My Closetmaid Closet

My Closetmaid Closet, by Basic Organization team member Stacia Camby.

My new closet needed an organizer.  Started with empty walls but had a vision of what I wanted.  I checked out closet systems at Home Depot and Lowes because it was going to be DIY to be affordable.  Online wasn’t an option because I wanted to picture it in front of me and what would work.  It was determined that the Home Depot designs were going to work best with my closet.  The pieces that came with it I really liked.  I also determined that I wanted a free-standing organizer, not something that hung on the wall.  I had an 82” height clearance and definitely wanted to incorporate a corner piece into the organizer.  After looking at all of the components I made my decision on what I needed to purchase.  I settled on Closetmaid.

What I liked about Closetmaid was that everything was designed for you and all I had to do was put it together.

There was an array of shelving, drawers, baskets, and hanging space to customize my closet.  I wanted to maximize hanging space along with drawer space.   I bought a 25” wide x 82” high shelving unit, a corner unit, and another 17” wide x 82” high shelving unit and tied them together with hanging rods.  There was an assortment of items that fit into these larger units that suited my needs.  To insert into the shelving units I bought 5 drawers and 2 baskets, a larger one for laundry and a smaller one for odds and ends.   I also bought doors for the wider unit to finish the look.  To complement the whole organizer I bought a smaller set of shelves for shoes that fit perfectly.  For the hanging space, I determined that I wanted the longer wall for upper and lower rods and the shorter wall for long-hanging clothes.

Lastly, I installed the hanging rods and firmly attached the shelving units to the wall with brackets.  It turned out exactly as I wanted it to and with that initial vision I now have a very functional closet.   I loved all the options that Closetmaid made possible.  They did all the design and engineering work for you providing superior functionality. The directions were VERY easy to follow and I needed very few tools.  For the most part, one person was all that was needed to assemble everything except when I needed to stand up the shelves and set them into place.  The assembly process took about 8 hours.  Lots of boxes at the end for recycling!!   The total cost was around $800.  I would highly recommend Closetmaid for a simple, inexpensive custom-made closet organizer.