go in your closet. At this point, you can also take note of things that you wish could go in your closet. Though you may have never had room to keep socks and underwear in the closet before, if you would like to store these items here, make a note of it so that you can work to accommodate them.
Types of Storage
After evaluating the items that you want to store in your closet, it's time to go shopping for some storage solutions. A visit to your local home improvement store or home decor outlet should yield plenty of results. Look at wire baskets which can be used to hold folded items while letting you peek at the contents from the front to spot long forgotten pieces at the bottom of the pile. Closed drawers are ideal for storing socks and underwear. Shoe organizers come in nearly any imaginable shape and size from tall shelves to low cubby holes that fit along the floor. Tie and belt racks can often be mounted on the wall. If you don't need all of the hanging space available in your closet, look into some hanging organizers that provide cloth shelves suspended from a hook or Velcro enclosure that fits around the closet pole. Take note of the dimensions of each item that catches your eye, but don't bring anything home just yet.
Outfitting Your Closet
Once you have taken stock of the storage solutions that you would like to incorporate into your closet, it's time to put it all together. Draw a scaled-down representation of your closet on a piece of paper. Using the measurements that you took from the various shelves, drawers and organizers that you have your eye on, lay out your new and improved closet design. The Design-a-Closet application at Better Homes and Gardens' website (available in the Resources section below) will do most of the work for you, allowing you to drag and drop items into a closet template. Most of your storage solutions should be easy to purchase one piece at a time, with minimal home assembly. If you are living in an apartment, avoid shelving that needs to be mounted on the wall and instead opt for freestanding pieces that can go with you if you move. Once you have laid out your closet design, you can begin implementing it one piece at a time. Don't forget to check out garage sales and Goodwill stores for shelving and baskets that match your required dimensions at a fraction of the price.
Tags: your closet, storage solutions, closet design, best closet, best closet design, closet design your
