Ideal depth for a closet system?

[BigguyZ]

I'm looking at building two separate built-ins for my closet. One would be built into the end of the closet, which is 32" wide. I can really built this as deep as I want to, but I assume there's a practical limit as to how deep (front to back) I want to drawers/ everything to be. I also plan on having that part of the closet have a place for pant hangers (the kind that's just a rod that holds the pants) and a couple of shoe racks.

The other built-in is going to be mostly drawers, with maybe just some shelves up top. It's going to be built into a wall where the other side goes into some unused space behind a wall. I think the limit on this one would be 22" or so, but the width is going to be about 46"...

Thanks!

[Anna]

Okay, I haven't built any closet stuff yet, so take this with a huge grain of salt. It's all book-based. Well, mostly book-based.

For reach-in shelves: You don't want it to be much deeper than 16" for normal shirts and pants. Deeper is okay for bulky sweaters and big linen stuff. But deep shelves only lets you lose your clothes in the back. I know: that's what I currently have in my house.

For hanging rods: Hanging clothes need 24 inches to any adjacent walls or shelving.

For drawers: Pretty much as deep as you want, but 23 or 24 inches are probably the usual depth. I think the height is probably more important for drawers and slide-out shelves.

I hope someone who has actual experience will chime in. I'd like to know if my preconceptions are right or wrong.

[BigguyZ]

Thanks for the feedback! I agree that having a pro's opinion on this would be really nice, but since you have a system yourself, your input is definitely helpful.

When you say 24 inches for hanging rods, you mean the distance from the rod to the wall parallel with the rod, right? That seems like a lot of depth to me. I was going to move my rod from where it currently is to make room for the proposed built-in, so if you think I need 24", I'm definitely WAAAY short there....

Okay, I haven't built any closet stuff yet, so take this with a huge grain of salt. It's all book-based. Well, mostly book-based.

For reach-in shelves: You don't want it to be much deeper than 16" for normal shirts and pants. Deeper is okay for bulky sweaters and big linen stuff. But deep shelves only lets you lose your clothes in the back. I know: that's what I currently have in my house.

For hanging rods: Hanging clothes need 24 inches to any adjacent walls or shelving.

For drawers: Pretty much as deep as you want, but 23 or 24 inches are probably the usual depth. I think the height is probably more important for drawers and slide-out shelves.

I hope someone who has actual experience will chime in. I'd like to know if my preconceptions are right or wrong.

[Anna]

Well, I know the feeling about starting from not-knowing-much about something. I always appreciate a starting point, even when it's not absolutely correct.

When you say 24 inches for hanging rods, you mean the distance from the rod to the wall parallel with the rod, right? That seems like a lot of depth to me. I was going to move my rod from where it currently is to make room for the proposed built-in, so if you think I need 24", I'm definitely WAAAY short there....

No, 24 inches is the clearance from say one wall to the next wall or shelving. Or, I guess a different way of saying it is that 24 inches is the depth needed for hanging clothes.

If the rod is going to be parallel to the wall, the supports (including the pole rosettes) are about 11.5 to 12 inches from the wall.

[JimD]

You need a total of 24 inches depth for hanging stuff with the rod 12 inches from the wall. You could maybe get by with an inch or two less but if you have the space, I would allow 24 inches.

For drawers, the maximum depth I would make is 24 inches and that's probably a bit much. Most furniture is closer to 18 or 20 inches deep in the drawers. Do not forget that you have to have room to pull the drawer open, not just room for the closed drawer. I put shelves and drawers in my walk-in that are about 14 inches deep. My sweaters are on the shelves and some casual clothes. I have three drawers, one shallow one for the junk out of my pockets, one for underwear and one for socks. Each is about 14 inches square and is sufficient for me.

Jim

[BigguyZ]

The thing is, I don't have a linnen closet, so I want to go for as large of drawers as is possible/ reasonable, since I need storage for sheets/ etc... If I have the space, why not go for it? But, I'm thinking that there are conventions I may want to follow, and if it's impractical to have a 24" deep drawer, it's less material I'll need as well.

[Anna]

The thing is, I don't have a linnen closet, so I want to go for as large of drawers as is possible/ reasonable, since I need storage for sheets/ etc... If I have the space, why not go for it? But, I'm thinking that there are conventions I may want to follow, and if it's impractical to have a 24" deep drawer, it's less material I'll need as well.

Okay, there are generally two options for linen: You either go with shelves or drawers. Maybe there are other options, but I'm not aware of them.

Anyway, when shelves are 24 inches deep, you'll start losing your stuff in the back. You'll end up using only the ones in front. If you want to find anything in the back, you have to either remove the items in front to get to the back, or if you're like me, just push things around, in which case you get an even bigger mess.

It's also harder to organize things unless you put in dividers. If you do, then you'll just have deep narrow shelves, and it'll be even more difficult to see things in the back. This is the kind of storage I currently have (deep shelves), which I'm planning to tear down at some point.

You can then have deep drawers like you mentioned, but if it's too high (vertical dimension), then you'll lose your stuff in the bottom and end up with a similar situation as above.

Pull-out shelves will probably solve that problem some, although there's a slight risk of stuff falling off the side if you don't fold things nicely (speaking from experience). You can also use pull out baskets like the ones they use for pantries. It's easy to see what you have, and easy to get to them. Another option would just be shorter drawers even when they're 24" deep.

The idea is to be able to get to everything without much contorting. Do let us know what you end up doing. I'm curious since I'm in the beginning planning stages for my closets, too.

[BigguyZ]

Well I ordered the drawe slides and the edge banding this morning. I went with an 18" drawer slide, as it works for both built-ins. I figured worse case scenario, I can build 20-24" drawers and just not have them slide out all the way (it'd be more for storage, so you wouldn't have to get to everything more than once or twice a year).

I'm thinking that a lot of the construction will be "on the fly" design-wise. I'm going for a bare-bones look, because I'm too lazy to have to do a whole face frame construction. Most of the joinery will probably be pocket holes, because I can complete it very quickly with little hassle that way. Hopefully it'll still look pretty good, though. I'm planning on doing the first of the built-ins this weekend and the next.

Either way, I promise to take lots of pictures before, during, and after the project.