The closet is becoming a room of its own

Closets aren't just a place to store clothes, hidden behind doors.

"It used to be a pole rod and some racks, with not much thought given, but now they're becoming special rooms in the house," said Cary Vogel, owner of Las Vegas-based Interiors by Cary Vogel. "People are spending money to make them lavish, luxurious and comfortable spaces."

Vogel said he's installed islands, cabinet lighting, frosted glass doors, artwork, TVs and a writing desk in his clients' closets.

"Now they're more thought out and there are so many more bells and whistles like compartments for socks, jewelry and undergarments," he said. "Years ago no one did that."

Vogel added that his clients are also arranging their clothes by color.

"In this stressful day and age when we're running a million miles a minute, it makes it so much easier to know where everything is and which drawer to open," he said.

Like Vogel, Robert Messiana, architect at Jawa Studio on East Charleston Boulevard, said closets are getting bigger and more complex.

"It used to be that women's closets were twice the size as men's but now we're seeing people want more equal size closets," he said. "They're becoming more functional spaces within residences."

According to Messiana, one of his clients had a seating area, dressing station and desk installed in their closet while another put in a wet bar complete with a wine fridge.

"People are spending more time worrying about what they look like and getting dressed so they're becoming rooms of their own," he said. "Now you can get dressed, answer emails, shop online and do all kinds of things in the closet."

In the future, Messiana said he sees closets getting even larger and more functional.

"People want to use their closets more for space rather than just storage," he said. "It'll become more of a usable room that also happens to hold your clothes."

He added, "As they get bigger, they take up more real estate in the house, so why not use it for something more than just storage space?"

Megan Huegel, co-owner California Closets at 7350 Dean Martin Drive, works with Toll Brothers homebuyers to provide closet options for their Summerlin-based communities, Altura and Los Altos.

"A lot of homeowners are gravitating toward color options that complement the décor," she said. "Toll Brothers has a lot of grey tones in their models because they're popular, contemporary and transitional colors."

According to Huegel, homeowners can choose from a selection of nine colors, most of which have linen, wood or woven texture to them.

"A lot of them are doing two tones in the closet and elsewhere in the home to accent a door or back panel in a contrasting color," she said. "It's a trend that we picked up years ago and it's become a lasting trend."

Huegel said she's seen closets grow in size as homeowners demand larger spaces.

"We have more style choices and accumulate more now," she said. "Styles are lasting longer wardrobe-wise so we can buy an item and wear it season after season, resulting in the need for more storage space."

Sleeker lines and ultra-modern styles are what Huegel said she anticipates being incorporated into closets in the future.

"Closet trends mirror interior design trends so we'll continue to see more decorative accent options," she said. "Closets are becoming beautiful spaces, not just a place for storage."

Contact Ann Friedman at afriedman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4588. Find her on Twitter: @AnnFriedmanRJ.