Accurately Measuring Your Closet Or Storage Area

HOW-TO MANUAL: Accurately Measuring Your Closet or Storage Area

VIRTUAL CONSULTATIONS FOR DESIGN

How to Accurately Measure Your Closet

Measuring your closet is an important step in our virtual designer-consultation process. By following this how-to manual, you will be able to provide us with an accurate measurement of your closet.

Still in the blueprint stage for your home? Our trained designers can work with your architectural designs and get you preliminary designs and costs. Once your home has been framed and dry-walled, we will come out to your new construction site and gather exact measurements.

Wanting to measure for closets in your existing home? Before you begin, locate at least a 12’ measuring tape and read on.

Calculating the Height of the Ceiling • In order to measure the ceiling’s height in your closet, you must start from the floor and work your way up.

• Make sure that you can always see the numbers and that the 1” mark is secured to the floor beneath your foot. Some tape measurers will have a locking mechanism that you can use as well.

• While using your dominant hand to raise the tape to the ceiling, use your other hand to keep it taut.

• Next, use the corner between the ceiling and nearest wall to fold the tape where the two meet. Lower it back down to eye level and record this number as the height of the ceiling.

Determining the Height of the Soffit • Depending on the age of your home, you may have a soffit that complements your closet. This is the wall space above your doors.

• Repeat the steps for measuring the height of the ceiling but stop when you get to the base of the soffit.

• Ignore any door tracks for now and record this number as the height of the soffit.

Assessing the Width of the Closet • Following a vertical approach to measuring height, adjust to a horizontal one to find the closet’s width. • Secure the 1” mark against the left wall of the closet and shift the rest of the measuring tape until you reach the right wall.

• Record this number as the width of the closet.

• It’s important to have the tape measure tight against the back wall and to measure in at least 3 different places on the wall (top, middle, and bottom).

Gauging the Depth of the Closet • The closet’s depth can be gauged by measuring from the back wall to the front of the side walls.

• Similarly to how you measured the width, place the 1” mark on the back wall and extend the tape all the way down the side walls until reaching the front of the closet.

• Record this number as the depth of the closet.

Measuring Door Openings and Return Walls • The door on your closet can be attached to a hinge or on a sliding track. The door/doors is most likely partnered with a pair of return walls.

• Step inside your closet and turn around to find these walls to the right and left of the door.

• One at a time, measure from the side walls to the door frame. Record these numbers as the right and left return walls.

• Also measure the width of your door/doors. If you door has molding/trim around the door, measure to the outside of the trim.

Accounting for Obstacles • Depending on the closet, there can be a number of items that need to be accounted for as an obstacle.

• This may include electrical outlets, light switches, windows, vents, plumbing access, and anything else that should not be covered by your new floor-based closet system.

• Take a photo of any obstacle and submit it to your designer with dimensions as to where it’s located within your closet.

Master Walk-In Closets When measuring for a Master Closet walk-in it’s important to note, will this space be shared or just for one person? Will you be wanting to eliminate dressers in the bedroom and add drawer stacks to the closet? Other popular items to add to Master Closet walk-ins are:

• Full Length Mirrors • Laundry and Dry Clean Baskets • Ironing Boards • Vanity Areas

If your walk-in is a small room, you may have room for an island. Your designer will want all 4 walls measured to determine if there’s room for an island and adequate walk aisles between hanging and shelving space.

Other things to take into consideration for walk-ins are: • Door Swing (in, out, or pocket?) • Plumbing access if it backs up to a bathroom

Photographing the Closet • In addition to each obstacle, it is also helpful if you take photos of your entire closet before your virtual consultation begins.

• Our recommendation is to snap these images while standing from the doorway.

• Also, make sure to take an individual photo of every surrounding wall.

• If something is difficult to portray in a photo, mention it to your designer during your virtual consultation and they will be able to assist you from there.

General Closet Information It’s important to also let us know your floor type within the area that we will be designing (carpet, tile, hardwood) and to identify the type of walls you have (drywall, plaster, brick, concrete block).

Measurement Worksheet: Reach-In Closet

W idth

Width

Ceiling Height

Depth Height

Left Return Right Return

Door Width

Door Depth Width

Ceiling Height: Depth: Door Width:

Soffit Height: Left Return: Floor Type:

Width: Right Return: Wall Type:

Obstacles:

Measurement Worksheet: Master Walk-In Closet

Width

Wi dth

Ceiling Height Depth Height

Door Left Return Right Return Depth Width Door Width

Ceiling Height: Depth: Door Width:

Soffit Height: Left Return: Floor Type:

Width: Right Return: Wall Type:

Obstacles: