Word: closet
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Sound familiar? Take heart: the home-improvement industry is on the case, helping closets step out of the closet and take over large portions of American homes. The yearning for more and better closet space is being answered by interior designers, storage-component companies and residential developers. Indeed, for many of their customers, closets are the new kitchens--rooms to display status, for showing off how orderly one's everyday life...
...makes me feel good every time I come in here," says Dan Rood, 41, a divorced insurance salesman in Orlando, Fla., as he surveys the vast, room-size closet he created two years ago. The 21-ft. by 10-ft. space is heavy with rich wood; a flat-screen TV is tucked behind a two-way mirror; there's a bar for entertaining and, of course, counters, as well as cabinets with room to display 39 pairs of shoes. "I have more shoes than the average girl," Rood admits. Entering the closet, he adds, "starts the day out right...
...cost Rood $54,000 to turn a small bedroom into the closet of his dreams. A bit excessive for most folks but maybe not by much. David Weekly, a developer whose company builds moderately priced houses in six states, says his typical customers are demanding bigger closets and the attendant accessories. More than 75% of his new houses include a walk-in master closet with at least two rows for hanging clothes and an entire section of shelving. "One rod and a shelf isn't enough anymore," he says. Master closets now average about...
...many people, the path to closet mania starts innocently. Wanting extra space in their bedroom for exercise equipment or a home office, they go to a store or leaf through a catalog. But as soon as they see all the available goodies, the reorganizing bug spreads. "Every time we install a valet rod, they come back and want two or three more," says Kristina Ferrigan of Closets.com And once you've done one closet, how can you ignore the others...
...Gara, 49, outfitted 10 closets, from bedroom to mud room, in her home in Northbrook, Ill. "I know it's a complete luxury," she says of her white melamine shelves with room for as many as 200 pairs of shoes. "But it seems to have become a necessity." Call it closet creep. Says Perfection Custom Closets owner Tim O'Hagan, who is working with O'Gara: "It sounds hokey, but when you've got a place for everything and everything's in its place, you feel better...