This Is the Ideal Number of Closets for a Home to Have, According to Real Estate Pros

Recent real estate conditions have prompted many hopeful homeowners and renters to make some hard choices in their quest to find a new home. People are doing everything from waiving their inspections to offering sellers way more than asking price in order to win big in a bidding war. In some cases, buyers are even saying yes to homes that may not necessarily fit their needs by compromising on closet space. I asked a few pros exactly how many closets a person should have in their new home — and what to do when there clearly aren’t enough.

While there isn’t exactly a magic number when it comes to how many closets your home should have, Ashlei de Souza, a licensed associate real estate broker at Serhant and host of Staged, says there’s a pretty simple formula to use to make sure you have enough storage space.

“To figure out the minimum closet requirements, I consider the number of bedrooms plus two,” she says. “Each bedroom should have a dedicated storage closet, preferably inside the room or located nearby.” 

According to Heather Malone, a fresh starts registry expert with Coach Realtors, ideally your home will have additional closets for other storage needs beyond the bedrooms. 

“One closet that each home needs is a coat closet, and unfortunately I’ve seen more and more homes without this. It’s something that most of my clients point out,” she says, adding that you should also have at least one hall closet (preferably by the bedrooms) and a linen closet in each full bathroom. 

“Lastly, a pantry or at least another closet that can hold some of those bigger appliances we all have, and bigger pots and pans,” she says.

If you’re more worried about the size of your closets than the number of them, Malone says there’s ways to make the most of your smaller spaces. “Closets with built-ins make a smaller closet much more desirable,” she explains. “Having separate sections to hang longer items, and shelving for shoes really improves this space.” 

Maximizing smaller hanging storage areas by customizing them could be the solution your stuff has been looking for.

Now that you know how many closets the pros say your home should have, what do you do if your dream home is coming up a bit short on hanging storage space? “If the home is perfect in every other way, don’t let the closets be a dealbreaker,” says de Souza. “There may be other creative (and attractive!) solutions to consider before walking away.” 

For example, she says a bedroom or entry without a closet may have ample square-footage to accommodate an armoire. And an island with storage may be sufficient for your kitchen accessories and food. “Adding a beautiful basket to hold bath towels may work just fine for your bathroom if there’s no linen closet available,” she says.