A Closet Obession

By Maggie Sieger

It's one of those rites of fall. The weather turns abruptly cool, and you find yourself rummaging through your closet in search of a favorite sweater. And those boots. Where did they go? The basement? And what happened to those nice opaque tights? Did they make it through last winter unsnagged? What are they doing in the drawer with the bathing suits?

For many people, the change of seasons is a time when discontent almost literally comes out of the closet. There's never enough space for off-season clothes. Shelves are jammed. Shoes are piled everywhere. The floor is invisible. Instead of being a tidy paragon of organization, your closet is merely a glorified cupboard with delusions of urbanity, a cramped vision of messy modern living.

Sound familiar? Take heart: the home-improvement industry is on the case, helping closets step out of the closet and take over large portions of American homes. The yearning for more and better closet space is being answered by interior designers, storage-component companies and residential developers. Indeed, for many of their customers, closets are the new kitchens--rooms to display status, for showing off how orderly one's everyday life can be.

"It makes me feel good every time I come in here," says Dan Rood, 41, a divorced insurance salesman in Orlando, Fla., as he surveys the vast, room-size closet he created two years ago. The 21-ft. by 10-ft. space is heavy with rich wood; a flat-screen TV is tucked behind a two-way mirror; there's a bar for entertaining and, of course, counters, as well as cabinets with room to display 39 pairs of shoes. "I have more shoes than the average girl," Rood admits. Entering the closet, he adds, "starts the day out right. It's the room I'm most proud of." His girlfriend, Rebecca Ferrer, is equally admiring: "It's beautiful. It's masculine. It's actually big enough to have a small party in."

It cost Rood $54,000 to turn a small bedroom into the closet of his dreams. A bit excessive for most folks but maybe not by much. David Weekly, a developer whose company builds moderately priced houses in six states, says his typical customers are demanding bigger closets and the attendant accessories. More than 75% of his new houses include a walk-in master closet with at least two rows for hanging clothes and an entire section of shelving. "One rod and a shelf isn't enough anymore," he says. Master closets now average about 6 ft. by 8 ft., a size more typical of an extra bedroom 40 years ago. In the low-mortgage-rate McMansions sprouting up throughout the country, every bedroom--not just the master--has the option of a walk-in closet. "The closet has typically been a forgotten space," says Michael Carson, founder of the National Closets Group, a trade organization. Now the closet is where the money is. The membership of Carson's group has seen total revenues swell from $15 million in 1999 to $100 million last year.

The desire to get organized is a major stimulus for all this closeting. (That and the fact that on average, Americans buy about 75% more clothes now than they did 10 years ago, according to census data.) A 2005 survey by Rubbermaid claims that more women said they wanted to organize their closets than said they wanted to lose weight. Another spur to the industry: celebrity closets. Often the most interesting part of MTV Cribs is a peek into the clothing warehouses of the rich and famous: Mariah Carey's revolving, glass-enclosed shoe cabinet, for example. Other shows--including TLC's Clean Sweep, HGTV's Mission: Organization and ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition--fuel the same hankering.

For many people, the path to closet mania starts innocently. Wanting extra space in their bedroom for exercise equipment or a home office, they go to a store or leaf through a catalog. But as soon as they see all the available goodies, the reorganizing bug spreads. "Every time we install a valet rod, they come back and want two or three more," says Kristina Ferrigan of Closets.com And once you've done one closet, how can you ignore the others?

Sue O'Gara, 49, outfitted 10 closets, from bedroom to mud room, in her home in Northbrook, Ill. "I know it's a complete luxury," she says of her white melamine shelves with room for as many as 200 pairs of shoes. "But it seems to have become a necessity." Call it closet creep. Says Perfection Custom Closets owner Tim O'Hagan, who is working with O'Gara: "It sounds hokey, but when you've got a place for everything and everything's in its place, you feel better."

Nadine O'Malley, 36, of Hinsdale, Ill., did not simply organize her life through her closet. She realized her fantasies. Spending $50,000, she remade her master-bedroom closets, following photos she had ripped out of Architectural Digest. Her husband Bill's closet now has dark wood, granite counters and custom carpeting (plus a secret passageway to his office). Her closet has mirrored doors, crystal knobs, marble counters and muted shades of creamy beige and icy green, much like a Jimmy Choo shop she adores. "It feels like I'm shopping in a fancy store every day," she says.

Apart from a kind of sybaritic utilitarianism, there is science to explain this yen for closets. Getting organized appears to lower stress and anxiety and increase efficiency. Sheila Jowsey, a professor of psychiatry at the Mayo Clinic, says, "Organization is comforting. It's soothing." How does this age of bigger and more luxurious closets bring about that kind of Zen? "We don't have the disposable time to go through our possessions and determine what we need, so it accumulates," Jowsey says. "What Americans do have is enough disposable income to tell somebody, 'Build it for me.'" It is the purchased sort of wellness previously seen with the growth of kitchens and great rooms: the pursuit of happiness built into the furniture.

The average custom closet costs $3,000 to $5,000. To get an idea of what a customer needs, designers typically ask for a count of clothing, handbags, shoes and other accessories to produce an estimate of the minimum storage space required. The extras mount up quickly--drawer pulls, quality woods, benches, mirrors, granite countertops, chandeliers, hidden safes. There are less expensive alternatives. Various commercial closet systems--with mix-and-match cabinetry, shelves, racks and other items--can be tailored for the client. California Closets pioneered affordable systems years ago but recently launched a pricier line to cater to the demand for higher-end material. There are also do-it-yourself kits. Rubbermaid's starts at $140 for enough shelves, rods and accessories to outfit an 8-ft. closet.

George McGoldrick, 30, and his partner of 10 years, Joseph Sacco, 29, know what it was like before the closet revolution and have all the fervor of the converted. In their previous apartment the master-bedroom closet was wedged between two walls and outfitted with wire-mesh shelving from Home Depot. "Our clothes were crushed together," says McGoldrick, a sales representative for a carpet company. In their new $915,000 apartment in Chicago, the couple spent $20,000 to upgrade all six of their closets. Of that amount, $11,000 went toward a 9-ft. by 9-ft. master closet. A cabinet holds 48 pairs of shoes on quartersawn white oak; a four-slotted drawer, up to 30 belts. There is another drawer to display six watches, an upper rack for designer knits, a lower one for casual knits. And there is enough room now to survey all the clothes they own in a glance. "I forgot about half of my clothes before we moved here," says Sacco, a residential designer. "If I can't see it, I won't wear it." Says McGoldrick, who has coffee in their closet most mornings: "It's the most serene and comfortable place in the house."

Who knew that being in the closet could be heaven? Ah, there's that sweater!

With reporting by Barbara Liston/Orlando, Wendy Cole/Chicago