An Unexpected Home Feature: Walk-in Closet Location

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Right now a walk-in closet location in the master bathroom is a hot trend. It is a matter of convenience to slip right into a walk-in closet while toweling off after a shower rather than sauntering through the bedroom to get to a closet. Couples may admit keeping noise down while a significant other is sleeping is a huge bonus, too! If you are a single person looking at potential homes–keep this feature on your list!

An ideal walk-in closet location is a desired feature many buyers are including while viewing prospective homes. Also, contractors are suggesting this design choice when drawing up plans for master bathroom remodels. Case in point: this is a feature our aunt is considering for her master bathroom remodel post Hurricane Harvey.

When I first toured my current home as a potential candidate, I did not like the walk-in closet location. I thought a closet located where you have to walk all the way through the bathroom to get to it is just weird. I grew up in a house where the master closet was still a walk-in, but had some distance from the shower. It makes sense to keep the clothes further away from the moisture of a long steamy shower, right?!

Compare the layout below to the picture above where the shower head is only feet away from the closet door versus the home of my childhood.

The master bathroom layout which imprinted itself in my mind as I grew up. Notice there is a significant amount of space between the tub/shower and the walk-in closet.

Walk-in closet location = Fortress of solitude?

So, the walk-in closet location in my current home was a huge sleeper*– a surprise I did not know I possessed for 8 years…

Now, I know it is the quietest room in the house!

How do I know this? I know this because I had trouble sleeping after my first daughter was born. My wonderful husband starting taking on more night duties allowing me to get more rest. My walk-in closet location meant I got a solid chunk of uninterrupted sleep. Additionally, there is a the potential of having up to four doors closed in between her and me.** That is, four doors between her and me if I pulled a full size futon mattress in the master closet– which I did due to a desperate need of uninterrupted sleep.

I say potential because the nursery door has to open in order get to the baby when she is at maximum volume. Let’s hope the master bedroom door was closed on the way to her (only two doors then). You never know what you may remember or forget in the wee hours of the night.

This walk-in closet location yields more benefits. It is one of the darkest rooms in the house because it has no windows. No sleep mask needed here! Let’s say a miracle occurs and our little person sleeps past 7:00 am. In the master closet I am not rudely awakened from the sun peeking in along the edges of my blackout curtains***:

Or underneath the bathroom door where the skylight intensifies the sunlight in the bathroom:

Between this picture and the last picture this post seems like it is about to turn into a horror movie…

Any more spiffs to consider?

The size of your master closet matters. We are not talking about two closets with sliding doors. Amoire sized? Nope. It has to be a walk-in closet. A narrow walk-in closet with only a small walkway between two aisles of hang-up clothes does just will not make the cut. We all shove shoes and other storage boxes underneath the hang-up clothes on the floor. If you don’t, you certainly have a different organization system than me!

So specifically, floor space matters as a solution to a sleeping problem. My closet has a generous space in the middle. You can place an ottoman in the center to leisurely put on shoes while judging your outfit in a full length mirror (after I remodeled it, of course).

My one year old nephew would agree–it is a great place to sleep. Our pack-n-play fit perfectly with enough room to keep the buttons on my husband’s suit jackets juuuuust out of his sweet little chubby arms’ reach. Again, location matters, there were up to four doors in between he and his cousin. The two infants could be awake alternate hours of the night rather than deciding to coordinate a play date at midnight, then two’o’clock, then four’o’clock only because they conveniently heard each other. Although it also would have been very bad had they alternated waking up times, too. My brother and sister-in-law slept in the master bedroom in between the nursery and the fortress of solitude. I would like for them to visit again. However, one night of multiple wake-ups might call a return trip into question. This walk-in closet location turns out to be amazingly helpful!

In any case, I now consider myself to have an extra bedroom in the house.

Lesson learned: walk-in closet location matters! If planned out right, a beneficial walk-in closet location is convenient, desirable to the next buyer, quiet, dark and can be used as a spare bedroom.

*I couldn’t help myself from using that word (I even laughed out loud), but it wouldn’t be funny unless you read the rest of the story.

**I will do it again if need be as early as next month when #2 arrives. Some of you are nodding in agreement.

***These are blackout curtains layered between dramatic white Ikea curtains on inside the room and a roman shade inside of the window. The Arizona sun is that bright!