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Everything In Its Place

Organize your closet for convenience, to save space and to protect your clothing.

Clothes horse? Pack rat? Slob? Your closet will reveal you. But if you'd rather it didn't, there is a platoon of storage consultants and closet designers out there to make you look like a better person without the inconvenience of actually having to change.

"Everybody has habits and few people want to break their habits," said Ana Kohlhase, senior designer and associate sales manager, Closets by Design, Carlstadt, N.J. Privately, Kohlhase thinks many of her clients would do well to make large donations to Goodwill
before contemplating the re-design of their closets. But, like most closet professionals, she bites her tongue and offers tools to manage the messes as they are.

What that means is that homeowners can hold on to the dozens of outfits in sizes they will never see again. They can have 250 ties, and never wear more than six. They need never fold underwear again. They can have all the shoes they desire.

"Basically, people want to fit a lot into their closets," said Kohlhase, whose business is split about 50/50 between clients designing walk-in closets in new houses and those trying to get the most from four-foot-wide reach-in closets in houses that may be a century or more old.

In the latter case, what closet designers usually find is a single bar with a shelf just above. If they must work within that footprint, the preferred option is to replace one bar with two. "If you take out one bar and put in two - one high and one low -- you have essentially given the client an extra closet," said Joe Adelfio, owner of a Closettec franchise in Manalapan, N.J. And if the ceiling is high enough, there may be room for a wall-mounted modular drawer between the top and bottom racks of clothes.

"There is a misconception that closets are too small," he said. "They can be reconfigured to provide more space." (Up to a point, of course, and some clients do have unrealistic expectations.)

With more space, of course, comes more possibilities. In largish bedrooms, Ruth Ginsberg, president of Calclosets, Caldwell, N.J., likes to take over an entire wall to mount hanging bars, a modular wardrobe system - drawers, cabinets, whatever - or a combination of both. Everything can then be hidden behind doors.

"The main thing is to get outside of the footprint of that tiny reach-in closet," she said.  In newer houses - many of which have walk-in closets - a top goal is to replace the wire shelving of which so many builders are so fond.

"Some people don't want the wire pattern that comes with folding clothes and putting them on those shelves," said George Ranieri, Closet and Storage Concepts, Trenton, N.J. "But what really drives people to us is when they collapse from the weight of being overloaded."

Replacing the wire shelves is cabinetry whose quality ranges from melamine-wrapped particle board to what you might find in a high-end kitchen. "You can go upscale with fine woods and some people do spend thousands on upgrades," said Ranieri. "But about 75 percent of our clients choose white or almond melamine. Most people are looking for functionality."

Doors and built-in features are popular options in closet cabinetry, according to Gary von der Fecht, co-owner, Closets for Less, Clarksburg, N.J. "There are tie racks and belt racks that slide out of the units and revolve so everything on them is visible," he said. "And people love the valet poles that pull out about 12 inches. They use them to hang their outfits so they're ready to put on when they come out of the slower."

Doors? As with kitchen cabinets, they're available with solid doors or with glass inserts - either clear or frosted. Most, said von der Fecht, choose something other than clear glass because well, because "some people are not very neat."

"Many people just throw things on the shelves, then hide the sloppiness by closing the doors," he said. It's just like what goes on in the kitchen. (Well? Do you organize your canned goods alphabetically?)

Along with increasingly sophisticated closet cabinetry, said Adelfio, there is a parallel trend to remove furniture from the bedroom. "In many high-end homes, people are going for a
sparsely furnished look - often nothing more than a bed and reading chair," he said. "Instead, they are putting more in their closets."

How should clothes be stored? Michael Duru of Michael Duru Clothiers, a Red Bank, N.J., tailor and apparel consultant, frequently advises clients both on what a complete wardrobe requires and how it should be stored. One client's closet includes a hydraulic system that lifts and rotates his entire selection of suits. Another, a television personality, occasionally flies Duru to his home in Dubai for a "wardrobe audit." This involves going through the client's suits and ties and shirts and socks - everything, actually - and advising what should be repaired or tossed. Duru then suggests new items to keep the client's wardrobe up to date.

"I weeded out (NBC weatherman) Al Roker's closet after he lost weight," said Duru, who has even pre-tied ties so that a client who fumbles over this need only slip them over his head.

Duru's closet musts include adjustable shelves, drawers, adequate light and air circulation.

Why adjustable shelves? Simple: "We had a client who was 6'4" and the height of the bottom bar in his closet was 39 inches," said Duru. "All his jackets were dragging on the floor." Adjustable shelves allow homeowners to arrange things to suit them.

"My wish is that everyone would have windows in their closets," he said, explaining that colors read truer in natural light. If possible, include an air duct for air circulation and, for goodness sake, remember to take dry-cleaned items out of their plastic bags. "Those chemicals need to bleed out," said Duru.

The closet pros mostly disagreed about the windows and ductwork.

"Windows are not my favorite thing," said Ginsberg. "They create awkward wall spaces and would have to be covered or light would fade your clothing." Another thought the simple opening and closing of the door would provide adequate circulation.

But that's how it is with closets and souls: Everybody has one and thinks their own ways are fine.

DesignNJ / October-November 2006

Mark E. Dixon