The Luxurious Closet

by Roberta Murphy

Luxury Closet
Luxury Closet by Studiobeck

In our coastal San Diego luxury real estate market, buyers are almost manic about their closets–and especially the ones in the master suite.

Luxury home buyers are most pleased when there are separate closets for each–or if single, closets for the seasons. The compleat closet in the luxury home will be spacious, well lighted and masterfully organized. It is a room where we prepare ourselves to meet the world–or simply the day. The closet holds our clothing, our personal treasures, our shopping triumphs. It’s status in homes has been elevated to be far more than functional storage. People now want to spend real time in their master bedroom closets.

And what are some features they would like to see?

  • A staggered hanging carousel for shirts, skirts and jackets.
  • A swing rod that comes down and elimates strain from reaching up for hangers–especially in closets with the more prevalent high ceilings.
  • Banks of bureau drawers that are fully extendable, and which have super-quiet concealed glides that prevent snaggy contact.
  • All shelves are smooth, snag-proof and have vertical dividers that can be adjusted for height.
  • A built-in floor or wall safe for valuables.
  • A few locking drawers.
  • Floor to ceiling mirrors. Natural lighting is often achieved with protected skylights.
  • Large spaces for organized shoe storage.
  • A dressing bench.
  • It is also a plus when laundry facilities are nearby.

Other bonuses and accessories in the luxury home master closet would be rotating show carousels, scarf and tie cellarets, lingerie caches, jewelry inserts, tasteful garment bags, decorative storage boxes, and wicker storage baskets with washable cotton liners.

If your closets come nowhere near this description (and my own do not), the best and first thing you can do (whether you plan to sell or not) is to clear it out and keep only those things that you love–and those which love you by hanging so well on your body. Look at your emptied closet and determine if it needs paint, new rods, shelves, scented shelf paper, or new lighting. Is there room for a mirror? A dressing bench? Might it be organized differently? Is there room to move in a small chest?

(If you follow Feng Shui guidance, this might also be the time to introduce needed elements to the room.)

This closet re-do is one that will yield great benefits to you, whether you intend to sell your home or not. There is nothing that beats the sense of peace and control that comes from having a beautifully organized personal closet that is used day in and day out. And if you are selling your home, it is a feature potential home buyers will appreciate.

The bedroom closet may be a small thing, but is one of the most frequently used spaces in the home.

This article has 12 Comments

  1. I live in an old house from the 1930’s, and the closets are so tiny that it’s not even funny. You’ve described closet nirvana and I can say, closet space in my next house will be a very big factor!

  2. Neece:

    Years ago, we lived in a former physician’s home (built in 1933) that had the tiniest closets imaginable. For today’s tastes, you would probably have to appropriate an entire bedroom for a closet:-)

  3. Hi Roberta, yes, it’s a great home, very ‘unique’ to say the least. And you’re so right, I think if we had the space, we’d turn a whole room into one enormous closet! 🙂
    My goal instead is to sell it in a few years to a young family and have a place built with closets like you described in this post. 🙂

  4. AAAaaaah! Roberta, closets can be so awesome. Good closets are so important…and how about shoe closets, they’re getting bigger in some parts of the country.

  5. Ines:

    A place for shoes; a place for bags; a place for funky belts and scarves.

    To organize it all and to create a place for creation: That is art.

    That is why we and our clients stand in awe of such organization and artistry–and why we are so fascinated with the lowly closet.

    It is our treasure chest.

  6. We have a small daybed in mine, which my five-year-old loves.

    As of yesterday, she’s now taken a shelf in there for her books, and calls the room “her reading room.”

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