Personally designed closets favored over small, plain spaces

“When I speak of home, I speak of the place where — in default of a better — those I love are gathered together; and if that place were a gypsy’s tent, or a barn, I should call it by the same good name notwithstanding.” Charles Dickens (1812-1870), English novelist, “Nicholas Nickleby”

Who would have thought that closets would be the new “it” space in our homes, and have as much prominence as they do?

Closet space is one of the key features that prospective home buyers are looking for in a new home; and having enough of it is the goal of every current homeowner or renter. We just possess a lot of stuff and we need a place in which to organize it, see it and have easy access to it.

Charles Dickens was right — regardless of what home is, a gypsy’s tent or a barn, we love it; but it better have enough closet space.

When I tour model homes, or most recently the beautiful homes in the Parade of Homes, I do indeed covet the closet space. Having the luxury of sorting your clothing by color, style and use would be an absolute joy and luxury for me. I am obviously one of many who do not have enough closet space, and it is at the top of my wish list.

As a population, our clothing habits have changed dramatically over the years and now each of us owns more clothing than an entire family would have even 30 or 40 years ago. There were a lot of home builders in the Muse family; I remember going in many homes built by them years ago and the closets were tiny by today’s standards — and nobody complained.

Jump forward to the current crop of new homes and even apartments, and closets are either walk-in or large, roomy affairs. Even walk-in closets are out of date now; the current closet is in fact a separate room. Yes, I don’t think you can count it as an additional room, but some closets are bigger than many bedrooms.

Furthermore, in larger homes, for instance, there are his and her closets in the master suite. Some actually have seating areas in them, or, at the very least, a bench or ottoman for putting on shoes, etc. In the recent American Society of Interior Designers’ Showcase house the master suite had his and her closets; in her closet there was even a small washer and dryer. It wasn’t the main laundry facility, but one just for personal laundry. These closets also featured TVs — just in case you had to have that morning TV fix while getting dressed.

Closets are so prominent in our homes that it’s not good enough to just build them; they are designed and outfitted. Most closets in larger homes don’t even have clothing rods in them — it is just a shell and it’s up to the homeowner to have the closets installed. And keep in mind, this work has to be done before you move in unless you like living out of boxes.

And, as you can imagine, if we have a need (closet design), there are many businesses ready to provide that service. In the Las Vegas Valley there are several companies that provide full closet service. A specially trained closet designer will come out and meet with you, find out how you intend to use your closet, what kinds of clothing you have (do you own a lot of long formal gowns, for instance) and will customize your space to fit your clothing. They will even build in shoe racks based on how many pairs of shoes you own and will further design drawers for folding clothes, underwear, jewelry, hats or any other item that requires special attention.

Additionally, you can visit your local home-improvement center and they can help with closet design. As prices go, I believe that route is a little cheaper than a standard closet designer; however, I believe you do most of the work yourself. When you go to a closet designer, they do it all.

Megan Hugel of California Closets says prices for one of their designer closets can run from “$300 to several thousand,” depending, of course, on how fancy or extensive you want your closet to be.

It’s hard to believe that your dream room could be a closet, but it is for a lot of people, me included. And, I will continue to covet all of those beautiful closets until I’m able to have one designed just for me. And remember, you don’t have to own a mansion to have a great closet. A well-designed one, regardless of size, is a great asset to your space and will make your life a lot easier.

Carolyn Muse Grant is the founding president of the Architectural & Decorative Arts Society, as well as an interior design consultant/stylist specializing in home staging. Her Inside Spaces column appears weekly in the Home section of the Review-Journal. Send questions to creativemuse@cox.net.