Posted by Azra Rakovic
A Night in Support of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago
Closet Works is proud to announce that we are participating in the 41st annual Chicago Pride Parade to be held Sunday, June 27th. Closet Works will sponsor a float in the parade, as well as host a fundraising event to benefit the AIDS Foundation of Chicago.
Attendees at this weekend's fundraiser are asked to make a minimum $5 donation at the door to support the vital work of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago. In return, all attendees will receive a $100 credit towards a new closet installation.
Brice Cooper, former host of HGTV’s "Design on a Dime" will host the fundraising event. Closet Works will match donations made during the evening, up to a total of $5,000.
In addition to the event’s fundraising efforts, Closet Works is offering the opportunity for up to five individuals to ride on the Closet Works float during the Pride Parade for a donation of $100 or more but you have to come to Cocktail for a chance at this great opportunity!
Posted by Azra Rakovic
It's getting very close... this year's NeoCon show taking over the Merchandise Mart in Chicago is about to begin. The chatter of excitement in the architect and interior design community is getting louder by the minute and all of us here at Closet Works are no exception.
Given the fact that all of our 16 closet designers have at least a handfull of architects and interior designers they regularly work with on various projects, it's evident that this is going to be huge event.
Closet Works will be hosting a Mimosa breakfast on Monday, June 14th at 9:00am. Anyone is welcome to join us in our showroom which is located in the Design Resource Center on the first floor. It's our way of kicking off the show!
On Tuesday, we hope to see you at our showroom at noon for a "Liquid Lunch" which is code for Heineken. Our designers will be there to educate anyone interested in ways to increase square footage in your closet. Really fun topic!
See you there...
Posted by Azra Rakovic
After an incredibly long day of wandering up & down aisles at KBIS (McCormick Place in Chicago this year) seeing what was “hot” for kitchen & bath design, meeting some celebs (Curtis Stone who actually made me think about turning on my stove! ha ha) and tons of networking, I ventured back to the Merchandise Mart for their events & new trends… Luxe Home Showrooms had the biggest event so here is where I started...
The Luxe Design Center, a wonderful showcase of various vendors, had some of my favorite new sightings (and friends) of the day… Closet Works was one of the best surprises! As someone who consults & coaches my design clients on the “evils of clutter” & helps them to then organize their remaining stuff, I was very intrigued...
As I was walking around the showroom, I came across Closet Works & Azra Rakovic, who was “manning the booth”. She was kind enough to chat with me while I meandered around (and my subsequent 3x walking past the booth!). As I shared with her the details of my design company & our philosophy of Integrative Lifestyle Design where we design “healthy spaces” for our clients, she shared with me the efforts that Closet Works has done to become more eco-friendly. And, as I write a lot about organizing your inner pack rat, (i.e. you can't seem to get your stuff organized - no matter how hard you try. Is this describing you?) learning a great way to have a neat closet and care about the environment at the same time seemed very intriguing!
So NOW I can state that guilt-free organization rocks as you can now organize in a GREEN manner without running around all over town trying to find eco-friendly products! Check out Closet Works and explore their storage and organizational systems. Everything is made from GREEN products that have certified as Environmentally Preferable Products by The Composite Panel Association. From the mini-LED puck lights used so you can see what colors you’re trying to match & no formaldehyde melamine used, the CPA certification covers Closet Works' shelving, stains, and adhesives. Very impressive! So, not only does Closet Works design beautiful, custom closets to keep you neat & organized, but they do so with Mother Nature in mind!
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DeAnna Radaj is the owner of Bante Design LLC, an integrative lifestyle design company, which fuses Eastern and Western design/lifestyle philosophies. She is a nationally recognized speaker on healthy home design, color therapy/theory, psychology of clutter for adults and children, and a variety of business topics for the individual, small business owner and entrepreneur. Visit the Bante Design Web site for a list of all workshops and appearances at www.bantedesign.com.
Posted by Azra Rakovic
All of us here at Closet Works anticipate and encourage customer testimonials. In addition to our Customer Questionnaire that goes out to each client with the installation, we expect our customers to write reviews about us on various review sites, such as Yelp and Angie's List.
We receive so much great feedback from our past clients that we don't even know where to store it all. In order to recognize some of our greatest reviews, I have compiled a short list and here they are for your reading pleasure.
Kristi H. from Chicago wrote: "The designer listened to our needs. Quick, efficient, good ideas. Great product, value and people!"
Jen K. from Chicago wrote:"Great job! [The installer] was amazing - great work and very knowledgable and friendly. [The designer] really knew her stuff - Thank you!"
Evan B. from Chicago wrote: "We needed immediate install and [the designer] got it done in a few days! We are very pleased with the layout, function and aesthetics."
Britt S. from Burr Ridge wrote: "[The designer] was very thorough and easy to work with. The instaler did a great job. He was very polite and hard-working. I expected the closet to cost twice as much. Customer service and pricing were great."
Elise K. from Chicago wrote: "Designer was very thorough, personalized, a great problem solver and a good listener. The installation was so professional - I think he left things cleaner than he found them and he explained everything very well. I felt our needs were met and we weren't just another routine creation."
Karolina H. from Crestwood wrote: "Loved my designer! The installation was excellent all the way. I had another estimate and am so glad I went with Closet Works. Totally love it!"
Meredith H. from Lake Forest wrote: "My master closet looks fabulous - my husband and I feel like we are shopping in an upscale boutique when we get dressed!"
Cynthia R. from Elmwood Park wrote: "This is the third time I have worked with this company and I am always most satisfied. My installer was awesome - very polite and an excellent technician."
Now, these are just a few of our reviews over the past few months. In order to read more, go to our 2 Yelp profiles here and here to read more.
And by all means, if you have worked with us in the past, let us know how your experience was. We are always eager to hear from our past clients.
Posted by Azra Rakovic
So, now that I'm all
settled in our home, I'm finding neat things about the closet systems every day. Last week I learned that the closet doesn't have to stay the way it was originally installed. The beautiful thing about my new closet is the fact that I can customize it to my own specifications at any time. A few of the sections are the same width, which means that the shelves are interchangeable. How cool is that? So what we did to accommodate my dresses is removing a shelf above a lower hanging section and moving the rod up 5-6 inches. Voila! Now my dresses can breathe and are not grazing the floor. The removed shelf was inserted on the other side of the closet to add more shelving space for my gym clothes, tank tops, jammers, etc.
These modifications only took about 5 minutes but they will make my life a lot easier every day when I get ready for work. Prior to me using a
Closet Works organizer I never knew the benefits. Now that I have it, I can't live without it. When we move, and we are looking at moving, I will be sure to get my closets done by Closet Works again.
I'm still dreaming about the drawer dividers... a simple tool to organize a drawer that I would have never thought existed until I started working at Closet Works. For more closet accessories, download a PDF of
closet accessories. It's the largest selection of accessories in Chicagoland and if there's anything missing, just call us or ask your designer and we can source it and get it for your Closet Works system. Hope to update you on my new drawer divider soon and stay tuned to see all the other new things I've learned since having a Closet Works closet.
Posted by Azra Rakovic
After a little over 2 years of dating, I got engaged to my best friend Zach. Now that we are looking at starting a life together, there are organizational things we need to consider when merging our lives and merging our wardrobes.
Luckily, my fiancé already has Closet Works closets installed at his condo. This is a picture from before. The first thing we did was a major purge of his wardrobe. I promise, this wasn't prompted by my need to put my clothes in his closet. Actually, he could hardly wait to get rid of old golf shirts, gym shorts and those a size too small jeans that have been hidden in the back of the closet just creating clutter and I was only happy to help. In order to do the prudent thing, we decided to take the excess clothes to the local Goodwill Store. We took photographs of all 145 items and then proudly drove over to Goodwill. Why photographs, you ask? To claim tax deductions, of course. In order to learn how much to get for each type of item donated, I visited the
Goodwill website.
So now you're probably thinking, "How did you fit 145 items in that closet and is there anything left?" 'Tis the beauty of a
closet organizer. His leftovers still filled most of the closet, loosely. However, we were able to concentrate all of his garments on the right-hand side of the walk in, leaving me with the left side and a bank of drawers. More on those drawers in a future post. When the day finally came for me to move in, I arrived with 2 large suitcases of just my winter clothes. I thought I'd start out slow. I looked at the suitcases and then at the closet and said to myself, "Self, this is never going to fit in just the left side of the closet." Yet I powered through. After only 30 minutes I was all moved in, the suitcases were empty and I couldn't believe my eyes because there was still plenty of room for my summer wardrobe.
Stay tuned to read more about the little things I've learned about custom closet organizers, now that I'm actually using one myself. I am looking forward to you reading about my jewelry organizer, the valet rod that we moved closer to my half of the closet, the adjustable shelves we moved around to accommodate my gym clothes and my #1 wish list item: a lingerie and sock drawer divider. Oh, the simple things that make me happy.
Posted by Azra Rakovic
The furniture store Walter E Smithe is well known in the Chicagoland area for having the greatest commercials. All of their ads feature the three Smithe brothers immersed in an activity that somehow relates any current events with furniture. I personally think that these ads are brilliant and when I heard that Closet Works' President Mike Carson landed a guest role in one of their ads, I was thrilled and couldn't wait to share it with the rest of you. The Elmhurst Press got wind of Mike's guest spot and wrote an excellent article about the ad. The article can be found
here.
To view the Walter E Smithe commercial,
click here.
Posted by Kristina Ferrigan
Now I’m sure we at
Closet Works have lots of clients that have all their clothes folded in a neat stack. But in some respects, these people will always be fairly organized, even if they don’t have all the proper tools to make it happen. Closet organizers are just one more tool that they will use to get even more organized. They are always looking for ways to step it up a notch and make it just a little more organized, and boy, do I admire them for that. But for people who aren’t so naturally inclined to be organized, getting a good quality
closet system in place essentially provides you a minimum level of neatness. What I mean by that is that even though right now probably none of my sweaters are folded reasonably well, if at all, I know that this particular shelf holds my sweaters. Even though they’re not perfectly folded, I can see everything that’s available and it’s easy for me to choose what I would like to wear. Same thing goes for my PJ’s. I have two shelves dedicated to my ‘jammies and even if they get tumbled over, I know that they will always be in those shelves. I also have dedicated spots for slacks, t-shirts, shoes… well, you get the idea. So if you think that
closet organizers are for the super organized, you're right - they work really well for neat freaks. The best part is that they work even better for the rest of us who really need the help staying organized.
Posted by Kristina Ferrigan
Once in a while, I will offer tips to people on how to organize their closets or their wardrobe and they’ll comment that it’s probably pretty easy for me, since I must be a pretty organized person to work for a
closet company. I’m sure they think that we’re all super neat freaks and spend our days refolding our sweaters so that they look just right. Well let me tell you, I am the absolute opposite of this person. We only do that in our showroom or for photo shoots. At home, I have no time to just sit and go through my closet (who does?) and my husband claims that I have a folding disability. In fact, I am so bad at folding, that I am not permitted to fold his clothes. But I’m supposed to be all about closets, right? Turns out, closet systems work out even better for messy people than the super organized. It’s actually one of the things I love best about closet systems. If the space is a very well planned and organized structure (which is what we’re truly passionate about) it makes the day-to-day usage a snap, even for the folding impaired such as myself.
So if you have always thought that
closet organizers are for the super organized, you’re right – they work really well for people who eat, sleep and breathe organization. But the best part is that they work even harder for those of us who really need help getting and staying organized.
Posted by Azra Rakovic
You’ve likely got all kinds of garments hanging in your closet – some you love – some that don’t fit – some you wish would fit – some you spent way too much money on... And all of them wanting a place to hang out.
One of the easiest ways to double your storage capacity in your closet design is to incorporate “double hang” into your closets. Double Hang is defined as having two rods that accommodate short hanging items (typically one at 40” and one at 80”).
Some options that clients have used for their
custom closet design include:
His and Hers – allocate and divide the space so there’s no co-mingling. For some couples, this is the only way to make things work. His and Her hanging is specifically designated to separate sections.
Pants on Top – If you fold your pants over a hanger to hang them, putting them on the top rod allows you to more easily see what’s on the lower rod because pants don’t hang out as far as jackets and shirts.
This is also a way to accommodate double hang if your ceiling height is less than the normal 84” required to accommodate double hang.
Who’s on Top – the taller of the two people sharing the space can take the top rod and the shorter person can utilize the lower rods – that way everybody’s things are within an easy reach.
Having spent decades in and out of thousands of closets, experienced designers (like my teammates at Closet Works) are worth their weight in gold if you’re trying to maximize space so you can accommodate all the things you own and want to store inside your closets.
