When we first saw our new home (pre-renovation), one of my initial thoughts was, “oh my god, how are we going to manage with such a tiny master closet?” While the bedroom was enormous—large enough for a king size bed plus sizeable bedside tables—the ensuite closet was tiny in comparison. And having just moved from a small rental apartment with an even smaller closet, I knew from experience this would cause problems between us in the future.
Enter California Closets: we were familiar with the brand, having installed them before in our former place and we knew that wherever we went afterwards, our new place had to have California Closets again.
What makes them so great, you ask? Well let me tell you:
- The quality. With over three decades of experience, California Closets is an industry leader within the design space. They truly believe that your home is a place for comfort and connection, and the entire process—from consult to install—is done with a white gloved service. You can literally feel the quality of the product in your hands, and where some budget options may chip or scratch at the slightest knock, California Closets is durable and made to last.
- The environment: Not only do they provide exceptional quality, but the majority of their offerings are environmentally friendly, including the finish I picked—which has passed rigorous regulations for emission standards. Their wood doors and drawers (which is what we chose) are made from recycled or reclaimed wood fibre while their translucent accent doors and drawers inserts are made up of 40% recycled material.
- The customization: Closets are super personal and unique to your design, function, and what types of clothes, shoes, and accessories you own. To that end, while at a lower price point, big box storage solutions are truly a “one closet fits all” approach, not only hindering your organization potential but also preventing you from truly getting all that you can out of your closet. California Closets by nature are closets by design, and all of their designers use your specific input as the guiding pillars when creating the closet of your dreams.
In order to do my due diligence, I had reached out to a couple other budget closet companies, but was immediately turned off when my consultations lasted all of 10 minutes each and their proposed closet configurations didn’t match our lifestyle or needs.
Then I met Steph Pollard from California Closets Vancouver and knew I had found “the one.” From the moment Steph walked into our construction zone, I knew she’d have our best interest at heart. She asked lots of questions on what types of clothes Reid and I owned, what we’d loved from our past California Closet, and what we’d change this time around (for example, we definitely wanted double the amount of drawers as our last place to store all of our undergarments and workout clothes). She also asked what our “getting ready” process was like—something I had never even considered before—and how often we used what types of clothes, shoes, and accessories. After over an hour of working through our design needs, she had a mocked up version of what our dream closet would look like and spoiler alert: it was beautiful!
After that came the fun part: finishes and accessories! We wanted a finish that complemented our apartment aesthetic but wasn’t too matchy-matchy. It didn’t take long before we landed on Linen, a light, textured finish from the Tesoro collection. As you can see from the pictures, it was the perfect complementary colour to our light oak floors but didn’t disappear into the white walls.
Next came the accessories. Again, complementing the other elements in our apartment we decided to go with matte black metal hardware and let me tell you, it was a fantastic choice to match with Linen. The final fun piece we added was a Valet Rod, a discrete and versatile component that allows you to plan your outfits, steam your clothes, or even dry delicate items like swimsuits.
I’m SO happy with how everything turned out! The process itself was straight forward and from start to finish, took just over 2 months from initial consult to install. If you’re considering upgrading your closet organization, I can’t recommend California Closets enough. From the custom design to quality material, and the fast turnaround time to superior customer service, California Closets can help bring your dream closet to life.
Thank you to California Closets for sponsoring this post. All images taken by Hayley Hudson c/o California Closets.
