Closet design tips and trends from the pros

A carefully designed wardrobe from California Closets is like a piece of custom-crafted furniture. The right finishes, decorative moldings, and beautiful doors are designed to fit naturally into a space—and provide you with much-needed storage and functionality where none existed before.

Wendy Miller Dowling of Custom Closet Geeks in New Bedford explains that the closet industry is growing to a new level, and with it, closets themselves are growing. “Closets are actual rooms now with islands, chandeliers, seating areas, lights to illuminate special items, and other luxury elements,” she says. With such expansive spaces, it’s all about the accessories. Think pull-out or tilt-out hampers, swiveling mirrors, drawers with individual slots, and moldings around the entire closet.

The design process for Custom Closet Geeks is as personal as the closets they create. Customers enjoy a free consultation, 3D models of their design, and can expect to have their project completed in a matter of weeks. As a family business and a Massachusetts-based company, they offer the type of support and individual attention needed for creating a special space. “Everybody’s different. Some people prefer drawers, some prefer hanging space. A big thing we like to do at Custom Closet Geeks is add corner units, be it shelves or hanging areas, to utilize as much space as possible, and we make all the units ourselves. There isn’t a closet that we don’t do, from children’s closets to walk-in pantries,” she says.

At Closet Factory in Harwich, most of their unique systems are floor-based, meaning the majority of their closet projects are built from the floor up rather than using hanging systems, ensuring that the unit is both structurally sound and spatially efficient. “Hanging systems don’t have panels that go all the way to the floor, so if you wanted to use that space differently, there’s not an opportunity to do that like with a floor-based system,” says owner David Townsend. The company also does an inventory of the items in a customer’s closet to ensure the space they create is specific to individual needs.