Any closet, large or small, can benefit from a closet shelving system. While these systems are most commonly used to store clothing, a shelving system is a great way to organize a craft closet, a pantry or a cleaning closet too. This type of system can help people who have a habit of throwing items on the closet floor or cramming them onto the hanger bar. The shelves help you designate a specific place for each item or type of item.
Planning a Closet Shelving System
The type of shelving system you should use is dictated by both the size of the closet and the type of items stored in the closet. For example, there is no reason to have an elaborate shelving system for a closet that just holds bath towels. Two or three wire shelves will do just fine.
Before determining which type of shelving system to buy, you should complete the following steps:
- Empty out the closet completely. Sort the items that were inside it into three piles: throw away, keep and give away. Trash the "throw away" items and depart with the give away items.
- Take stock of what is left. Is it mostly clothing? Consider a shelving system that will accommodate sweater boxes, shoe storage towers and the like. Is it mostly small items, like craft supplies? Consider a shelving system that will accommodate a lot of labeled boxes or bins. Is it a hodgepodge of all different kind of things? Consider a hybrid system.
- Take measurements. Get the exact height, width and depth of the closet. It is a complete waste of time to purchase a shelving system that is too small or too large. It has to be an exact fit.
- Sketch out a preliminary design. Use the measurements to help in determine what to put where. It's very hard to shop for a system without having a good idea of the desired outcome. People who have no idea where to start can get help from Easy Closets' Online Design Tool.
- Decide where to shop. Take this design to the home improvement store or custom closet designer and look at some of the specific organizational items. Then look for cheaper prices online if desired.
Building a Shelving System
People who wish to build their own shelving systems have a lot of options. There are many stores where a person can buy each component of the system separately and then build them into the closet one by one. These places include:
Hiring Outside Help
While a do it yourself closet shelving system is a far cheaper option, hiring a contractor to do it may be preferable for a person who is not particularly handy or has a very large closet, such as a walk-in. Some of the stores mentioned above offer installation services, including Lowes, Home Depot and Ikea. There are also companies that deal strictly with the business of coming to people's homes and organizing their closets for them.
- Closet Factory specializes in wooden closet organizers and lets the customer choose the closet layout, finish and knobs. Each organizer is custom built after a design consultation.
- California Closets has collections designed for the bedroom closet, entertainment center, home office and garage available in a wide variety of looks. Again, an in-home consultation is the first step to creating the perfect shelving system.
