Posted by
jeff klein on Sat, May 19, 2012 @ 03:05 PM
Many people want hidden compartments or safes with illsuion fronts created in their new custom closets to protect their valuables. Compartments that Closet Specialist has designed recently include gun racks, Rolex watch compartment, designer custom sun glasses, important papers such as wills, insurance policies, stocks & bonds, cash, drugs (just kidding) and antiques.
The rifle rack was for a doctor who had accumulated rare and valuable rifles from Civil War and World War Two eras. Because there was an empty wall cavity in the right rear corner, we were able to create a sliding rifle rack using the right hand closet vertical as the illusion front. When the owner shifted his coats and long hanging garments to the left side of the section, he was able to side the right vertical into that space and reveal all of his 'treasures".
Creative storage system designers can create illusion fronts in front of bolted in place safes. These fronts hid the safe from service technicians, house keepers, baby sitters, and snoopy guests and visitors. As we at Closet Specialist like to say, "we need to keep the honest folks honest" Illusions fronts include tie and scarve racks, touch-up ironing boards, mirrors, and false drawer or hamper fronts.
Other creative compartments designed into custom master closets in the Savannah & Hilton Head areas include hidden trays for Rolex watches, designer sunglasses (this guy had 40 pairs) antique and rare jewelry, hand guns & ammo, and other items that "if I tell you, I'll have to kill you".
So if you are in the market for some very special features custom designed & fabricated into your master walk-in closets, consult with one of the many custom closet organizing companies in Hilton Head, Bluffton, Beaufort, SC and Savannah, GA.
Posted by
jeff klein on Tue, Jan 31, 2012 @ 04:25 PM
You’re running a little late this morning. You skip the coffee refill and figure you can make up the time in the shower. As you fly through your bedroom with a mascara wand in one hand and your new slacks in the other, you glance at the clock. You’ve just about got yourself back on track. “If I can get out the door in the next five minutes, I’ll be set,” you tell yourself. All you’ve got to do is put your shoes on and grab your purse and… where’s that other shoe? You scramble through your closet looking for the mate to the only heel that works with the outfit you’re wearing. Your other 60 pairs of shoes mock you as you make the tough decision to change your outfit and wear the open-toed slingbacks. You are 15 minutes late getting to your car. Who knows what traffic is going to be like? You’ll never make it on time. Now you get to sit on the highway, listen to the radio hosts remind you of exactly how late you are, all the while imagining the fall-out from your belated arrival. Again.
In your clamor to get out the door, you probably didn’t hear the cry for help. It was coming from the back of your closet. Under the laundry basket. Next to the purse you think you lost. That lonely heel who won’t see daylight today should be right up front in your closet. But it isn’t and cries out, "Please get me to a professional closet organizer".
Jeff Klein, President of the Association of Closet and Storage Professionals, ACSP, and local owner of Closet Specialist, thinks you need professional help. “If you start your day in chaos, it just degenerates from there. If you wake up in the morning and you’re late, you can’t find what you’re looking for, or you grab something off the shelf and everything is so jammed and wrinkled that you can’t wear it, it just gets you off to a bad start,” he says. “Most successful people are successful because they’re organized. What better way to start your day than to walk into your custom organized closet and have everything you own standing at attention, saying ‘Pick me! Pick me!’ If you don’t see what you’re looking for, it’s either in the laundry room or dry cleaners or your daughter has borrowed it!”
Now is a great time to organize your closet. “Your whole attitude changes instantly,” says Klein. Hiring a professional closet organizing company to install an adjustable closet system in your house is an investment that will have short term and long term returns. Today’s closets can adjust to meet your growing needs – and adapt to the needs of the next owner of the home.
“There are a lot of professionals – builders, interior designers, remodelers, real estate agents – who know the benefit of an organized closet that’s fully adjustable, which means it is fully changeable. You can change the height of the rods and convert shelving to hanging and hanging to shelving, insert drawers, etc. Many people use the closet system as a good selling point,” he says. “What’s happened now in the housing market, a lot of people are not building that newer, bigger, better house, but they’re staying in their home longer than they thought. They need organization, and efficient space. Now it’s worth it to them to get an organized closet. A custom closet adds value to your life now...and value to home later.
Experts agree that, along with kitchen and bathrooms, closets can factor heavily into a decision to buy a home. “I’ve spoken to real estate agents in Savannah & Hilton Head and in many cases, a cluttered or small closet can be a deal breaker. When a woman home buyer walks into a master closet, the first thing she’ll do is project her stuff in that closet,” he says. If her 'stuff' won't fit in there....'game over'.
Expect a professional to come to your home and give you a personalized evaluation. “They’ll look at the closet, take an inventory of the possessions – count the number of shoes and observe the way people store things. Then they’ll ask questions. ‘I noticed that you fold your slacks over the hanger. Is that the way you prefer to do that or do you do it because the fixed rod in your closet will not allow you to hang your slacks long?’” he offers. “Some people like to hang slacks long from the waist or the cuff so they don’t get that dust line that appears when you fold the slack over the hanger.”
Consider these questions:
- -Do you have adequate drawer space in your bedroom or would you like drawers in your closet?
- -Where do you keep your hamper? Would you like two hampers, one for dry cleaning and one for laundry, or maybe one for whites and one for darks? Or maybe his and hers hampers?
- -Would you like a safe? What would you like store in the safe? Important papers or maybe some jewelry that you don’t have time to take back to the safe deposit box? Would you like to hide the safe so only you know it’s there.
- -Do you have a hard time reaching things at the top of your closet? Would you like a stepladder at your disposal, yet out of the way?
Some designers will then sit down and design the closet right there with you. Others will use computer programs to create a 3-D rendering of your new closet space. “A lot of people have trouble looking at a two-dimensional line drawing and visualizing what their closet will be like,” says Klein.
Extending well beyond closets, home organization systems can be addicting. Once your closet is in order, you’ll want to get your garage done. Then the home office. Then the pantry…Klein exclaims, “Once you’ve had an organized storage system installed…..you can never go back.”
Getting your home organized is a task that will yield rewards for years to come. Having a designated place for all of your clothes and other belongings will free up your mind so you can concentrate on other things. Like getting out the door on time.
Posted by
jeff klein on Wed, Oct 10, 2007 @ 10:15 AM
It’s 7 a.m. Do you know where your shoes are?
Newer homes typically have large closet and storage areas. The problem is, they seldom are utilized to their full potential. Homes built in the 1970’s and 80’s discovered the latest and greatest closet system when their builder installed ventilated wire shelving. Others continued to have trim carpenter nail up wood shelves with iron pipes, or shower curtain rods, to act as hang-rods. The emergence of custom closet companies in the 1970's has changed all that. Now custom closet designers & storage space organizers are available to maximize your space and organize your life.
The ventilated shelving system was actually designed for homes in northern climates. The sales pitch stated that the closets could ‘breathe’ and this prevented mold/mildew. In the south, walk-in closets have air conditioning vents and that is what eliminates the mold/mildew problems. The ‘vinyl coated oven racks’ in your closet also leaves an impression……right on your folded clothes. The garment at the bottom of the stack usually looks like a Ripples potato chip. Ventilated wire is a fixed system, permanently attached to the wall at fixed intervals with no adjustability. Carpenter-built systems are, likewise, fixed in place. Trim carpenters rarely interview the home owner prior to installation which leaves a lot of frustrated owners with under-utilized space. Long dress hang sections are built from front to back spanning an entire 6’ to 8’ length wall. Problem is the woman of the house only needed 3 feet for her dresses, robes and gowns. Fixed spacing between horizontal shelves does not allow maximum storage of shoes, as a 5” high heel does not need 12” of clearance.
In the 1970’s the ‘cavalry’ arrived. Closet organizing companies appeared on the housing scene and have grown to be a $4 billion/year industry with its own Association of Closet & Storage Professionals (www.closets.org). The European 32mm adjustment system was introduced to the closet and storage industry and the rest is history. Polished chrome steel continuous hang rods and durable pre-finished melamine laminate shelves are adjustable at 32mm (1-1/4”) increments and easily re-position by the homeowner with no tools required. These closet specialists will extensively interview the homeowner, determine the needs (have to accommodate 80 pairs of shoes) and their wants (always wanted the hamper inside the closet), measure the space available and propose a computer generated, three dimensional rendering.
This customization turns a ‘closet’ into a ‘dressing room’. Basic organized closets begin with the adjustable rods and shelves. As space and budget allow, many accessories are available to enhance the beauty and function of the storage space. Drawers with jewelry trays and locks, pull out hampers, slide out tie, belt and scarf racks, and beautifully designed full extension sliding baskets are among the features that extend the ‘needs’ into the ‘wants’. Additional accessories include overhead pull down retractable hang rods (to utilize the ‘air rights’ above your reach), pull out mirrors, designated ladder slots as a permanent parking place for your step stool and even small ‘touch up’ ironing boards to correct that last minute wrinkle. Savannah & Hilton Head have local closet organizing companies that offer free in-home consultation, local manufacturing (not shipped in from the left coast), and life time guarantees.
So tomorrow morning at 7 a.m.........you will know where your shoes are!