“Big Box” stores simply can’t compare to the level of quality and precision offered by a custom closet company.

When we finally became homeowners in Washington DC, my spouse and I loved walking through home development stores. We saw endless products on their shelves that we could envision in our home. Once we finally narrowed down which room and project we actually wanted to start with, however, we hit an unfortunate snag: these stores simply didn’t have the options we wanted.

If you’re in the same position, on the hunt for a closet organization system that just isn’t offered on the prefabricated shelves, don’t feel too bad. Even chain stores that claim to specialize in closets only offer a limited set of options. If you’re truly looking to maximize your investment and get a closet upgrade that perfectly fits your needs, you’ll want to partner with a custom closet company instead. We can only speak from experience, but here are a few reasons our clients give for choosing Closet America over other DC-area options:

Our Products are a Perfect Custom Fit for Your Space

Lowe’s and Home Depot both offer closets in a box—DIY kits in so-called standard measurements that you can bring home and install to create the look of a custom storage unit. However, they’re crafted using averages and will inherently leave gaps in your design between walls and shelves. With an irregular or difficult closet space, this can spell disaster. That’s a fully wasted drive up to northeast DC.

At Closet America, we’re proud to run our company based on exacting German engineering principles—we manufacture each piece perfectly down to the millimeter, meaning you get a perfect fit every time upon installation.

Our Showrooms Offer Real-Life Previews You Can Walk Through in Person

At The Container Store, you can see a couple of well-manicured examples of shelving units on their huge sales floor. It’s hard to imagine them in the small space of a closet. IKEA does this a bit better, letting shoppers meander through actual “rooms” filled completely with their products. But even their merchandise isn’t as sturdy and touch-friendly as a custom-made storage system. And people all over the country have the very same “Billy” shelf, which makes your home in DC a lot less unique than it has the potential to be.

You can open and shut our soft-close drawers five hundred times without hitting a single snag. Cabinet doors can be touched by a thousand customers without a single sign of damage—unlike the IKEA displays, which register chipping and scratches almost instantly. That’s not the kind of “custom design” our clients are looking for. If you’re looking for the beautiful staging you might find at the Crate & Barrel outlet or And Beige, you’ll find that at a really good custom closet showroom. Plus, you’ll get the fully personalized customer service experience you deserve.

We Help You Customize Down to the Details

If you buy a shelving unit from your local big box store, you’re taking a gamble on how that piece will look in your home. Maybe it doesn’t come in the exact color you were looking to purchase, but you order the closest option instead. Or you find a lovely entertainment center made from the perfect material, but plan on discarding and replacing every single hardware element with better finds from District Flea as soon as you get it home.

With a custom storage system, any room of the home is instantly customized to your tastes from the very beginning. Once installed, your custom design looks exactly like you thought it would, fits exactly like you hoped it would, and is crafted perfectly to your taste. You can start accessorizing directly from your favorite shops on U Street without having to do a major overhaul on your storage system.

Our Showroom and Factory are Under the Same Roof

Any design our employees create goes straight here to our manufacturing center, and goes straight from there with another CA employee to be installed in your house. No mix-ups. No communication errors. No hassle. Other manufacturers like California Closets create and transport your closet product sometimes up to a thousand miles from Dupont Circle. Many closet companies in the DC area subcontract out their installation or manufacturing. Not only is this environmentally problematic, but it leaves a lot of room for error.

Closet America owns every single step of our process, from the second you schedule your design consultation to the moment you call us back to upgrade another storage space in your home—and we take full responsibility for maintaining a detail-oriented approach every step of the way.

Visit the Best Closet Store in DC

As you can imagine, Closet America is way more than a closet store—it’s a company that takes your most detailed requests and brings them beautifully into reality. The closet you receive will be uniquely yours and unlike any other product in the DC area. That’s our promise. If you’re looking for a truly customized experience and result, a custom closet company is definitely the way to go.

If you’re interested in seeing what our particular company has to offer you, the next step is simple. Sign up for your free design consultation with one of Closet America’s design experts. Together, with a detailed overview of your space and needs, we’ll create a custom solution that will last the lifetime of your home.

Lead image by Flickr user Tim Evanson

Images 2 and 6 via Glassdoor