Closets & wardrobes
Closet systems and wardrobes, designed like fine furniture
Good closet systems are planned around what you own, not around a catalog of standard boxes. At our Glendale showroom we design walk-in closets, built-in wardrobes and dressing rooms with refined fronts, warm lighting and interiors measured to your wardrobe.
Illustrative interior
01Custom closets
Custom closet systems that fit the way you dress
Every closet starts with an inventory. Good closet systems follow from it: how many long dresses and coats do you hang? How many shirts, jackets and trousers? Do shoes live on open shelves or behind glass, and do you fold knitwear or roll it? Those answers decide the mix of hanging, drawers and shelving — and stop a new closet from filling up with the wrong kind of space within a year.
We translate the inventory into linear inches. A shirt on a slim hanger takes roughly 1 in (25 mm) of rail, a tailored jacket 2 in, a winter coat 3 to 4 in. Add a margin for the next few seasons and you know how much rail each person needs before a single panel is drawn. The same logic applies to shoes, bags and folded pieces.
Then we design the room as a whole: the ceiling height you can actually use, where daylight falls and fades fabric, whether an island or a bench belongs in the middle, and how doors open in the space in front of them. Depending on the room, that becomes a walk-in closet, a wall of built-in wardrobes or a dressing room that combines both. Book a consultation to start, or explore finishes first in our kitchen configurator.
02Dimensions
The numbers every closet is built around
- Hanging depth
- 24 in (610 mm) clear, so shoulders of jackets and coats do not brush the doors
- Shelf depth
- 12–16 in (305–405 mm) for folded clothes and bags; deeper shelves hide what sits at the back
- Double hanging
- Rails at about 40 in and 80 in (1,015 and 2,030 mm) for shirts, skirts and folded trousers
- Long hanging
- 60–66 in (1,525–1,675 mm) of clear drop for dresses and coats
- Shoe shelves
- 7–8 in apart for flats and sneakers, 10–12 in for heels, 16–18 in for ankle and tall boots
- Walk-in aisle
- 36 in (915 mm) minimum; 42–48 in when two people dress at once or an island is planned
03Planned zones
Every inch of a custom closet, assigned
These are the building blocks we combine in walk-in closets, dressing rooms and reach-in wardrobes.
Long and double hanging
Full-height sections for coats and dresses, double rails for shirts and trousers — sized to your longest pieces, not to a standard.
Drawers with inserts
Drawers with dividers for knitwear, accessories, watches and jewelry, so nothing ends up in a pile.
Shoe walls and display
Flat or angled shelves, often behind glass, lit so every pair is visible at a glance.
Islands and benches
A central island with drawers and a stone top turns a walk-in closet into a proper dressing room.
Integrated LED lighting
Lit rails, shelf lighting and sensors that switch on as doors open. See closet lighting.
Valet and mirror details
Pull-out valet rods, trouser racks and full-length mirrors that make getting dressed quicker.
04Wardrobes
When a built-in wardrobe beats a walk-in
Not every home has room for a walk-in closet — and many bedrooms are better for not having one. A floor-to-ceiling built-in wardrobe gives you the same organized interior behind a quiet wall of fronts, hinged or sliding depending on the space in front of it.
Because it needs no aisle of its own, a wardrobe usually stores more per square foot of floor. We plan it to the exact width and ceiling height of the room, with lighting inside and a finish chosen to sit with your floor and walls, so it reads as architecture rather than furniture.
05Finishes
Fronts and interiors that work in a closet
Typical directions for closet fronts, interiors and tops. Bring a sample of your flooring or kitchen front and we will compare it with samples from current collections.
- Natural oak
- Light oak
- Smoked oak
- Walnut
- Taj Mahal quartzite
- Warm greige matte lacquer
- Natural oak
- Warm interiors that make clothes look their best
- Light oak
- Pale, airy fronts for smaller rooms
- Smoked oak
- Deep, tailored character for dressing rooms
- Walnut
- Rich grain for statement walk-in closets
- Taj Mahal quartzite
- Stone tops for islands and dressers
- Warm greige matte lacquer
- Soft matte neutral for handleless wardrobes
06Process
How we design your closet
- 01
Inventory and wish list
We talk through what you own, how you dress and what frustrates you about your current closet.
- 02
Measure
We confirm the room’s dimensions, ceiling height, windows, doors, HVAC registers and electrical positions.
- 03
Design in 3D
You see the layout, finishes and lighting before anything is ordered, and adjust until it works.
- 04
Order and coordinate
Your closet is ordered to the approved plan; we can coordinate delivery and installation with you and your contractor.
Luxury living, all in one place.
In this section
Closets & wardrobes
Walk-in closetsA walk-in closet works when three numbers are right: 24 inches for hanging, at least 36 inches to walk, and enough rail and…- Built-in wardrobesA built-in wardrobe runs wall to wall and floor to ceiling, so it stores more per square foot than almost any other closet. We…
Closet lighting & accessoriesCloset lighting is the difference between finding the navy jacket and grabbing the black one. Warm, high-color-rendering LED…
How much does a custom closet system cost?
Should I choose a walk-in closet or a built-in wardrobe?
Can my closet match my kitchen?
Which manufacturers do your closet systems come from?
Where can I see closet finishes in person?
Keep exploring
Related
- Closet design guideHow to plan a closet around what you own — hanging lengths, drawer depths, light and finishes — whether it is a walk-in…
3D kitchen configuratorPlan a Nolte kitchen online — layout, fronts, worktop, lighting and gadgets — with a ballpark budget.
Glendale showroomOur kitchen showroom on West Colorado Street in Glendale is where projects begin: Nolte fronts and fittings to open and…Illustrative interior
Book a consultationTell us about your project and plan a visit to the Glendale showroom.
Consultation
Plan your project with a NOVAHAUS designer
Bring a floor plan, a photo or simply an idea. We will walk the showroom with you, talk through layout, materials and budget, and map out the next steps.