apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

These pictures give me the chills.
I can't tell if it's a good thing or a bad thing...
It is certainly awesome and beautiful, but it also makes me want to pull my hair out piece by piece.

I would really like to see closet solutions for small closets. I would love a walk-in closet but they just don't exist in my house!

Aleirey- I was thinking the same thing! That closet is the size of my whole bedroom. It is insanely difficult for my husband AND me to fit everything we need into our truly meager closet space. Maybe it's not possible? There are some good culling and luxury organization tips here but I am craving a post on organizing closets for necessary clothes when space (not perfecting neatness) is an issue. Even these closets are far more than I have to work with:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/chicago/organizing/20-ways-to-organize-your-bedroom-closet-043236

You can NEVER have too many white shirts, imo. Same for ties. Seriously. Now, the gray sweaters, dress pants, etc...not so much. I still want that wardrobe tho!

Hmm, I'm willing to bet Martha Stewart's closet is not "organzied." :)

Love the closet - Perhaps I can try arrange my ties in drawers rather than on coathangers and doorknobs this weekened...

Shirts ok I have a ton too-and lots of black and charcoal sweaters but those pants are out of control-wheres the denim dude!

There's been a disturbing number of misspelled post titles lately!!

I can only assume that the owner of this closet is protecting the environment by doing laundry no more often than once a month.

It's impressive, but this is not the approach for people who've heeded the core message of AT, culled our wardrobes to the essentials, and own only two pairs of pants.

Must be easy to have a closet that looks organized when all you wear is shirts and slacks and jackets...

closets by adrian monk
http://www.wallpaperist.com/wallpapers/TV/Monk/Adrian-Monk%27s-closet-1024-768.jpg

i thought this was "APARTMENT" therapy. ya know, people who's leases prevent them from doing this very thing?

Did everyone look at the picture and ignore the article? Yes, the pictured closet is over-the-top, but I think Apartment Therapy did a nice job of trying to point out broadly applicable principles. I would have liked to see photos of how those principles might apply in a smaller space on a budget, but hey, I guess that's up to my imagination.

These are great ideas you can incorporate into smaller spaces. I need to have everything organized, so I can appreciate this closet!

Jeez people, maybe the guy is a bit of a clotheshorse and/or feels like it's not in his best interest to show up in Martha's office looking like a scrub. This hardly makes him "vulgar."

So, he's rich and has a lot of clothes, big deal? He works for Martha Stewart, y'all, he can't just wear a polo and khakis every day, you know she wouldn't like that. And if you're wealthy and can afford even just half a dozen really good shirts every year, why would you throw them away? Grownups who buy quality clothes that don't fall apart end up with a lot of stuff, and people who are fortunate to have space shouldn't be tossing their clothing out after a year just to be virtuous.

Like we don't see enormously aspirational stuff on this website every day? It's not *practical* advice to say, "Well, I just call in California Closets for my 15' x 15' closet", but I have to say, it looks great. I organized my closet by color a year or so ago, and it's made finding clothing in my tiny closet way way way easier.

"Must be easy to have a closet that looks organized when all you wear is shirts and slacks and jackets..."

Some of us are professionals and MUST wear suits & ties every day.

"wheres the denim dude!"

He said his jeans were folded - likely either in a drawer or on a shelf.

More realistic options:
1) Donate everything you don't use. Value it reasonably and you can deduct up to $5,000 / year without worrying about an audit.

2) Design your closet to maximize storage. There are standard measurements available on-line e.g., distance between rods for jackets, etc.

3) Instead of California Closets, buy a far more affordable - and preferably adjustable - wire shelving system that you can install yourself, e.g. Elfa - not cheap, but get a few starter pieces during January sales - or buy less expensive systems at Home Depot, etc. Consider drawer systems if you have the space.

4) Clean out your closets regularly. Use the $5,000 donation limit as a motivator.

It may not be publishable, or solve storage problems caused by too few / too small closets, but it will help.

I do like some of the ideas that are at least shown in the photo, if not described in the post. One of my favorites is to use all of the storage in my closet, from the floor (a laundry basket for folded sweaters) to the top shelf (suitcase, blankets).

Bepsf actually reminded me of something in his comment about hanging ties on doorknobs. I had an aunt who, instead of stowing her jewelry away, used black fabric stretched across frames, which was hung like picture frames in her bedroom. She grouped jewelry by color so the display was art-like, and she could see everything. I've seen other photos on AT of accessories hung out on the wall in an organized display. That way, accessories are hung up but not crowding a small closet.

How big a discount did he get?

A well organised closet is a wonderful thing. I've never looked back from buying a dozen interlocking plastic drawer pods and installing them in my built in wardrobe (what we Australians call closets). A drawer for underwear, a drawer for white T-shirts, two separate drawers for formal socks and casual socks... all make life a lot easier when I'm muzzy-headed and half asleep and trying to get dressed in the morning. They also make it a lot more apparent when I'm running low on clean clothes and need to do a load of washing.

I watched this episode of Martha and was jealous and annoyed at the same time. I would love to have this type of closet and this caliber of clothes but there's no way I could keep it organized.

BTW: Kevin Sharkey is Senior Vice President and Executive Editorial Director, Decorating, and Executive Creative Director, Merchandising for Martha Stewart Living Omninedia, Inc. so I'm willing to bet HE can actually keep it like this.

@cakowalik

You're right. Her before is quite bad, and her after is still untidy, and not like the closet posted above.

http://www.themarthablog.com/2010/02/my-closet-makeover.html

my problem: I only have two closets in my tiny condo. one is 24inches X 24 inches. The other 28inches X 28 inches. What in the world could I do?
need to store clothes, hats, shoes, scarves, purses!

Men's closets are SO MUCH EASIER because they don't have dresses!

Just bought a house that has minimal closet space and will need the small walk-in closet (slanted ceiling, totally bare) figured out in some exciting way, but I am remembering my last apartment, where some idiot installed a lot of wire shelving in the hall and bedroom closets. They did shelves throughout the tiny bedroom closet, which meant I ended up storing towels and boxes there, and in the hall (where I wanted my towels) I had two wire shelves. I could only keep shirts and shorter skirts there (and couldn't slide the hangers side to side), and had a lot of dead space in front so I ended up with the vacuum cleaner and carpet steamer obscuring my clothes, and had to store my suits, good pants, long skirts, and dresses in a cardboard moving box. It was the worst closet situation I've ever had and taught me to steer clear of wire shelving. Fortunately my current apartment has old-fashioned rod-and-shelf closets. Not perfect for everything, but practical and easy to use. The house closet (it really only has one for clothes) will be more customized, but based on rods and shelves.