How to Design a Gentleman’s Closet

Jan 30, 2023 | Bedroom Closets, Custom Closets

Organizing a Man’s Closet

When it comes to designing and organizing a man’s closet, it must be approached very differently than a woman’s. Why? It’s not because men have less clothing, shoes, and accessories than women. This is a common misconception: “A man’s closet requires less space because they have less belongings.” But, this couldn’t be further from the truth. While it may be true that men could have a smaller wardrobe than women, they still require the same amount—if not more—space. Why? Because men’s clothes are usually larger and bulkier than women’s—and the same goes for their shoes. Knowing that men have unique needs and embracing this fact is half the battle. The other is actually going ahead and making positive changes to his closet space, or, taking it one step further and investing in a custom men’s closet. With whatever path you decide to take, here are the top five tips we can offer when designing and organizing a man’s closet for maximum storage and efficiency.

1. Can you hang?

Because men’s clothing tend never to be longer than a suit jacket—as opposed to women’s clothing which run the garment gamut of blouses to floor-length dresses—you can take advantage of double-hanging with two hanging rods to maximize your vertical space. Here are specific tips on hanging and storing men’s clothes: When hanging slacks, hold the slacks from the bottom, and match the natural creases from the inseam and outseam, then fold the slacks near the middle of their length. Hang them by keeping the fold at the center of the hanger. We don’t recommend hanging your slacks by their full length as the clamp hangers may leave marks that can be difficult to remove. When hanging shirts and pants, be sure to hang all hangers in one direction. To initiate conformity and a sophisticated aesthetic, use all the same hangers throughout the closet.

2. Stay in shape with shelving.

Use shelving to store heavy sweaters that are too bulky and risk losing their shape if hung. Adjustable shelving is a must in every man’s closet, scaling with his needs over time—whether he needs a lot of space for wool sweaters or organizational baskets filled with hard-to-fold garments.

3. The shoo-in.

Don’t be fooled, men can have just as many shoes as women, and they add up: Dress shoes, running shoes, boots, sandals, casual walking shoes. The thing to remember is, men’s shoes are generally much larger than women’s, so even if they own less, they still take up more room. The trick to creating an organized, well-appointed gentleman’s closet is to keep everything off the floor—especially shoes! Instead, store shoes on adjustable shelves to give the closet an ultra clean and polished look.

4. Tied up with accessories.

For the man with a lot of ties, a tie rack or accessories drawer where you roll your ties is the way to go. Tie racks are key for a neat closet, where every tie is in the same place. This allows handy access to all his ties at once to help decide which goes best with his suit while keeping them pristine and wrinkle-free. Further, velvet jewelry trays aren’t just for necklaces and earrings. You can customize a jewelry tray in a drawer in the closet to keep sunglasses, watches, rings, and cufflinks safe and organized. You can also use this space to safely store your technology, like iPods, tablets, and smart watches. Other closet accessories shouldn’t be underestimated: hooks, valet rods, and belt racks come in various finishes to match the decorative hardware on the cabinets and drawers in the closet.

Masculine Design

Using a combination of cabinets, adjustable shelves, drawers, and tiered hanging rods, allows a man to organize and access his clothes and accessories in the way he prefers. Additionally, building a man’s closet with darker woods or materials also helps exude a clean and masculine design that gets him out the door and off on the right foot each day.