We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs.
Every time I tour someone’s home, there’s one room I look forward to seeing the most: the closet. It’s often the case that people who have cool houses also have a spectacular wardrobe. I love to see what they’re currently wearing and also how they organize their clothes (by color? by season?); how they make it a comfortable place to spend time in; and how they dress it up. With eight years as a Domino editor under my belt, I’ve seen a lot of closets—including the fabulous “cloffice” belonging to our September digital cover star, Meredith Peck (see above). Here are the best design tricks I’ve spotted on the job.
Fake a Door with a Curtain
This is the simplest tip of all: if you don’t have a closet door or happen to hate your existing one, hide your clothes behind a curtain. Basic white linen or velvet will do, as I learned from Sue Chan’s zen L.A. home, or you can create your own fairytale moment like Jordan Ferney with whimsical balloon-style draping.
Elevate Boring Bifolds
They squeak. They break. They get in your way. We all know bifold doors, and we have only so much patience for them. But sometimes, in a room where the bed is just a few feet away, the compact panels are a necessity. In that case, I’d take a page out of food stylist and recipe developer Diana Yen’s book and clad them in squiggly molding and chalk paint to add some interest.
Carve Out Room for Rods
Previously, Object Limited cofounder Anna Z. Gray’s closet had only one sad rod for both her long- and short-hanging items. Using the area’s original footprint, she opened up the alcove with an arched threshold and filled in the gaps with floor-to-ceiling shelves and three times as many rods. Psst: you can pack in more tops and jackets if you stack.
Create an Island from Kitchen Cabinets
Leanne Ford turned a vintage table into a closet island by filling in the space underneath with Semihandmade cabinets from her collaboration with the brand. The result is a cool-looking surface with uber-functional drawers for stashing jewelry, sunglasses, and other accessories.
Build Around an Old Armoire
Christina Valencia and Kele Dobrinski, who together run the firm Colossus Mfg, chose not to start totally from scratch when building out a closet in this Sacramento bedroom. Instead, they sawed the legs off an old wardrobe and stuck it in the core of the wall, adding two tall cabinets on either side of the unit as well as an open shoe rack underneath.
Make It Disappear with Wallpaper
London-based designer Natalie Tredgett swathed her closet doors in the same Schumacher wallpaper that covers the bedroom walls so she wasn’t faced with rows of cabinets every morning.
Have Guests Crash Next to Your Cashmere
Thanks to some clever placement of casters, Jen Rothbury can quickly turn her walk-in closet into a guest bedroom. Once the island is out of the way, the two shelves of bags open up to reveal a Murphy bed.
Get Everything at IKEA
When I think of an IKEA Pax closet hack, I go way back to Chris and Julia Marcum’s closet renovation. It had all the fixings: lots of hanging space and a “denim bar” on her side; T-shirt drawers for him; and floor-to-ceiling cubbies that hide both their luggage, along with extra hangers and a hamper. The most shocking part of the transformation was that they were quoted $30,000 for a custom space and pulled it off on their own for $3,000.