Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 2, 1995 TAG: 9507030112
SECTION: HOMES PAGE: C9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: THE WASHINGTON POST
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
``A lot of people start with shoes,'' says Kimberly Hathaway, a storage-product buyer for a home furnishings and hardware store. ``That pile of shoes at the bottom of the closet starts to get on their nerves.''
Jammed rods and jumbled, tumbling stacks of sweatshirts can be a flashpoint for crankiness. They have spawned an industry reaching out to those seeking refuge from disorder and trying to make the most of cramped space in modest houses and apartments.
``It's the difference between waking up in a good or bad mood,'' says Anthony Vidergauz, president of California Closet Co., a nationally franchised firm that redesigns 35,000 closets a year.
Products that promise organization are in demand among consumers with little time to waste. In 1994, the closet-storage business topped $619 million in sales, according Home Furnishings Network, a weekly New York trade publication.
``Closets are the biggest area of storage in the home,'' says Craig Moeller, vice president of marketing for Closetmaid, an Ocala, Fla.-based manufacturer with sales of more than $100 million a year. His firm has introduced more than 350 new products in the past three years.
Most buyers of custom closet services are women, ages 35 to 55, industry sources say. ``But when you get a man that's into clothes, it surpasses any experience you have with women,'' says Michaela Clancy, a designer for California Closet. She's seen male customers with 400 pairs of shoes or 500 golf shirts. ``I can set it up so it looks like a pro shop.''
Over the years, builders, carpenters, architects and interior designers have addressed the size and shape of closets, but they couldn't control the chaos. To do that, a specialized industry has grown to fill a column in the Yellow Pages under ``Closets.'' Do-it-yourself storage products line several aisles in home centers. Even children are getting their closets ``done.''
Why? The ever-present hope that breaking the closet into understandable chunks, using baskets, cubbyholes, drawers and compartments, will encourage orderliness.
But order doesn't come cheap. Professionals charge from $255 to $600 and up for customizing and installing a well-ordered alternative to a ``basic builders' closet,'' also called a pole-and-plank. (That's the one with a rod 69 inches off the floor and a shelf running along the top.)
Self-installed ventilated wire systems can begin with a $28 starter kit and end with hundreds of dollars' worth of shelf dividers and tie racks.
\ Realtors love nice-looking closets. ``Anything that you can do to make a house show better is worth doing,'' says Lynn Kemper Steffen, a real-estate agent with Prudential Preferred Properties. ``Of course, it alone won't sell the house, but it is a good finishing touch. The worst thing you can do is to look like you're bursting out. It's not real good when you're showing a property, you open up a closet and sweaters come flying down on your head.''
Americans used free-standing wardrobes to store their clothing until built-in closets started appearing in American homes around the 1870s, according to historian James M. Goode. Early closets were usually dark narrow spaces sometimes fitted only with hooks. ``Closets have gotten bigger every decade since then,'' says Goode.
``In the old days, we just led less active lives,'' says Carolin Schebish, an interior designer. ``The woman of the house frequently stayed home, and she had limited requirements for dressier clothes. The men had maybe two suits, and they changed shirts and ties. ... ''
Says Clancy, ``I had one lady in Baltimore, clothing was her hobby. She had blouses arranged minutely - white, ecru, beige and cream. The care and feeding tag of each garment was attached to the hanger, and notations were made on when it was worn and when it was cleaned.''
\ Getting wired is one of the most common and inexpensive ways to refigure closets. Shelving and drawer units made of coated steel wire offer ventilation, visibility and accessibility - and usually a lifetime warranty against chipping and peeling.
The wire systems on the market can expand the usable space in a typical closet by 50 percent, manufacturers claim. On the down side, silk lingerie has a tendency to fall through the cracks, and your cashmeres might pick up the waffle marks of the grid pattern. Wire is usually self-installed, and some stores offer computer programs and organizing clinics to assist consumers.
Upgrading from wire shelving usually involves professional consultation - and more money. A closet installer can evaluate closet needs, build the components, usually of melamine, and install them.
Some consumers are after more than organization. People with disabilities can't walk in to their so-called walk-in closets. California Closet has redesigned spaces so that someone in a wheelchair can finally reach for a pair of socks or choose a jacket from an upper rack using a hydraulic pole.
by CNB