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
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.
