How to Design a Closet Organization System

If you can never seem to find the right shirt or outfit for work, or if your child’s bedroom has as much stuff on the floor as in the drawers, you probably have a storage problem. Learn how to design a closet organization system and solve your storage problem in this Lowe’s video:

To get an idea of what you’ll need, start by cleaning out your closet and discarding or donating items that you no longer need. Consider moving seasonal items to another closet or storing them in sealed plastic bins. Take an inventory of what’s left, counting all items. Think about your current and future needs. Will the room always be a bedroom, or will a child’s bedroom eventually become a home office?

Go to your local home improvement store and view the options for closet organizers, such as hanging racks, hamper bins, shelves and other accessories. Closet organizers can be purchased by the linear foot for custom systems or in prepackaged kits that have everything you need for a 5- to 8-foot wide wall. Most systems have additional options available such as specialized drawers, baskets, shoe racks and tie and belt racks.

Wire systems are usually less expensive and are easy to customize and install. Get a wire system with continuous sliding rods which allow your hangers to move uninterrupted across the entire bar.

Laminate systems provide sturdy shelving with a great finished look. They give the appearance of a customized designed closet for the cost of an off-the-shelf system.

Once you choose your system, you can design your closet using online tools or with graph paper and a pencil. Take measurements and rough out the bird’s eye view dimensions. Map out the height, width and depth dimensions of the closet. As most walls aren’t perfectly square, measure the width of each wall at three different heights and use the smallest measurement. Make note of any windows and as well as the location of the door and how it opens. Using your closet inventory, determine how much storage space you’ll want. Lay the items out on the floor, stack them the way you’d like them in your closet, and measure the space you used.

Double hang rods and adjustable hanging systems provide more closet space for items like skirts, blouses and shirts. Place one rod 80″ high and the other below it at 40″ high. For long items like dresses or coats, use a single hang rod and place it at 70″ high.

For a child’s closet, the bottom rod should be placed low; the upper rod, placed out of the child’s reach, can be used to store seasonal clothing. Some systems are adjustable vertically and horizontally, so they can be adjusted as your child grows or as your storage needs change.

Use drawers to store items that don’t hang or sit well on shelves, such as socks, belts and purses. Drawer frames are available in different heights; just be sure to allow adequate clearance for the drawers to open.

Make a rough sketch of your space on graph paper. After making any necessary adjustments, you should be able to determine the length of the shelves for your system. Add up all the pieces to get the total amount of materials.

When you purchase your system, you’ll need to know the type of wall in your closet (drywall, paneling, concrete) as special hardware may be required to anchor your shelving to the walls.