How to design a walk-in closet

Bedrooms with walk-in closets or custom-made walk-in closets? Open or closed? Creativity will be your best friend when it comes to finding ideas for your walk-in closet and making the best of its style and functionality
The Royal Spanish Academy says that a walk-in closet is the “room in our house that we use to get dressed in and store our clothes”. However, modern reality reinvents the term by giving these areas enormous versatility and, even in the smallest of spaces, making it possible to design solutions that fit this definition in both an original and style-filled way.
Do you need a new space, or could you just take advantage of an available corner somewhere? What ideas should be included to make the area functional and attractive? Surely, if you’re thinking about how to design a walk-in closet you’ve already asked yourself these and many other questions. In order to shed some light on the subject, here’s a quick guide that will help you get to work and successfully complete your project. Take note!

Where to locate the walk-in closet?

Choosing the right location is the first step in figuring out how to design a walk-in closet. Location is important, not only because it will make the area more useful, but because it will affect, in part, the design itself. Do you have an unused room that you would like to bring back to life? Are you redecorating your home and don’t know what to do with the loft? Or, on the contrary, do you need a solution that fits within the limitations of your small apartment?
The possibilities are endless, and although we usually think of walk-in closets as part of our bedrooms, the truth is that any space in your house that meets certain conditions can work as a good location. Even inside a bedroom area that would normally be used only for sleeping, you can come up with original ideas. It’s now becoming more common to see bedrooms with open dressing areas right inside them, or the closet can be put behind the headboard of a bed, and some designs even show how to raise the bed and take advantage of the space underneath it in order to create a custom walk-in closet.
It’s also worth exploring other alternatives that solve the problem of how to design a walk-in closet, taking advantage of, for example, the space inside a large bathroom, the hallways inside a home, an enclosed patio, or even the space underneath stairs.

Custom walk-in closets versus creative options

Do you already know where to put it? The layout of the area where you plan to locate it will determine, to a large extent, the best solutions for this room that is meant to help organize the home.
If we are considering corners or areas with unique features (hallways, attics, stairs, etc.), the best solution would be a custom walk-in closet, although a custom option is always a great solution that can help make the most of any area. In a bedroom with a walk-in closet, for example, turning to a professional that can help design a custom walk-in closet will allow you to personalize it more.
However, if you are a DIY fan, or simply have limited space, there is an endless supply of ideas available to design your own walk-in closet. How about a pallet-based design? Why not install some simple open shelves around your bed? What if you were to recycle that old furniture and give it a second life while organizing your home at the same time?

Ideas for the perfect walk-in closet

Creativity is great for making sure your walk-in closet has its own style, but don’t forget that this area of your home needs to be functional. That’s why there are some ‘musts’ that cannot be avoided in order to successfully complete your walk-in closet project.

• Organization: This is one of the most important basics for designing any walk-in closet. Shelves, drawers, hanging bars, trousers, shoe holders, and even spaces for accessories are essential to ensure the functionality of the space.
• Accessories: Boxes, hangers and baskets are just some of the pieces that will be appreciated later and add to the organization of a walk-in closet.
• Should the walk-in closet have doors or not? This is a common question when thinking about how to design a walk-in closet, and yet there is no single right answer. If you tend to be cluttered, a walk-in closet with doors is likely the best solution, but remember you can opt for different and more original ideas that fulfil the same purpose, such as curtains, Japanese panels, etc. However, if you want to give a greater sense of visual spaciousness or have everything within sight, there is nothing like opting for an open closet or even a walk-in closet with glass doors.
• Lighting: Being able to easily find what you are looking for doesn’t just depend on the storage solutions in your custom or prefabricated walk-in closet. Light is also an important factor and, whenever possible, it’s a good idea to let in natural light, in addition to carefully placing artificial lighting in order to create the atmosphere you’re looking for.
• Mirrors: Remember that this area is meant to be used as a dressing room, so another basic idea to keep in mind when designing your walk-in closet is to include mirrors to make sure your outfit is ready to go.
• Decorations: It doesn’t matter if the walk-in closet is custom made, DIY, large, small, etc. Functionality does not have to be at odds with aesthetics, so why not add a personal touch to your walk-in closet?

So, how will you design your walk-in closet?