Master Closet Dimensions?

Does anyone have any recommendation (or links) on how big or how to configure a new master closet?

 

Master bedroom closet sizes tend to vary. First, assess your needs. What is your lifestyle? Do you and your spouse have a work and casual wardrobe and how extensive are they? Do you need room for tuxedos and evening gowns? Winter coats? Furs? Are you sports enthusiasts and need room for active wear? How many pairs of shoes? Hats? Ties? Purses? Do you fold or hang dress shirts? Do you need multiple shelves and drawers for additional organization of socks, underwear, scarves, jewelry? Do you want to incorporate a dressing room? a sitting area? a wall safe? security system? temporary nursery?

Walk-in closets can be as small as 6x6 or as large or larger than the master bedroom. Some prefer separate his and hers closets. Check for the following links for suggestions:

http://www.housingzone.com/article/ca6289194.html

http://www.californiaclosets.com/en/sb.cn?crt=pagekey=6

http://www.closetstogo.com/

http://www.closetorganizersusa.com/

 

I guess it depends on the space you have and the space you need (as the all-wise twelvepole discussed). In our remodel, we are converting 3/4 of our basement into a master "suite". After months and months of layout redesigns (thank goodness for computers!) we realized that we had a weird space at one end of the 18x15 master bedroom and no closet. So we put in a 6x11 walk in closet in that weird space.

One side has a drop ceiling (pipe chase) and one side is a standard ceiling height, so one side will be hers and the other his - which is fine because I am short and can't reach tall shelves anyway. I'm eyeing the basic white shelves from Rubbermaid because they were rated highly by Consumer Reports. Each of us will determine how our own clothes will be stored and choose shelves or hanging rods accordingly.

Part of the design was ensuring easy access to the laundry room. It's a straight shot through the closet, bedroom, and laundry room doors - only about 10 ft of travel. I've picked out a 3-compartment hamper that can be wheeled right into the laundry room. However we do not have shared access between the closet and master bath, but you access both from the same side of the bedroom, which should reduce early risers bothering later sleepers.

Heat is still up in the air but we may put in an electric radiant floor mat. A closet doesn't need to be warm but you don't want it to be cold either! Baseboard heat requires clearances that don't jive with a closet and there is no access to a forced air vent. Simply having an open (or no) door is not a good option since we have cats that love to nestle in sweaters.

This space is GIGANTIC for us. We currently share a 14 sq ft reach-in closet and have no dresser, so our clothes are all mushed in the closet. So 22 sq ft each in the new closet will allow us to store all our clothes plus other items (hiking clothes and gear for example) in one space. Plus there should be enough room to provide a "dressing space" Just looking at our current closet is enough to inspire me to get the basement finished! ;-)

 

Have you considered using louvered doors? Used to be real popular in the south before AC.

I've probably painted a thousand walk in closets and size varies. Some [like my own] are barely big enough to call a walk in and others are a lot bigger than my master bed rm. I've even painted closets that had windows.

As 12pole stated there are many factors that determine walk in closet size. How you plan to use the closet affects the size - just hang clothes, built in dressers, etc. Probably the most important factor is how much space and money you have to spend on it

 

Walkman:

It's a hard question to answer without seeing your space. Are you imagining a walk-in closet that you can actually get into, or is this more of a closet that you access from the bedroom?

If you have a room at least 6'6 wide and of variable depth, you can do something like this:

 

We're planning an addition so we don't have to work within a certain confine, instead I'm trying to get an idea of how big a master closet should be so that I can back into how big the addition should be.

So, it's not only how much stuff do we have to put in a closet, but also what size would be helpful when we put the house on the market.

The tips on what people have experienced, the sketch, and the links are all helpful.