Closets and Home Organization - DIY "California Closet" with my funky layout???

My 1920 Dutch Colonial has what has to be the funkiest closet layout imaginable. The two front bedrooms have closets that connect (with a door), and the door to the walk-up attic is within one of them (that closet also has a window). The home inspector believed this to be an original detail of the house. When we first moved in (6 years ago), I removed the connecting door (to make my then 5 year old feel less isolated) and added a "removable" second pole that blocks access to the attic. I'm tempted to have one of the closet companies come in for a consultation, but it's highly unlikely I'll hire them, so I hate to waste their time just to get their proposed layout. I tried easyclosets.com, but found it next to impossible to factor in all the doors and window, and ultimately came up with a design that yielded LESS pole length than I currently have, which is the opposite of my goal. I envision the typical system of single pole, double pole, and shoe shelves wrapping around the perimeter of the closet (right across the window, which I'd block with a light filtering shade or something), but any segment that blocks access to the attic would have to be removable, and few, if any, of the angles are 90 degrees (assuming I could mitre the units where they'd meet in one corner that's about 75 degrees, I would locate shoe shelves there). Anyone know of a good closet design source for the D-I-Yer?

First of all, I'm trying to picture what you're describing, and I have to say that I love it! Sounds like it's a design challenge for you in terms of organization, but it does sound like a pretty roomy space? And I love that the attic access is inside of the closet. I wish my own home was set up that way.

My initial thought is that most home improvement stores in our area seem to have fairly large DIY closet systems sections. Have you checked out a nearby Lowes or Home Depot? Or even a somewhat smaller store, where you might be able to get assistance from someone who's worked there a long time and has good know-how and ideas.

Okay, another thought? My father's an engineer. He's brilliant at this sort of thing, and loves a challenge. I call him anytime that I need to design things in our home, he's great at doing things up on CAD as well. Then I've got very specific (inch-specific) plans to work from, which helps tremendously when buying suplies for a job. With this in mind, do you know an engineer who might be willing to help you come up with inventive solutions for your closet?

I guess I left out the part of the description that would indicate "small". Plus, all the doors and the window make it nearly impossible for any type of conventional closet design. Try this exercice: draw a horizontal line and label it 77 inches (note the 28 inch swinging door all the way over on the left); from the left-most point of that line, draw a vertical line, at 90 degrees, and mark it 49 inches (note a 24 inch window in the center); from the right-most point of the horizontal line, draw a vertical line, at 90 degrees, and mark it 37 inches (note a 28 inch swinging door in the center that leads to the attic); from the top of that 37 inch vertical line, draw a horizontal line of 37 inches (note a 28 inch swinging door in the center that leads to my daughters smaller closet). Finally (whew!), connect the left most end of that line with the top of the 49 inch vertical line on the left. This last connection will be a 42 inch line that will complete a 5 sided figure vaguely resembling the silouette of a scotch terrier's head. Alright, a scotch terrier ROBOT head. When we moved in, this closet had one pole, which goes from the lower left corner (terminating in a wedge right next to the door frame) to the middle of the 42 inch wall. I added the second parallel to the attic door, and it, of course, blocks access to that door. When my daughter was little, she'd wander through the hanging clothes and the shoes on the floor to enter our room via the "secret passageway". Now that she's 11, I'd like a better arrangement. Closets To Go (and others, I'm sure) use a system in which you nail a cleat on the wall and hang the closet system from the cleat. That seems like a good system, but I'll have to do a fair amount of "customizing" to get around my obstacles and strange angles. I say "customizing" but what that usually entails is, "measure twice, cut once, then go back to the store and buy the item again because I measured and/or cut it wrong"!

Okay...now you're asking me to do math? :rolleyes: Oy!!!
Just kidding...

I am going to give this some thought, and get back to you with some ideas.
Sorry for the delay!!! But hopefully if you can wait, which you already have, and we can come up with something truly great (which fits your needs) you'll have a workable solution to your problem closet.

Thanks. I'm also faxing a sketch to Closets To Go, to see what they come up with.

Hello Eddie,
I was talking with my clever engineer dad this weekend, and showed him your information to see what he could come up with.

He says that he needs a bit more information to help figure this out. Such as, which doors are in what place, which way do the doors open (in/out, to left/right). If you could even post a scanned version of your fax, that would be helpful! Can you do that?

Are you having any luck elsewhere?
-Carly

no response yet from closets to go, but I did see similar component parts at Expo Design Center store for a D-I-Y install. Here's the sketch:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v115/eddieo45/closetsketch.jpg

Great! Thanks...I'll get back to you :)

What about something like the ClosetMaid shelfTrack system that I saw in Lowes? I was looking at their system b/c it's customizable and I have an oddly-shaped closet (not as bad as yours, however!). What I thought might help you with that is everything is modular and removable, since you mount the vertical tracks on the walls and just hang all the shelves and rods off them, if you need to get at your attic door, for example.

Just an idea, hope you solve your puzzle! :)

What an odd coincidence, both the timing and content of your post! I'm just recovering from two very late nights of trying to whip this closet into shape while my wife was out of town on business. I considered "Configurations by Rubbermaid" which is at Home Depot and attaches to the wall, much like adjustable shelving and the system you describe. I figured as long as I could get the vertical members (slotted, to accept shelf brackets and/or pole supports) on either side of a door or window frame, I could always remove the shelf or pole for emergency access. The starter kit is $199, and it has a really nice brushed nickel finish, but I ended up going with "ClosetMaid Completions" at Lowe's. That system's $85 starter kit gives you a storage tower with hanging rods off either side: double on one side, single on the other, all adjustable in length. I positioned it so that the single rod mounts right into the top of the (attic) door frame and the storage tower is out of the doors swing arc. Now I only have to remove the clothes, not the rod.
Thanks for your tip, though.

That's awesome! I'm hoping your wife likes all your hard work too :)

So was it fairly simple to install (I'm a novice at such things)?

thanks; it was pretty simple; I spent a lot of time prepping and painting the closet first (wanted to make it look the best it could. she's finding the rods a little on the high side, so I'm moving them around a bit now. I wish I had taken "before" and "during" photos, but I'll at least take an "after"...at SOME point!

again I wish I had taken some before pictures, but, too late. here it is as a work in progress:
this photo shows how the 2 rods on the left terminate into the window stile (not that the wall in the background is not parallel or perpendicular; I'm currently contemplating nailing some "crossmembers" accross the window so that I can push those rods back, parallel to that back wall, giving it more of a "walk-in" depth:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v115/eddieo45/IMG_0393.jpg
and this one shows the high rod on the right into the attic door frame (note that I now have access to the attic by simply removing the clothes. there's no need to remove the rod since it mounts over the door. the central shelf tower is positioned just outside the arc of the door's swing):
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v115/eddieo45/IMG_0395.jpg
The final phase will be to add additional shelves to the tower and over the left top rod for shoes and purses (though I must confess that I haven't stopped looking at other vendor's closet systems, as if I might pull this one out and start all over.....<I just might!>)