Guest Blogger: How to Beautify Your Closet

Guest Blogger #391, Entry #986, March 1, 2012

Designers, decorators and fashionistas alike look to fashion magazines, news and now online sites like Pinterest for the latest trends and inspiration in order to “get the look.” No matter one’s interest or profession, closets transcend the fashion and home boundaries and are equally coveted by all. Each home has its own style and personality and closets are its core. Just as home and fashion experts have their best kept secrets, having worked with closets of all shapes and sizes for more than 25 years, I also have my own tricks of the trade to transform these function spaces into something that reflects your personal style.

Design your closet for beauty and functionality

Start with a Fresh Palette

Whether you’re working with small or large closets, this treasured space in your home needs love. However, before you can show your love, take a look at the functionality and structure of your closet. With walk-in closets, often times the original structure contains criss-crossing in the corners, creating unusable dead space. Custom solutions can remedy this issue and create additional space in previously dysfunctional and useless corners.

Once you’ve maximized the functionality of your closet, evaluate the contents and determine what you can keep and what can be donated. Once you’ve finalized your ‘keep’ pile and you’re figuring out how to put everything back in the closet, use the compartmentalizing concept, similar to how many organize their refrigerator. Just like the milk goes back where you found it, so should the items in your closet. This can be done by installing shelving at various heights, depending on the contents, and use dividers for organized stacks. Make sure you group like things together, like sweaters, jeans and shirts, and group at the same height. An added bonus would be to organize by color, giving your closet the boutique look and feel in your own home. By employing these concepts, every type of clothing has a home, making it easier to find things while maintaining an aesthetic appeal.

Have a place for everything!

Accessorize

For extra eye candy, use glass shelving for the contents and invest in decadent boxes to store the smaller items on the counter tops. With a larger closet, consider the décor, style and furniture in the adjacent room and apply these concepts into your live-in closet to extend the design beyond just your bedroom, foyer or hallway. A few of my favorite other personal touches include adding pictures, a mirror, artwork or jewelry boxes. People also often overlook the closet as the perfect venue to show off collections like perfume bottles to ultimately makes it feel more like a room rather than a place where you store your clothing.

Make it shine!

For an even more decadent design in your closet, consider other elements like lighting, upgrading your hangers and incorporating wood finishing when extending your personal style. Similar to the rest of your home, lighting can also be customized and should also be an extension of your décor, whether you use lamps or fluorescent lights, modern or vintage. This idea of consistency and extending your décor can also be applied to the hangers. Though functional in purpose, when using the same hangers throughout the closet, it has a surprising affect on the aesthetics. It’s the dirty little secret of every fashion boutique you’ve ever shopped at! The last fabulous touch can be applied to the woodwork. If considering staining the wood or installing custom shelving, try lighter woods to open up a smaller closet, while larger closets have more flexibility with features like darker wood finishes as well as fluting, raised panel drawers, decorative faces, and incorporating light boxes to illuminate sections. Regardless of the touch or the budget, all of these concepts can be applied on any scale and reflect your personal style.

Beautify your closets

A final note

We have all been there and know when tackling the design of your closet, it may be overwhelming at first. By taking the tips that apply best to your closet, extending your current décor and design inspiration from other parts of the home, and giving it the same love and attention you give the items it holds, you’ll love opening the doors to your closet each and every day. Starting the day with a clean and organized closet that reflects your style and soul is refreshing and invigorating, and once you start, you can’t go back to the disorganized closet you put up with for too long.

Ginny Snook Scott

Ginny Snook Scott is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing of California Closets and also holds the title of Chief Design Officer. She has more than 25 years of experience with the brand leader in the industry and has helped over 1,000 clients globally organize and design their home.

About California Closets
For more than three decades California Closets has built a reputation on delivering truly custom products and unparalleled service to its clients. California Closets has helped transform spaces, enhanced homes and allowed people to get more out of life.

For more home organization ideas on Stagetecture, click here.