Case Study: A Master Closet Makeover

When Laura Baer and Mike Levine bought their 1926 Dutch Colonial-style house storage wasn't lacking. To capitalize on the space in the master bedroom closet, they installed a custom storage system. But while it offered plenty of shelves and drawers, the system's central storage unit was so wide and deep it blocked the hanging clothing areas on either side. The homeowner had taken to hanging her most frequently worn clothing on hooks on the closet doors—a convenient but messy solution.

To prepare the closet for its transformation, Laura unloaded her wardrobe onto rented rolling garment racks. Creating "keep," "toss" and "donate" piles was an easy way to organize her personal belongings. The clothes were sorted by type and color, and rehung on matching hangers.

Laura's redesigned closet is the essence of organization and easy access. A smaller stack of shelves is both shallower and narrower than the original system, so it's much easier to reach the hanging clothes to the right. The warm wood tone of the system gives the closet's interior a polished, luxurious look well-suited to the style of the master bedroom.

Laura couldn't be happier with her remodeled closet. "Now that I can see everything, I feel like I have a whole new wardrobe," she says. The double hanging section holds Laura's most-often-used items: blouses and cardigans worn to work.