The sleek organization of a custom closet speeds up your morning routine so you can get to work quicker—and rush less.

Summer’s officially here, school’s out, and you’re no longer shuttling kids to Severn School every single day. As much as summer is a relief for our kids, it can make way more work for mom and dad at home—and that means we’ve got even less time to get ourselves to work in the city each day.

Severna Park is perfectly located for the commute to Baltimore, and while commutes in this area aren’t terrible, it’s still a great idea to save time where you can. Whether you’re jetting north on I-97 or you’re heading south to Annapolis, it’s best to get on the road as early as you can in the mornings. A custom walk-in closet can really help make your daily routine even quicker and get you to work that much faster.

Plan the Ideal Layout

The skeptics in the house may have no idea how a fully fleshed-out organizational system can help to speed up your day. But if your closet, dresser, and bedroom floor are all overflowing with clean, dirty, and “unsure” clothing, you actually stand to get the most out of a custom walk-in closet. Going from complete chaos to beautiful order is the kind of transformation I enjoy most as a designer. It’s almost as cool as it would be to see the Ravens coming back from their two-year slump to win the Superbowl in 2018.

The process starts with a design consultation in your home. You’ll describe your needs, and the designer will provide ideas and inspiration for your project to help develop a design that you’ll love for years to come.

When you’re looking to shave time off the morning routine, you’ll want to make sure that convenience is your number one priority. We’re aiming for your closet to be the Ritchie Highway running through the center of your Severna Park home. Let your designer know you’d like the built-in laundry hamper as close to the entrance as you can get. Set aside space for your work clothing to be perfectly organized well within reach. Avoid islands or peninsulas that could get in the way of your morning rush.

Everything in Its Place, Perfectly

Now that the basic layout of your custom closet is decided, you’ll want to spend some time imagining the details. Do you prefer to dress for work each day in a certain order? Consider placing these categories in order from left to right as the first thing you see when you enter the master closet. Slacks, then blouses, then shoes, for example. That way, when you’re stumbling out of bed in the morning with a toddler screaming in the background, you won’t have to spend extra energy on deciding what to wear or trying to find that one specific top you wanted.

The purpose of a custom closet is to give every item its own specific home. When you accomplish this goal, it becomes so much easier to find what you’re looking for—and to replace everything when you’re finished for the day. Instead of a tumbling pile of shoes in the corner, imagine your collection beautifully lined up side by side in spacious, adjustable shoe shelves. It’s like Severna Park local Pat Sajak’s quintessential Wheel Of Fortune spread. Every pair finally has its place, and you’re no longer wasting time hunting for your other black loafer in the dark.

Accessories That Help Speed Things Up

Have you tried planning out your next work day’s outfit an evening ahead, hanging it on the back of the closet door? This trick is old hat for getting you out of the house sooner each morning. But with custom design, you can achieve the same goal with a far more elegant solution: valet rods. These small but mighty accessories beautifully display your next day’s clothing while staying out of the way.

Other accessories that help you get the job done faster:

• Velvet-lined jewelry drawers that keep your collection tidy and ready to wear.
• Belt and tie racks that store your weekday staples close at hand.
• Wardrobe lifts for those mornings when you need a light jacket but don’t want to hunt through the vacuum-packed madness under your bed to find one.

A custom organization system is tailored to your needs and helps you check off the to-do list each morning with a lot more speed and a lot less effort. When your mornings are this smooth, you’ll have a better chance at feeling up to those craft brews or a Tides & Tunes concert over on the Chesapeake Bay in the summer evenings.

Ready to get in the game? Sign up for your free design consultation with one of Closet America’s design experts. We’ll work with you to determine how your custom closet can best serve your lifestyle and your morning routine.

Lead image source: Flickr user Emily May