With the help of a custom closet company, your next renovation for your Washington DC home could be your best yet.

Renovating your home is a good news/bad news kind of life event. The idea of an updated home is exciting, but it can involve some disruption in your daily routine. Try to stay optimistic about things like this. Since the house will be going through some changes anyway—for the better—why not get what you want in every room?

As a design expert at Closet America, that’s the advice I give anyone who mentions bigger home renovations. The idea is to make a plan before you start renovating, and get everything done in one fell swoop. It’s the perfect time to consider adding custom organization systems throughout your home to optimize and maximize your storage spaces. When the renovation is done, you’ll have everything finished at the same time and can finally stop waging an ongoing storage war with your home.

Tackle Your Reach-In Closets All at Once

Let’s say you’re in the middle of renovating an Adams Morgan rowhouse. The outside beams with charm, but the inside has felt crowded for a while. Maybe the bedroom closets are overflowing, and you’ve been moving some of the contents (temporarily, you tell yourself) to the kids’ room. My first piece of advice is this: when you renovate, make peace between all of your storage spaces. With custom reach in-closets, it’s best to update them in one fell swoop: you’ll be able to make decisions about what can go where, and allocate space accordingly across the whole house.

Putting your commonly-used items within easy reach will save time and establish order throughout your home—and when your closets are equipped with custom shelving, you may be surprised at how much “new” space you’re able to find! Custom closet organization systems are built from scratch, so you can customize every part of your reach-ins, with specific areas for unique items that can be hard to store otherwise. No more holiday decor in the kids’ toy chest!

Go All Out for Your Master Walk-In    

Picture yourself getting home from shopping in Georgetown. You have made a great find on Wisconsin; you’re definitely wearing it downtown tomorrow. Instead of hanging it over the top of a door to remind yourself in the morning, wouldn’t it be nice to have it arranged with everything else you’ll need for the day on a closet island in your master walk-in? Or displayed beautifully on a valet rod, lit from a custom-placed LED lamp above? This is the kind of luxury payoff you’ll get after your renovation.

A custom master walk-in closet is a very personal space, so our advice here is to get the details just right. Take your time, with the goal that you’ll finally be excited to get dressed every morning. Select colors and finishes for the overall space, and imagine the seating, rugs, light fixtures, or art pieces that can tie it all together. Include adjustable shoe shelves that fit everything from boots to sandals in pure sophistication. Throw in a velvet-lined jewelry drawer or two. Whatever you choose as a design, don’t hold back! This is the one room in the home that is tailored specifically to your needs.

Don’t Forget to Optimize Your Pantry

The joy of a successful trip to the U Street Farmers market loses some of its sheen if you have to cram your new bounty into overstuffed cupboards. This is when a freshly-renovated walk-in pantry comes in handy. In the pantry, our advice is always simple: design for convenience.

Walk-in pantries are the perfect example of how optimized storage systems save time and effort. You can finally arrange the contents purposefully rather than playing Food Tetris and place your most commonly-used items close at hand. With sliding chrome baskets, your dry goods can have enough space so that you’ll actually see everything at a glance, rather than having to reach to the back of each shelf like you’re on a food scavenger hunt. Floor-to-ceiling lazy susans turn dusty pantry corners into useful storage space. Design your new pantry according to what you reach for the most, and you’ll find yourself with fewer wasted minutes in the kitchen.

Clean Out the Garage for the Last Time

If you like puttering around Logan Hardware, you’ll appreciate having a workspace with a place for all of your tools. Speaking from experience, our advice here is to think outside the box. Over time, we’ve made great strides in storage technology. Now there are options besides pegboard. And as nostalgic as a rolling steel tool chest may be, handsome tool racks and heavy-duty shelving will make finding the exact tool you want even easier.

Garages tend to be catch-alls and places to store anything used in outdoor activities. You may need space for golf bags and gear. Maybe you want a space for rakes, gloves, and other gardening supplies. Regardless, if you plan to renovate your garage along with the rest of the house, you’ll be able to turn a space that’s normally off-limits to guests into one you’ll be proud to show. By being creative with your storage options (perhaps by hiding some of that clutter behind closed custom cabinet doors), the whole family will be able to fully appreciate your new space.

Renovating Done Right with the Help of a Washington, DC Custom Closet Company

As you can see, renovating a home can actually be a fantastic opportunity for you to clear the clutter once and for all. Whether you’re adding on a custom walk-in closet while you renovate the master bath or you’re putting in new garage cabinets while replacing your home’s flooring, custom organization systems fully complement the changes you’re making and provide incredible value all on their own.

Interested in taking our advice? Contact Closet America to set up your free design consultation. One of our local design experts will come to your home in DC to take measurements and discuss your dreams for the whole house. We’re as excited to get started as you are! Soon enough, your single renovation project will become a true home transformation that you’re proud to show off.