In early 2023, 6 years into living in our three bedroom (one of which was an office) home, now that we had an 18 month old toddler and 4 month old baby, we found ourselves struggling with storage. It was time to trade in our poorly utilized closets for customized built-in ones that maximize the space.

The problem is, I had no idea what the market was like. Which companies were at the low, mid or high end of the market? How well does price equate to quality, look or durability? Could I just walk into a showroom to look at products? Here’s what I learned from getting quotes from eight companies, speaking to many friends who recently redid their closets, and spending $20,000 on my own.

Before – an unsightly poor use of space

The closet in our master bedroom was an inefficient pair of dressers, the office closet was a standing desk jutting out of it with a shelf overhead, and the nursery dresser and hanging space was fine for one kid, but quickly became a mess once we had a second baby. We had barely usable closets and one heck of a floordrobe going on. We desperately needed to make effective use of the space.

After

Our total came to $21,630, comprising of

• $2,030 to install 6 new electrical outlets in the closets. This is a rarely done thing.
• $3,300 demolition, drywall repair and painting work, taking out the old closets.
• $16,300 closet hardware and installation for a mid-range company

This includes tax, but excludes addons we way get later on, such as crown molding at the ceiling gaps, a door to the nursery closet, and extra shelves.

I now have three highly customized, professionally installed closets that truly maximize the use of the spaces. My life is truly improved by having easy access to what I need, and storage for what we need, with expansion space for the future. Our stress levels are lower as a result. No more searching for things, no more mess, and I have some really great looking built-in furniture to replace the hodge-podge of used dressers we had. I still reel at the thought of spending that much, but I am confident that I bought something good quality with a warranty, at the going rate. A small silver lining is that when we sell our house in 10 years, this cost will be slightly offset by an increase in resale value.

Choosing a custom closet company

Having renovated our kitchen (and been through hell with our terrible kitchen cabinet company), we knew we had certain criteria, most of which were non-negotiable. These included.

Company criteria, and questions to ask

• Mid-range company that sell a durable product that also looks good.
• Locally made nearby to Seattle. We want same or next day fabrication and pickup if there are issues. (This ended up being very helpful!)
• Direct-hire installers, not contractors. I want highly-trained, experienced staff who are treated well, easy to deal with, and have a can-do attitude.
• Staff who are easy to deal with. A designer who actually listens to our needs/goals, and makes suggestions based on their expertise. Responsive, professional, and on the ball.

Design criteria

We were disappointed with the durability and some of our design decisions for our kitchen cabinets. Going into the closet design phase, I shared the following requirements with the companies I worked with.

• Flexibility in placement of shelves as our needs change
• Flexibility in placement of hanging rods, because
  • Master bedroom – we are both average-height men who want high ones, but the next buyers might be shorter people
  • Nursery – we need 3 bars for baby and toddler clothes now, but will reduce to 2 when the kids grow older and their shirts are bigger
  • Office – no hanging rod for now as it will be used as a desk, but we want the ability to add one later when it needs to be turned into a bedroom
• High countertops for placing bedroom humidifiers, chargers, and everyday standing desk use. Not the 36” counters used in kitchens. 42” is perfect for us. I blogged about counter height recently here.
• Soft close hardware. Surprsingly, this is not always standard. Blum are top of the line, but Kasala is fine.
• No push-to-open. We hate that in our kitchen.

Low end

These are DIY installed, or you can pay extra for installation, often via an external contractor. They all include online DIY design, though free assistance is available. You’ll get a price for hardware right away and can order with the click of a button.

They sell fixed widths, so you are less likely to squeeze as much out of your space as possible. You’ll also see a lot of mesh based systems, and less wood. All seem to be wall mounted.

Elfa by The Container Store

My first stop was to The Container Store, a chain I genuinely like and shop at often. Their large displays of Elfa brand closets are eye-catching, but when I pulled open and closed their drawers, which didn’t have soft close, I immediately hated the product. Nothing felt sturdy or long-lasting.

Ikea

My neighbor with the identical house as mine showed me their Ikea master closet. They were happy with it. They used Ikea for their custom kitchen, garage and bathroom as well. Their biggest pain point was the fact that you were dependent on Ikea for parts, which time and time for them were discontinued.

Ikea’s online DIY design and ordering tool is harder to use. My pretty smart neighbor ended up leaning heavily on in-store help, which he said was a pain point.

Easy Closets

Enthralled by their cheap prices and great online design tool, this company was considered by me, but without a way to see how good the product is, I decided against this company.

Mid Range

These companies will come out to your house, take measurements, design a custom closet for your space to your liking and provide a quote for free. This tier includes installation in the price, and all these companies had local showrooms in or near Seattle, though one was not set up for visitors. All structural hardware was particleboard, and most used birch for drawer insides, though you may find some choice in that regard. Mounting systems varied, and could be wall or floor mounted, depending on the company.

Pricing structures vary greatly, as did discount structures. Pricing was consistently complex and confusing. All include warranties for greater peace of mind.

Reading their printed sales booklets and websites, these companies compete closely, copying each other for design and materials, and also offer similar or identical accessories, lighting options, and drawer inserts.

Inspired Closets

This chain had a quality product and were easy to deal with. I visited their showroom and liked the product, however, their hardware was manufactured in another state – Michigan, with a factory opening in Idaho soon. Being manufactured outside of the Seattle area (in Washington state) was a dealbreaker for us.

Northwest Closets and Wallbeds

Not every custom closet company is a chain! In fact, this local company’s FAQ page includes the question “What Makes Northwest Closets & Wallbeds Better Than The Rest?”
The first of four bullet points is:
“We are NOT a franchise. We have no franchise fees or royalties associated with our business which means the customer is getting the best deal, always.”

And indeed their pricing was the lowest mid-range company.

Closets by Design

I regularly receive flyers in the mail from this large chain, often offering 40% off + 15% off. However, even with these discounts they aren’t competitively priced.

I arrived at their showroom without an appointment, and an embarrassed sales manager told me that their small display area was not properly kitted out to demonstrate to customers. Still, I looked at what was there, and it was a standard mid-tier product.

I emailed the sales manager my design, and was promised that one of her top designers would reach out to me. They never did. A year later I reached out for another quote via a web form, this time having them come out to quote. The embarrassed designer told me that their design was submitted to the sales manager for review and to be passed back to me, but the sales manager left, and this clearly never happened.

Still, I found this designer to be unacceptably slow. She regularly missed deadlines for quotes that she promised, and I immensely dislike their way of doing hand-drawn designs, confusing pricing table. Their confusing discount strategy still don’t make them competitive.

My experience dealing with the company was painful. Another friend in another state had the same situation with the same company, but we both agree that these are branches of a franchise, and your local franchise is likely to be much better.

Closet Factory

This was the company I settled on, mostly because the designer was a consummate professional and dealing with the company was easy. Pretty simple, really.
They also do some flyers with discounts, and do 10% cashback via Costco. For many, an affiliation with Costco is a green flag, as Costco tend to want to associate with high-quality brands.

High End

California Closets

This well-known chain makes an excellent quality product, but with a price to match, roughly 20-40% above the mid-range. Simply put, I couldn’t justify the extra cost. I can’t help but feel like you’re paying for brand recognition here.

Even then, one friend who switched upscale apartments within his apartment building commented that of the two California Closets he used there, one was absolutely perfect and installed with all the tiniest of measurements and details done to perfection. His second apartment must have been installed by the less attentive installers. So money isn’t always a guarantee for quality.

Furthermore, they are manufactured in Arizona, which is a deal-breaker for me.

Hire a carpenter

Though pricing can vary significantly, you can hire a carpenter to build an engineered or solid wood closet for your space. These contractors tend to be independant, but a good one who is easy to work with and has availability is worth investigating, especially if you have a strange space you are working with or are looking for something outside the box.

Note that as these are not computer designed and machine-manufactured, and flexibility in the form of extra pre-drilled shelf holes may not be an option unless you specifically ask for this.

How should you choose your company?

As with anything renovation related, I suggest listing the variables important to you, and deciding on where they sit on the spectrum of essential, nice to have, a minor issue, through to dealbreaker. You may have a partner whose criteria don’t exactly align on these. (Read my article on tips for saving your relationship during a renovation.)

Having spoken to many friends who bought custom closets, the most important consideration for a low stress closet renovation is a designer or salesperson you can work with. If you’re having issues, find a similar competing company, or if you feel comfortable doing so, ask for another designer/salesperson.

How did it work out?

Installation took two Closet Factory installers two long days, and included a couple quick runs up to the warehouse to get something fabricated right away. I volunteered to do one of these to help them out and get the job done quicker.

Overall, I’m happy with the design, though on the fence about adding crown molding above the units. It would look better, but 2 years later I can confidently say that I use that space a lot. These units have held up well, they look amazing, and I think it was worth the investment.