Claustrophobic Closet

I realize that sometimes problems with your house really are not the house's fault.  Sometimes your shoe obsession is to blame.  Or the ever changing fashion trends that force you to acquire more clothing.  I'm not blaming anyone, I'm just saying some things need to change.  My house has plenty of space and plenty of closets.  Unfortunately my master bedroom has a small closet that wastes a lot of valuable space.

Excuse the bad photo and the oddly "staged" closet.  This is what it looked like when I first visited my house.    It is a small walk in closet with wire shelves that circle the walls.  And there are 24 inches of pretty much wasted space at the top of the closet.  I found out the hard way that this is not very reliable storage.

I have filled my closet to the max even while using other closets in the house and Tupperware storage for off season clothing so I knew it was time to come up with a fix.

Since I'm cheap, of course I looked for a way to do it myself.  And I decided I am anti-wire closet systems. Sorry, Container Store Elfa.  I'm sure you're great, just not for me.  After playing with plans and measurements, I decided to built a mostly wood walk in with a shelving unit on the back wall.  Here is a basic rendering of my plan.

I will have bi-level rods on the left and a tall rod on the right for organizing tops, pants and then dresses.  This configuration will give me 180" of hanging space versus the 126" available with my current U-shape single level system.  A 12" wood shelf will go along the top foot of the closet for sturdy, short storage of shoes, off season items, etc.  I will use the shelving unit for folded item as well as shoes and then will be adding more shoe storage once I'm better able to tell the floor and wall space I will have available.  It's ambitious and will involve some work but I think it will really make my life better.  A happy wardrobe is a happy Thea.