The Master Closet

The master closet is one of the three main components making up the master suite which occupies the back 60% of livable space on the second floor. In the master bath post directly below this post you will see the floor plan showing the master bath and closet. The two rooms share an interior wall and are set conveniently to each other so that one can walk from the bathroom right into the dressing/closet area without parading around the bedroom au natural after a shower. The location was important of course but we also faced several smaller but key questions about the closet when we planned it, namely:

• how big should the closet be?
• what should it be constructed from?
• what kind of storage should it offer?

The first question is of course depends on how much room you can realistically allocate but also on how much storage space one needs while still allowing the closet to be usable and give freedom of movement. The third question is probably the most important but most overlooked by architects and builders. I know from experience that closet layout and design (arguably most the third most important feature in a house behind kitchen and baths) are neglected or ignored until very late in the design process by many architects and builders. The result tends to be the allocation of a token shelf and clothes rod or calling a "closet designer" into the process. The fact that firms actually design and install closets should be an indicator of how in depth and important a well designed closet can be but when they are called in too late they are forced to work with whatever arbitrary measurements and layout they have been left with.

We were determined to not neglect the closet. We made (as any architect or designer should) a list of requirements before we started building. How many shoes did we want out at once? How much hanging clothing space did we need? Shelves or drawers? Ah! Handbag storage. What about spaces for boxed items, be it shoes or scarves, etc. Who will use the closet and/or require more of the space and how should it be divided so that things don't get mixed together? We laid out of the closet space to give most functional room for walls to accommodate storage space but now we needed to figure out how much of each component would fill the meager 80 square feet of space.

MDF (medium density fiberboard) turned out to be the best material to construct the closet from. We wanted to avoid formica laminated particle board. Too size constrictive and pre-fab looking. Wood would have been nice but with built in depths from 24" to 14" we were way past dimensional lumber options and into serious custom cut lumber or veneered plywood. Plywood is a good option but can be subject to humidity issues as well as de-laminating and warping over time. MDF is a greener product, is solid and strong, very stable and finishes beautifully with an alkyd or latex finish. The first step was to rip cut the MDF into the 8' long pieces at the three required shelf depths: 24" along the wall shared with the bathroom, 18" along the back wall and 15" along the left wall facing wall.

Given the size of the room, early photos showed little. Here, somewhat into the process one can see the three walls from the entrance to the closet. The right is the bathroom wall with 24" deep built-in which will accommodate the 8' long hanging clothes rod. Straight ahead is the 18" deep section for shelves and sliding baskets. To the right is the 15" deep unit for shoes and shoe box storage. Once I had the MDF cut in widths required I could cut it to desired lengths to form partitions and shelves as required.

The photo above shows the 13-1/2" deep shoe shelves which I installed at an 8 degree angle sloping forward for better presentation of the shoes. At the base one can see the 1x6 poplar which makes up the base of the built-in.

Here, from a bit further back in the entrance, the shoe shelves are easier to see. Note the "height gauge" handbag on the shelf at the end. While well intentioned I now think it is advisable not to use one of your spouse's handbags during the construction process.

A view of the right wall (bathroom wall) showing the clothes rod space and the long storage shelf above it.

In the blinding glare of the 4" ceiling can lighting as of yet without their baffles is a good last view of the components of the built-in closet system. To the right is the deep cabinet with five four vertical dividers. At the back the shelf and basket wall not yet completed and on the left the shoe wall. Now it is down to installing the last shelves, "face framing" the front of the partitions (I nailed poplar to the cut edge of all exposed MDF partitions for a nice finished look), nosing for the shelves, installation of baskets and drawers, and lastly, priming and painting with Benjamin Moore alkyd (oil based) primer and White Dove Satin Impervo. The results:

Looking into the closet from the hall, the closet components are all in place. I have installed crown moulding and baseboard at top and bottom to complete the built-in aspect of the shelves. In addition the "eyeball" directional baffles are now in the ceiling cans giving directed and softer light.

In designing the closet we came to some realizations. One, drawers, or at least too many of them, are a bad move. Drawers tend to be too shallow or too deep. One is either unable to get enough into them and still close them or they are too deep and one is forever digging for things they cannot see or remember are there. Shelves and baskets seems the way to go. We elected to go with two divisions (each with four drawers) with hanging brown canvas "drawers", two divisions (each with four baskets) of sliding wire basket-drawers, and the center with shelves. The entire end is allocated to open shelves and sliding baskets.

The shoe shelves allow for 30 pairs of women's shoes on each side or 24 men's shoes on each side with two two shelves at the top of each compartment for boxed shoes.

The hanging rod gives plenty of space for the two of us to keep most of our hanging clothes. A cedar closet in the other room handles "out of season" and "special occasion" clothing. The photo below gives a better view of the basket and drawer spaces.

We are very happy to have the closet functioning now and believe we planned it quite well. I leave you with a final view looking out to the hall at the dressing mirror and the shoe shelves. Stay tuned for living room and library posts due soon!