Closet systems (for kids, esp)

[Susie]

Our house has wire Closet Maid shelving in all the closets (all 4 bedrooms, linen closet, and coat closet), and I'm not a fan.  I'd rather have a solid shelf than wire, and I don't love that everything was installed using wall anchors.  Some of the supports are now pulling out/misaligned/etc. after 27 years, so the shelves aren't as stable as they once were.  The coat closet's shelf can't really hold much weight at all.

When I painted DD's room, I took hers out to paint the closet.  I later realized that was probably a mistake, because putting it back would be a nightmare.  So everyone else just has an unpainted closet with the wire racks still there.  Her room is a mess because she doesn't have good storage, and it's getting to be a priority.  We'll do hers first, then each other closet one at a time.  The problem is I still have no idea what to get.

Both kids have pretty modest sized closets that we need to make the most of.  I'm sure better configurations exist than what was there before.  Any suggestions - where to look, brands, features, anything?

DD’s closet before I uninstalled and painted:

[lessel]

We did Elfa systems in both our kids closets and love them. We did go the wire kind (cheaper) but the Elfa wires are closer together and they have like plastic covers that snap in to create a smooth surface. Honestly their solid shelving is great too, just pricey. We did their annual sale in January.

I’ll try to take a pic in a bit. I’m sure their closets are both kind of disasters at the moment though.

ETA pics:

Back wall of the closet from the closet door


Left wall of the closet (the ceiling is angled, so kind of awkward space)


Some of the shelves are deeper than the others and there’s a mix of long hang space and double hang space. We really only use the long hang space in my older son’s closet for costumes.

Sorry it’s a disaster 😬

[dancingirl21]

We have done closetmaid shelving units from Home Depot in all of our closets. I also prefer hard shelves to the metal shelving. DH is pretty handy but they were easy to put together and install. There’s a lot of different pieces that you can add and put together however you want.

[hbomdiggity]

Elfa

You guys are handy so it should take an hour max to install (you just hang the vertical pieces and everything attaches to that). We also use the wire but don’t it’s “nice” wire I swear.

They will give you a bunch of extra stuff but you can return whatever you don’t use so it ends up being very reasonable cost wise.

[redheadk]

For kids closets, I like Elfa, too. It is so easy to reconfigure as they grow and their needs change.

We used easyclosets.com for our closet in our old house and really liked it. It was a lot more work to install than Elfa, though.

We have a built-in wood system now and it's nice but it's fairly bare bones.

[deadwing]

I used Elfa to turn a useless closet into my office into a great storage solution. I'd definitely use it again. I think it's usually 30% off in Jan-Feb.

[Susie]

Thanks - we def need to do DD's closet ASAP bc right now there's no shelving at all post-painting, and her room is a mess as a result.  But we could hold until a Jan/Feb sale for all the other closets.

[simpsongal]

I know your punch list is long but I would probably change that accordion door to a regular swinging one. I might take the door off and do a fun curtain that ties in w/the room.

I have that std. builder grade 2 selves shelf in all our bedroom closets (removable) and I sort of like it. It might be the least expensive option too, get some 1x2s, line the 3 sides and install the boards. In DD's room I installed 2 closet bars (one low, one high) since she has lots of dresses and made use of cubbies for stuff. In DS's room I have 1 closet bar (mostly used by me for his clothes in the next size) and more cubbies for stuff and books.

[savan]

We put an elfa system in both kid’s closets. I waited for a sale, used their online planning system, and then ordered online. I’m not super handy but I was still able to install it all myself. We paid extra for non-wire shelves and have been very happy. 5 years later and they still look brand new.

[k3am]

We’ve done easy closets in every closet of both houses we’ve lived in. I really love them.

[heygrey]

www.ikea.com/ca/en/p/aurdal-wardrobe-combination-white-s49331522/

We are planning to do this in our sons closet. I like the lower bar for access now, the upper will be nice if he needs more space as he grows. The shelves are perfect for storing baskets of toys down low and I can store seasonal clothes at the top.

We had the same cheap wire shelves very poorly installed in his closet so we pulled them and painted right after we moved in (last October) and it’s still not done 😩 ikea shipping has been terrible and we haven’t been able to make a trip to the store.

[carmenere]

There’s a spend-and-save sale on Elsa right now and 15% off if you sign up for the Container Store’s loyalty program (not sure if you can stack them)

A modular system like Elfa is great because it can easily be reconfigured if your DD’s needs change.

[numbers]

I've done Elfa in 3 houses now. Great quality and love that it can be reconfigured as needs change over time.

[msn06]

We ended up doing wood shelves in the middle of DD’s closet and then one side has a double rack and the other a single rack. We got a close maid system from Home Depot. It was easy to instal and wasn’t expensive.

[sparty04]

We had some random closetmaid racks in our closet and just put in a Rubbermaid configurations system that I got pretty cheap on Amazon. It's titanium colored, and although it is wire (which I originally didn't want), I really love it. It's so easy to configure and I'm pretty sure we did the whole master closet for under $400.

[dutchgirl678]

Sept 10, 2021 8:45:05 GMT -5 heygrey said:

www.ikea.com/ca/en/p/aurdal-wardrobe-combination-white-s49331522/

We are planning to do this in our sons closet. I like the lower bar for access now, the upper will be nice if he needs more space as he grows. The shelves are perfect for storing baskets of toys down low and I can store seasonal clothes at the top.

We had the same cheap wire shelves very poorly installed in his closet so we pulled them and painted right after we moved in (last October) and it’s still not done 😩 ikea shipping has been terrible and we haven’t been able to make a trip to the store.

I want to do these too for my kids' bedrooms. However we just measured it and with the legs it is 4" too tall. I wonder if we can cut the legs to fit or put on different legs because we really like it and how cost effective it is compared to Elfa.

[Susie]

I am making an effort with this house to circle back to old threads and update with "how it went" -- this weekend we installed DD's closet system.  I got super overwhelmed trying to figure out how best to arrange shelves, bars, etc., so we measured the closet and went with the basic Elfa system for a 4 ft. reach in closet.

Install didn't go smoothly.  DD's closet was 48 or 49" wide, which was 4 feet wide as required for the shelves, but it was not the 51" wide that Elfa says you need for the 4' system.  Do most people have 4' closets that are actually 51" wide?  Anyway.  We ended up having to cut down the metal track at the top that everything attaches to, which was a PITA.  We also had to cut down some of the hanging bars, although the shelves were fine as-is.  Finally, the holes in the top track (the only piece that actually affixes to the wall) managed to miss every. single. stud.  So we had to drill new holes in order to hit studs.  All do-able, but unexpected time sinks.

Once we got through that part, though, install went pretty smoothly.  We tried a couple layouts of shelving and bars, adjusted, and ultimately it came out pretty well I think.

I would like to put one more half-width shelf on the right side, for more games/toys.  We have the shelf and one bracket, but we're one bracket short.  I think I'm going to wait until January's sale to buy a matching system for DS's closet so they can swap components as needed, and I'll get the extra bracket at the same time.  I might also do the downstairs coat closet at the same time.  

I'm not sure if Elfa is the direction I want to go for our primary closet, but for the kids it's a huge improvement over the ClosetMaid system that was just stuck to the wall with a million wall anchors, and I really like how adjustable it will be as they get taller, their clothes get longer, etc.

[bhnumbers]

Another fan of Elfa here I did two Elfa closets on my own in our old house. They can be a pain to install, but it's really good shelving and completely worth the hassle.

In this house, I used Ikea shelving (Algot)--a lot less expensive, but unfortunately, I think they discontinued it. I've been really happy with it though. I used it in 3 different closets and it's holding up great.

[lessel]

That looks great! You were brave to do the install yourselves. Elfa is pretty easy to install, especially like just bookcases on an open wall, but I didn't want to test my marriage by shoving both of us into a small confined space to tackle the install task together.

[simpsongal]

Nice work! Cutting those shorter could not have been easy. It must be so nice to finally organize your kids’ closets!