It really depends on the shape, size and scale of your room. You might have the perfect nook for creating a closet and not even know it!

But if you just have a big, square room, this is my favorite small closet solution: Laura's Pared Down Perfection Relocates
And you can just hang a curtain in front of it if you don't want to have to look at your closet everyday. :)

wardrobes are swell, if pricey.

also, rolling racks. if you can't hide it, flaunt it.

maybe a clever array of 3M hooks and coatracks.

I own an IKEA wardrobe and love it, but it's fairly large! I agree on the rolling rack idea - I LOVE rolling racks. If it were appropriate in my home, I would totally have one exposed.

A huge old armoire, if you can afford it.

IKEA PAX -
All of your clothing storage needs can be handled in one simple, clean and reasonably-priced wardrobe system.

How about the elfa storage system from the container store? It's completely flexible, way easier to move than a wardrobe, and they have ones with nice wood fronts which are flaunt-worthy (or regular ones curtains would look nice too). When you move, you just have a couple of holes in the wall to fill. I just installed one this weekend & love it (can you tell?).

I don't have a closet either, and have the HOSLE wardrobe from IKEA, which is a nice basic that's easy to customize with decals and fun hardware. Door knobs also makes the sliding doors much easier to use. I also put my bed on risers to make space under the bed to place plastic drawer containers for storing folded clothes.

You can always use bookshelves too, and hide clothes with fabric curtains for each shelf. Alterante shelves with books or nick nacks so it's not as obvious your storing clothes in every available space!

Try to pick up one or two wardrobes at a thrift store and paint them white. I think the best look would be two wardrobes with a short dresser or chest in the middle with a nice mirror over to work as a dressing area.

When I lived in a 100 year-old cottage, I had the same problem. I bought a big very sturdy metro wardrobe unit with a nice canvas cover. It worked very well for me. It even has lower shelves for shoes and sturdy wheels so it's mobile. Though it was big, it wasn't as big as my previous closet and therefore helped me pare down my wardrobe to the items I actually wear! That's a good thing. The link below shows one similar to mine.

http://www.amazon.com/InterMetro-Metro-Canvas-Wardrobe-Cover/dp/B000KRF4LI

When we built the suite for my mother-in-law, her bedroom needed a closet. We purchased the PAX system from IKEA and it has turned out really well. A couple of thoughts:

1. If you're making the PAX wardrobe go to the ceiling, don't plan on moving it again.

2. Make sure you're on a level surface, if you get the sliding doors or sliding pant holder.

3. Do an inventory of your clothes to see what you truly need/want. We found many clothes could be sent to the local thrift store.

gem

I'd totally go for the armoire. I really hope I can find an old apartment that either has very little closet space or none at all so I can justify getting one. :)

I adore antiques so to me, this would be the perfect opportunity to buy a lovely armoir. I see them on Craigslist all the time, or at antique stores and flea markets. A good dresser would also be a boon, no doubt.

Ikea sucks, Ikea especially sucks when it's meant to support any kind of real weight. I wonder how much plastic and MDF Ikea crap is in our landfills? If you cannot save up for a real piece of wardrobe furniture, and your design aesthetic allows for it, I would recommend, like some others here, the sturdy rolling wardrobe rack which can easily be repurposed once you grow out of it.

I purchased a bakers rack from a restaurant supply store (2' x 5') and left out one of the shelves.

I just bought a huge (8 ft high) armoire from CL, and it was $225. Bigger furniture often goes for less, as many people don't have room for such a monster.

"Ikea sucks..."

I agree to a certain extent - the majority of IKEA stuff does suck bigtime.

However, the PAX system - when assembled and installed properly - has proven well made, solid and durable. I purchased my system over 5 years ago, and it was quite a splurge for me at the time: 3 tall narrow cases crammed with 3 doors, 12 drawers, 2 pants racks and 2 hanging rods and several shelves. It's in daily heavy use: the drawers are overstuffed and the racks & shelves are crammed full, but not a thing has gone wrong with it - not a scuff or a broken drawer bottom, nor a broken drawer slide or a loose hinge.

I don't have a single complaint about their PAX system other than the fact that it's easily identifiable as coming from IKEA - in retrospect, I should have sourced handles from elsewhere so it wouldn't be quite as obvious...

...but it's not even close to going into landfill anytime soon.

...i don't even want to imagine living without closet space... what a nightmare

The Elfa storage system from the Container Store would be great. Just put it against a wall and hang a bamboo shade in front of it. Fabric curtains used instead of doors always look too overwhelming to me and they take up so much visual space. Best of all, since you only make a few screw holes at the top of the wall, it's completely portable and the holes are easily patched.

Until you can afford the perfect wardrobe furniture piece, you could always put a simple rolling storage rack behind a cool looking do-it-yourself soshi screen/room divider. There are many different kinds of covering you can use depending on your personal taste and your budget.

I had the exact same situation. though we had a few tiny built-in drawers (a hutch for storing napkins/silverware, originally), we got a dresser and an armoire. I waited for a while and got one that I really liked on craigslist. it's more of a chiffonrobe style that has a hanging section and drawers. I looked at ikea for a while, but I found them expensive for the quality. keep in mind how long you'll be living in your apartment-- if you're be there a while, invest in something you really like. if you won't live there long (and therefore there's a good chance your next room will have a closet), shop around for a good deal.

The closet in my bedroom is woefully small.

I bought boxes from ikea. Labeled them with pretty labels and put them on shelves. I've also used baskets.

Just a warning with baskets, and boxes make sure you put cedar in the ones you won't be going into very often.

Our bedroom is an attic so we too have no closet - and in fact zero headroom and no flat walls to even put one! So I feel your pain.

We do have a tiny narrow closet tucked in behind a door in our small study downstairs where we keep our special/hanging items (delicate dresses, suits, husbands business shirts). If you only have one or two things that really need to be hanging, you could hang them on the back of the door or even hang a pretty dress on the wall as decoration.

But clothes storage doesnt necessarily have to be a closet or a rack. For the rest of our clothes, we have the Malm drawers upstairs in the bedroom, see pic here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/delaks/3229254411/in/set-72157604221225910/
These are quite subtle and blend in really nicely with the room, plus they weren't expensive at all and we could use them elseware in the house if we move later on.

Our out of season items are folded into storage tubs and stored away in the small cupboards under the eaves you can see to the left (you could also store yours under the bed). Purses, scarves and other accessories are in the decorative boxes in the corner.

a wardrobe from a used furniture store is what you need

I had to laugh at this question - esp the SHOCKED CAPITALS. if you don't have an existing closet the obvious solution is to get a stand-alone wardrobe. How hard is it to think of this? In Europe you hardly ever see a walk-in closet, and most "built-in"s are actually wardrobes put into existing alcoves.

There are hundreds of styles of wardrobes to choose from, and Ikea do have a very good selection. I have a Pax (built in to an alcove) and an Anadoba (freestanding, one of the cheapest) in different rooms. The freestanding one has a big advantage in that it can be moved around, so it give you much more leeway in terms of how you arrange the rest of your bedroom furniture.

You never know, having been forced by circumstance to get a freestanding wardrobe you may never want to give up the flexibility it gives you.

We don't have a hall closet, but we do have a stairwell. Peppered the stairwell with hooks and those small shelves with the no-stick backing. Hides the coats and whatnot but wouldn't handle a full wardrobe...

If you have high ceilings (not necessarily HIGH, only higher than usual), you can do something similar to this:
After getting rid of two cheap and ugly wardrobes, I decided to have a king size bunk bed made, except that instead of having a bottom bed, I´ve installed shelves and a rolling rack underneath. I´ve hanged a curtain for now, but later I´ll install mirrored doors and lighting inside.
My ceilings are 3 meters tall (I´m brazilian so I think in meters, how much is that in foot measure?) and I can still seat straight at the bed and have some space above me and below the ceiling.
I took some pictures:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_EoIpZXKZh-0/SfBlhgx_X0I/AAAAAAAAAOk/aHxd_5gW5Ho/s1600-h/23042009%28001%29.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_EoIpZXKZh-0/SfBhQOllxDI/AAAAAAAAAOE/cCC1MZj7p2M/s1600-h/20042009%28015%29.jpg

I am currently in the process of moving into a studio that doesn't really have much storage space. There's a pantry/linen closet in the kitchen next to the bathroom and in the main room a closet that is almost entirely occupied by the hot water heater and HVAC vents.

I plan to use 3/5 shelves in the kitchen closet towards storing sweaters, shoes, scarves, and a couple blankets and everything else will go in my Aneboda dresser from Ikea. I'll have to finally invest in and iron however I think that by having limited space I'll be better able to curb my constant desire to buy more clothes.

I had this problem once. i used a rolling rack, put it in the corner, and placed an attractive folding screen in front. Its not the most amazing solution, but its inexepensive. Plus a bonus is that now I still have the folding screen to use for decorating my new place.

If you're not going to be in a closetless apartment for long (for me it was eight months) spending money for a nice wardrobe isn't worth it.

i too have no closets in my bedroom, but I saved and got an armoire which fit into an alcove:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/89407368@N00/2338336432/in/set-72157604129673672/

It was my first piece of antique furniture - built of mahogany in Edinburgh, Scotland in the last 1800's. Real furniture can always be re-purposed later and has some interest that ubiquitous IKEA junk will never have.

If you can't fathom how to move an armoire found on craigslist, consider trolling the antique stores on 9th street which have delivery.

sfgirl -- Those armoire look beautiful. I'd almost give up my closet for them.

This is perfect timing - I live in a 100yr old cottage with no built in storage or closet space. Our armoirs/wardrobes are bursting at the seams so I am about to take on a bit of a built in type project. I think I've decided on a wall mounted system (like elfa) which I can take right up to our very high ceiling and then hang a curtain (or maybe a blind like one of the ideas above) to conceal it until I'm brave enough to tackle installing some great big sliding door/panels. All these comments are a great help!