custom closet Archives - Behind Closed Doors

New Year’s Resolution: An Organized Home

Now is the time to start thinking about your New Year’s resolutions! Here at BCD, we believe strongly in the connection between an organized home and an organized life. So if your New Year’s resolution involves tackling some overdue home organization projects, we’re here to help! Here are the most popular spaces our clients reimagine in January:

Closets

The first step to a more organized home is always the closets. While you can de-clutter without changing a thing in your closet, if you really want storage solutions that works for your wardrobe and your lifestyle, it’s time to ditch the builder-grade closet for a custom Behind Closed Doors system. From drawers and shelving to doors and rods, our custom closets reflect your individual needs and style. If you’re looking for something even more luxurious, check out our blog post on the top five upgrades to consider.

Pantry

After all that holiday cooking, baking, and entertaining, you might feel disappointed with your pantry storage—or lack thereof. Whether you’re looking to make an existing space function better or create a new one, we’re here to help. We offer an array of pantry designs that include varying height shelves to accommodate all sizes of items you need to store, pull out drawers and shelves for easy access to deeper items, racks to organize spices and oils, and cabinet dividers for large plates, baking pans and Tupperware.

Entryway/Mudroom

It’s the first thing you see when you enter the house, and the area that can attract the most clutter. So naturally, we love helping clients reimagine their entryways and mudrooms with custom lockers, cubbies, benches and wall systems. There’s nothing more satisfying than having a stylish and functional place for all the shoes, coats, bags, and dog leashes that get dumped upon entry.

Offices

Home offices were once a neglected, sterile space used only sparingly, but they’re now a worthwhile addition thanks to the increase of people working from home part or full-time. We love helping our clients create offices that suit their needs, and often times making them multi-functional as well with the addition of a Murphy Bed. The great thing about wall beds is they’re the ultimate space-saving solution. When not in use, they fold back and out of the way. Plus the lines we carry are so much more attractive than the Murphy Beds of past!

Let’s start 2023 off on the right foot! Contact us today to discuss your next home storage project.

How to Purge your Closet

November is here, which means cold weather is right around the corner! As you’re pulling out all of your cold-weather gear, why not spend a little extra time purging your closet of pieces that you no longer wear or want? We know closet purging can seem like a chore, but trust us, you’ll be thankful to shed the excess clutter so that getting dressed is easy and fun again! Here are our top three tips for purging your closet.

Try Everything On

Even if you know you want to keep something, trying the item on is essential to the purging process. It makes you feel and see the piece of clothing in a singular setting so that you are able to make a decision on whether it stays or goes. The top reasons people get rid of clothing are: it’s dated, it’s worn, and it no longer makes you feel your best.

Sort Items into Piles

We recommend sorting your clothes into four piles: keep, discard, maybe, and seasonal. The seasonal pile contains items you want to keep but that are out of season. The keep pile can go back into your closet; the discard pile can be donated or consigned; the maybe pile can be stored in a bin in your closet so you have the option to bring a few items back into your wardrobe if you decide you need them; and the seasonal pile can be stored away until the proper season rolls around.

Wait a Few Weeks

Live with your wardrobe for a few weeks before adding anything new. That will give you time to make sure you truly love the items you kept and to see if there are any holes in your wardrobe now that you’ve purged some items. You’re looking for quality over quantity so be sure any additions are items you truly love!

As a general rule, if you haven’t worn anything in over a year, it should probably go to the maybe bin—unless it’s special occasion wear or has sentimental value. The maybe bin is a great way to purge without remorse. If you end up pulling out an item to wear, you can go ahead and add it back into your wardrobe. Items that aren’t worn within a year should be donated or consigned.

Now that you’ve purged your wardrobe, it’s time to start thinking about whether your closet is working for you. From reach-in to walk-in to fully custom boutique closets, let us create the closet of your dreams at Behind Closed Doors! Contact us today!

Our Favorite Space-Saving Solutions

If you’re anything like us, you’re constantly reevaluating how your home storage can work better for you! There’s nothing more satisfying than a high-functioning home, and you can’t get there without talking about storage. Enter our Top Five space-saving solutions for your home!

Murphy Beds

The best way to make a spare room multifunctional is to add a Murphy bed for out-of-town guests. This space-saving wall bed is one of the hottest trends in home design right now and for good reason. It’s an extremely cost-effective way to make the most of your space.

Garage Systems

Whether you’re looking to store taller items like rakes and ladders or smaller items like tools and nails, track and rail systems are a great choice! The best part? They’re interchangeable so they can evolve as your life (and stuff) does.

High and Low Vertical Space

Be sure to take full advantage of high and low storage opportunities in your closets, pantry, garage, kitchen and laundry room. Take your cabinets all the way up to the ceiling to maximize your high vertical space. Down low, think about custom drawers that can fit under beds for increased storage or baskets and bins that can fit under console tables and bookshelves add additional storage.

Optimizing Closet Space

The best way to optimize your closet space is with a custom closet design. This will allow you to make every inch of your space work the way you need it to! Some of our must-haves include an island to store jewelry and accessories—as well as functional add-ons like a laundry hamper and fold-out ironing board—and a mixture of open shelving, drawers, and cabinets.

Dual-purpose Rooms

We’re all about maximizing functionality at Behind Closed Doors, which is why we’re big fans of dual-purpose rooms. Why have a laundry room AND a mudroom when you can combine the two? Why dedicate an entire room to guests who only visit a few times a year when you can add a Murphy Bed to a home office? Dual-purpose rooms are one of our absolute favorite ways to maximize space in your home.

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Are you ready to make your home storage work for you? Contact us today!

Is Your Closet Fall Ready?

Fall is here! And while you might be anxious to bust out your sweaters, jackets, and boots, the transition can also come with some dread if you don’t have proper closet storage. It’s time to simplify your life with a closet that works for you! And as the premier closet designer in Coastal Delaware and Maryland, we’re here to help! Check out our five closet must-haves that will make your wardrobe transition from Summer to Fall seamless.

1.Shelves and Racks

Shelves are perfect for stacking cozy sweaters as we move into the cooler months. Don’t be afraid to use up as much vertical space as possible—especially for reach-in closets. If you really want to level up your sweater storage, add some pull-out racks to drape your sweaters on. They make your sweaters super accessible and maximize space by tucking back into the closet when not in use.

2.Full-length wardrobe cabinet

You’ll obviously need one of these for dress storage but you may need to add on another for jacket and long sweater storage. Your everyday jackets probably have a home in the coat closet, but you may want to store dressier jackets and long sweaters with the rest of your wardrobe. So be sure to include ample full-length storage when planning your new closet.

3.Drawers

Drawers are so multi-functional for intimates, accessories, loungewear and beyond. But we especially like them for hat, glove, and sock storage during the transition to Fall. Try putting the drawers in your closet island to keep all your accessories centralized.

4.Varying Height Shoe Shelves

Don’t make the mistake of keeping all your shoes shelves the same height. You’ll want to incorporate some taller shelves to accommodate boots during the transition to Fall. This may seem like a no-brainer, but we’ve walked into plenty of closets with boots crammed in a corner on the floor because there wasn’t proper consideration!

5.Seating

Seating is instrumental in any closet, but we find it especially important during the transition to Fall when you’re working with boots that are harder to put on. You can do something built-in like a bench or bring in seating as a decorative accent with chairs or ottomans. Either way, you’ll thank us!

The only thing left to do is start planning your custom closet! Contact us today to set up your in-home consultation.

How to Design a Closet that Will Age with You

One of the most important questions we ask clients during our closet design discussions is whether they’re in their forever home or their for-now home. You might be thinking, “Why does that matter? A closet’s a closet.” But we feel strongly that if you’re going to spend the money on a custom closet, it should be an investment that stands the test of time. Enter our top five tips for designing a closet that will age with you!

1. Make sure all of your clothes and accessories fit into the space.

While you may not mind transitioning out your wardrobe seasonally right now, as you get older, you’re going to want to simplify things. So it’s important to design a space that can store all of your clothes and accessories for all seasons. You may still want to move your winter clothes to the back of the closet when spring comes, but at least you won’t have to move them to a completely different space.

2. Incorporate pull-down closet rods.

Regardless of your age, we think pull-down closet rods are an upgrade everyone should add to their closet design. Why not make your clothes easier to reach? But if you’re designing an age in place closet, pull-down closet rods are an absolutely necessity to ensure you can safely reach your clothes as you get older. Issues with balance or the addition of a walker or wheelchair to your everyday routine can greatly affect how high you’re able to reach down the road.

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3. Opt for more open shelving versus doors and drawers.

Keeping your belongings in view means you don’t have to fumble through drawers and cabinets to find what you’re looking for—helping you to expedite your getting ready process. It also alleviates a lot of unnecessary stress associated with time spent looking for an item that you “know you put right here.” We’ve all been there, regardless of our age! If you prefer to keep more of your belongings behind closed doors for aesthetic purposes, think about adding pull-out drawers instead. They’ll solve the problem just as easily!

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4. Make sure you have sufficient lighting.

If you have the ability to add a window into your closet design, we highly recommend it. Natural lighting trumps artificial lighting every time! Not only does it give you a more authentic view of your wardrobe colors but it makes the space so much more cheery. Regardless of whether you’re able to add a window or not, you do not want to skimp on the lighting when designing an age in place closet. Skip the decorative lighting and instead opt for recessed lighting in the ceiling, ribbon lighting above closet rods, and recessed puck lighting so you can actually see what’s on your shelves and in your cabinets.

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5. Don’t forget to add seating.

Again, a no-brainer for any closet, but one that’s instrumental if you’re designing an age in place closet. Benches, ottomans, and small upholstered chairs are all great options to give you a comfortable place to sit when putting on your socks, shoes, and accessories.

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Learn more about our custom closet design process on our Services page.

5 Upgrades to Make Your Closet Feel Luxurious

Are you ready to ditch your builder-grade closet and finally install storage solutions that work for your wardrobe? We’ve got you covered! At Behind Closed Doors, we specialize in closets with personality. From drawers and shelving to doors and rods, our custom closets reflect your individual needs and style. And while there are endless ways to give your closet more personality, we’ve compiled a list of our top 5 upgrades that will make your closet feel luxurious!

Real Wood

Selecting real wood cabinets makes all the difference—not only in quality but in appearance as well. And because our real wood materials are fabricated locally, it’s actually an upgrade that will save you time! We can complete any size closet in a quicker timeframe without sacrificing on quality thanks to our local fabrication.

Center Island

Islands aren’t just for the kitchen! We love adding them into our custom closets to store smaller items like jewelry and accessories, as well as functional add-ons like a laundry hamper and fold-out ironing board. Elevate the look with marble or marble-look countertops.

Lighting

There’s no simpler way to elevate your custom closet than with lighting. Try installing a focal chandelier in the center of the closet to make a statement or go more subtle with recessed puck lighting to show off purses and accessories, LED lighting to illuminate your wardrobe behind glass doors, or ribbon lighting above closet rods to provide more functional light.

Seating

If you spend all this time designing your custom closet, shouldn’t you be able to sit down and enjoy it? From benches and ottomans to window seats and vanity chairs, we’re big fans of adding in seating of some shape or form to your custom closet design.

Beverage Bar

Because getting ready is more fun with a cocktail (or two)! Stock your mini fridge with waters, sodas, wine and/or beer to sip while getting dressed. Or take it up a notch by adding an espresso machine. Trust us, this is one upgrade that’s worth every penny.

Learn more about our custom closet services here.

New Year’s Resolution: An Organized Home

How to Purge your Closet

Our Favorite Space-Saving Solutions

Is Your Closet Fall Ready?

How to Design a Closet that Will Age with You

5 Upgrades to Make Your Closet Feel Luxurious

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