As homebuyers, we go crazy for gorgeous kitchens. And we have been known to emit sounds of delight for elegantly designed bathrooms. But what else can flip our switches when touring a home? Believe it or not, it is that which generally receives little fanfare in the big scheme of things – closets.

These unsung vessels of personal belongings have rapidly become huge selling factors in the well–designed home, getting more attention than ever before, keeping closet-organizing businesses in the black from coast to coast. “Closetphiles” are now forcing many of the nation’s homebuilders into including wardrobe spaces similar in size to small bedrooms in their floor plan designs.

It is interesting to note that organized, customized closets are not a new phenomenon. The post-war building boom of the late 40s and early 50s found even tract homebuilders adding glossy-painted built-in cabinets in bedroom walls, dining rooms, and closets just about anywhere they could fit them. Some of these early prototypes included pullout bin shelving, overhead storage, mirrors, and slanted shoe racks. But this trend began to fade from the design view for a few decades, only to return in with a vengeance in recent years in more contemporary forms.

In a 1998 issue of CUSTOM HOME magazine, architect Bob Wetmore describes some of his clients’ penchants for making closet design as important and kitchen and bath design. The Austin, Texas architect says his clients generally expect hardwood shelves, storage cabinets, jewelry drawers, granite folding tables, mirrored walls, and task lighting with the confines of their closets, with some more unusual additions occasionally thrown in for good measure; items like fireproof walls and ceilings, separate heating and air conditioning systems, and even a gift–wrapping room for the generous of heart.

Today’s state-of-the-art closets can also include skylights, wood paneling, glass-faced cabinetry and material choices that extend bathroom design motifs into closet areas. The experience of walking into one of these fantasy closets can be likened to a daily shopping trip to an elegant boutique, where perfectly displayed items of clothing and accessories beckon your decisions.

Custom closets, which might cost $4,000, can be fiscally out-of-reach to the average homeowner, relegating images of them to the pages of magazines, trade journals, and movie screens.

Now, however, many production homebuilders give buyers the opportunity to design closets to their hearts’ delight, offering closet organizer systems and cedar-lined floors and walls as regular options through their design centers.

Closet systems usually come wall-hung or floor-based. Custom-manufactured varieties are usually better built (and more expensive) than the standard-sized components available through most home improvement stores, but many homeowners would agree that any thought-out, organized system is better than the basic pole-and-shelf the builder may have originally installed.

If you are designing closets for a new home or remodeling closets in your current one, it is good to note the advice given by many closet and organizing professionals:

• Kids need more shelf space than adults. Determine if you want space in kids’ closets for toys, books and games, and look to how the closet design will adapt as they grow.

• Women need more long-garment hanging space than men. Figure on about ten items per foot for hanging space.

• Teens, small children and adults all have diverse needs for shoe space.

• Small children need more drawer/bin storage than teenagers or adults.

• Don’t overlook tie and belt space.

• Plan shelves and/or drawers for folded clothes, hats and purses.

• Decide ahead of time if you will rotate seasonal clothing items.

• Don’t forget the importance of lighting.

• Make frequently-used items easily accessible.

• Plan short, long and medium hanging space.

• Make use of high space for little-used item shelving.

Professional organizers such as Napo.net also like to recommend that homeowners invest in a supply of matching hangers so that closets appear neater and more uniform, once a system has been installed.

There are dozens of Internet sites dedicated to closet designs and organizing systems. A good one is ClosetDesign.com, a site that includes an accessories catalog from which consumers can choose closet hardware, hangers, and storage systems.

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