Your dream closet

Parent Cafe
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<p>Have heard clothes steamers are much better than irons, so would like a spot for that and steaming. </p>

<p>The safe should be mounted securely in poured concrete so no one waltzes off with it.</p>

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<p>I had the opportunity to do this a few years ago when we did a major renovation. My three favorite features are:</p>

<p>1) A pull out bar to hang clothes as you are getting dressed:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.carolinacloset.com/wp-content/uploads/wppa/64.png[/url]”>http://www.carolinacloset.com/wp-content/uploads/wppa/64.png&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>2) A built in dresser. I keep underwear, night wear and bathing suits in it. The top drawer is a felt-lined jewelry organizer. I keep the rest of my jewelry on a jewelry tree on top of that dresser.</p>

<p>3) A pull-out wire basket. I throw my gym clothes in mine. Hubby uses his to put his stuff that needs to go to dry cleaner.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.carolinacloset.com/wp-content/uploads/wppa/75.png[/url]”>http://www.carolinacloset.com/wp-content/uploads/wppa/75.png&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>For the luggage issue - I bought a folding luggage rack (like you see in hotels). When I’m getting ready for a trip, I take it out of the closet and set it up in a corner of our bedroom.</p>

<p>Oh, and one piece of good advice I got from the closet designer.I wanted shoe cubbies. She recommended against this and instead just put in small, adjustable shelves. So glad I agreed to this because you can get many more shoes into this space. You are limited with the cubbies.</p>

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<p>I agree with the suggestions to:</p>

<p>Have a basket or a drawer for “half-dirty” clothes
A chair or bench to sit on while you put on shoes
A center island (can be small) with drawers for jewelry
Three-way full-length mirror with great lighting</p>

<p>Also: Hooks for belts and scarves – I have many of them.
Wide shelves to accommodate knee-length boots.</p>

<p>After you meet with this closet designer, I also suggest you meet with some others before deciding who to use. You’ll get different ideas from each of them. Not to mention different prices!</p>

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<p>My dream list:</p>

<p>Lots of shelves for sweaters
Shoe storage
Great lighting
Full length mirror (the 3 sided kind)
An island in the middle for folding clothes, etc.
laundry sorter
No sharing the closet with anyone else</p>

<p>I admit to actually drooling over ads for California Closets, Container Store, etc.</p>

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<p>laketime, don’t let him leave your suitcase in the middle of the bedroom floor. My H did that and I tripped over it in the middle of the night, fell into it on my knees, and whacked my head on the corner of his chest of drawers - blood dripping down my face and a concussion! To this day I move very, very slowly in the dark.</p>

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<p>My dream closet would include:</p>

<ul>
<li>Plenty of light including natural light.</li>
<li>A fire proof safe that is incorporated into the design (ie so it does not look like a safe).</li>
<li>Room for two comfy chairs</li>
<li>An island with a cool/pretty/neat light fixture above - something that makes a statement.</li>
<li>The pull out bar that MomLive mentioned</li>
<li>Separate sections for seasonal clothing so that absolutely everything has a place and I do not need to move clothing around - ever.</li>
</ul>

<p>It has already been mentioned but it is worthy of an additional plug- the site Houzz.com is awesome!!! Great ideas for every room in the house including the closet!</p>

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<p>If you want to buy one of those folding luggage racks, saw them at the Container Store. They had the nice folding wooden one as well as the practical folding metal one for less.</p>

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<p>Thank you very much for all of the great suggestions. I will be incorporating many of these into my design!</p>

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<p>Great idea on the 3 way mirror! That would be an amazing feature.</p>

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<p>I had a dream closet about the size of room you have. I unfortunately had to give it up when we moved. </p>

<p>The room had an island in the center which was about 4 x 6. It had drawers for underwear, sweaters, socks. Along the walls were built in closets with glass doors and recessed lights. There were 2 tall shelves for shoes. Other closet cabinets had different heights for long dresses, coats, shirts, pants, suits. On top of those hanging closets were storage cabinets. All of those cabinets and closets were made of very light wood. They also had few locked drawers for documents and jewelry. I really loved that closet because my clothes were all visible and organized.</p>

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<p>My dream closet would be one filled with clothes which fit and look good – and which someone else bought. Not that I mind paying for them, but I loathe and despise shopping for them.</p>

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<p>Mom2010grad- so very envious of you! </p>

<p>We have real bedrooms smaller than your closet to be in our old house.
I have dreams of converting one of the smallest to a closet ‘sometime soon’. It is maybe 9X10.<br>
Best of luck…and thanks for starting a thread I can learn from as well.</p>

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<p>First of all I would start with metal doors with a wood overlay so that it would look normal. I would a code lock or facial recognition as security. I would then have a safe inside the closet with it’s own code. One part of the hanging bars set higher for evening gowns, long dresses. Double handing bars for regular length clothing. Plastic or glass boxes for shoes and purses. </p>

<p>I would not have a steamer in the closet. I would be down in the laundry room. No, iron and board in the closet.</p>

<p>A bench, upholstered, for sitting as you put on shoes and boots. Or as a set aside for the outfit for the next day. A full length mirror at the least…at best a double mirror for full disclosure. If you have dogs or cats who shed a dehairer thingy. (We use one a week, so we have lots of refills.</p>

34

<p>Install a flat screen tv so to keep your clothes and shoes entertained or while you are dressing and put on makeups. :slight_smile: Just leave a little corner for your hubbie’s golf clubs^^.</p>

<p>Poor my BIL, he bought a 5 beds house, my SIL tookover all 4 plus the master br closet and maybe part of the master bath, with her shopping spree. Their only son is in college.</p>

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<p>Also: A beautiful garbage pail for trash (all those labels you’ll need to cut off all your new clothes!) and a place for a box of tissues. </p>

<p>A shoe-shine kit?</p>

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<p>I second HIMom’s idea for a steamer. I don’t have one, but a well-dressed friend of mine does and she swears by it. She hasn’t ironed in years.</p>

<p>We used California Closets to redo two walk in closets in the master bedroom when we moved into our house 16 years ago – so glad I did. I have open shelves for shoes and sweaters, and two hanging racks for blouses (dresses go in a separate closet). If I had a large closet space to work with, I would have a rack for dresses too. One thing I really like are padded hangers with skirt/pant clips. I put together outfits this way then I can just grab a hanger and get dressed for work fast.</p>

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<p>What I LOVE in our new closet is the pulldown shelf system for the higher up shelves so that I can reach the blouses, skirts, etc on the upper racks. Not sure what brand we have but here’s an example of one: [Rev-A-Shelf</a> - Pull-Down Closet Rod for Closet](<a href=“http://www.rev-a-shelf.com/p-55-pull-down-closet-rod-for-closet.aspx]Rev-A-Shelf”>http://www.rev-a-shelf.com/p-55-pull-down-closet-rod-for-closet.aspx)</p>

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<p>My closet built-ins include a stack of drawers. At the very top is a drawer that is the same width as the others but that is shallow, and velvet lined, like a jewelry box where I can display everything for easy access.</p>

<p>We also had a consultation for the closets with our designer as well as a person who worked for the closet company. Be sure to measure your, and your husband’s, jackets, pants, dresses, for length so that you can have the bars placed at optimal height. You can vary according to section. Each section of ours has a bar at one end that pulls out that you can hang what I like to call today’s outfit on. :slight_smile: I like that feature and use it all the time. </p>

<p>A mirror is good, a combination of shelving of different heights and drawers. A center island is good. I would not recommend a washer and dryer, an ironing board, or a vanity in the closet. I do have a large laundry room that I love so maybe that influences my opinion. I did get one of those IronAway boards when we did our reno and I love it. </p>

<p>I think good lighting is important everywhere, not just in a closet. Part of my research for the closet designs was looking at many, many websites to get ideas, and I also looked at houzz dot come to see actual designs and how they looked with clothes, shoes, etc. in them. Our reno was a large one so research for every aspect was important because I didn’t want to go through all that and then have regrets. Someone mentioned to me that Martha Stewart has an online page where you can submit the measurements of your space and then have a look at what options fit what you want. Have fun with choosing your design!</p>