This is just a pet peeve of mine when watching HH and other RE shows.

Now don't get me wrong I love walk-in closets...BUT...

I've seen house shoppers go into a BR that has a WALL of closets, sometimes from side wall to side wall, so we're easily talking MINIMUM 8 feet of closet space across floor to ceiling, and they'll still complain about it not being a walk-in.

To me, that's nothing more than buyers whining about another buzz-word marketing feature.

Eight feet of wall to wall closets may have more storage space than a walk-in so what are they complaining about? Any many times the closets are bigger than that 10 ft across.

What's the big deal. I don't even think they look at the total closet space. They just see it's not a walk-in and start bemoaning.

(These have usually be 30-40 something couples looking for a bigger house than they need anyway....surprise, surprise)

I think normal depth closets that go wall to wall can be great because everything is at hand -- AND you still get the total space of a walk-in.

Do you think they really can't see that it is as big as some 'walk-ins' or are they just told what to say by the producers? It seems they have to make a comment about every room and some of the statements are just lame.. that is why I was wondering if they were told what to say.

I rejected a house that didn't have a walk-in closet. While the room and closet space were more than sufficient, the layout wasn't. A walk-in closet would have been better in that room. The room was about 12 x 18 with there being a huge window along one 12' wall and bathroom door being in the middle of the other 12' wall. The closets, door, and a built-in desk and bookshelf took up one 18 wall. That left one wall for furniture. A walk-in would have given more wall space.

While I might not NOT buy a house because it didn't have a walk-in, having a walk-in in our master was a selling point on this house. For awhile, my husband had his insurance "office" in our bedroom, and the closet housed his files boxes and assorted other items. I do a lot of crafting, and when we first moved in, we had the two boys living with us... All of my craft supplies (and I'm talking a small shop worth) were in the closet, and since the boys... and two grands... have moved back in, there's all that and then some. The closet is approximately 8.5 X 13.5, and it's packed, wall to wall. Of course, we have two dressers in there, which gave us room in our bedroom for me to have a pretty vanity, and a nice chair for reading. I also store all of my Christmas and other holiday decorations in there, since we have no attic to speak of, and no garage. I couldn't store all I have in a regular closet. I love my walk-in! (*"*)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: countrybug,

Well, after years of having a walk-in closet, we now have wall to wall closets.

I prefer the walk-in because if one spouse has to get up before the other (or working split shifts), they can go into the walk-in, turn on the light and get dressed.

As it is now, it's impossible to see what's what in the wall to walls without a light on.

I totally agree about the benefit of walk-ins over wall closets - furniture placement is much more challenging and limiting when you have a lot of the wall space taken up by closet doors....give me a nice sized walk-in any time.

I also agree with both of the reasons. At the moment, I have the exact opposite. There is a double window on the North wall, a window and door on the East, nothing on the south wall and 2 closet doors and the door to the hall on the west wall. I have to get dressed for work, but DH doesn't need to be awake so I have to keep a small flash light in my closet to turn on and find what I want. The next house HAS to have a walk-in, even if it's smaller than wall-to-wall.

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so I have to keep a small flash light in my closet to turn on and find what I want.

Goodness. don't you have lights in your closet? These are above the door frame so the light does not project into the room much. (unless someone is a really, really light sleeper).

I find it more appealing o have a walk-in. The sight of a wall of white doors is rather ugly to me. I also don't like bi-fold doors for intense use. I have a tendency to catch my fingers in them I would rather have a wall of a wardrobe system with doors than a wall closet.

I also like the fact that you can go in, close the door and the other one doesn't hear you or is bothered by the light.

We're in the process of building a new house and it will have a walk-in. Wallspace is too valuable to give up for a wall to wall closet. Plus there's the ugly factor of a wall full of doors.

Our last house had a huge walk in closet. And since I used to manage a retail store, we have a LOT of clothing. It was nice.

When we bought this house, we had no walk in closet. So I have all of my clothes in the guest bedroom. And hubby has his clothes in the master bedroom. It's actually better because we're not tripping over each other trying to get dressed in the closet.

Honestly though, it was one of our hesitations in buying this house. But now I don't mind.

I have a huge closet, but it is not a walk in, and I dislike it. It is a pain to keep organized, and it takes up a whole wall.
Walk ins are not a fad, they are practical.

Having lived for so many years in NYC and Washington DC, in older buildings or homes where walk-in closets were unheard of...I now covet walk-in closets and wouldn't dream of buying a home without one. Thank goodness we live in the land of big honking walk-in closets.

And, mind you, I am definitely not a clothes horse and Imelda Marcos would laugh at my pitifully small shoe collection, especially the Crocs!

Boricua.. you made me smile.. my closet is 7x20... double hangers... built in shelves at each end... blah blah blah... I wear a "uniform".. overalls .. short & long .. the rest of my clothes ( the good stuff) could fit in a hall closet...LOL... shoes... can we say Keds and running shoes... but I do have 2 pair of crocks .. one with the school logo...

quote:

Originally posted by clbselhar:
This is just a pet peeve of mine... a BR that has a WALL of closets... and they'll still complain about it not being a walk-in...
buyers whining about another buzz-word marketing feature

I think the way this is worded sounds like whining when all the pro's and con's are not thought out in advance. First of all... "walk in" is not a new concept by any stretch of the imagination like "pop" and "space" and other marketing buzz words that really are annoying for good reason. My parents built the home my mom still lives in when I was 3, they have "walk in" closets AND an on-suite master even though the house is modest so... that's 40 plus years the walk-in has been around that I know of.

8 - 12 or any amount of a wall in my home of nothing but closet doors would just totally be unacceptable and that is the first thing I would say on or off camera if I walked into a room where one wall was covered in closet doors rendering untold amounts of dead square footage in front of those doors for furniture placement.

Everyone has their own "tastes". Someone else may prefer a wall of closets and to use the walk-in square footage for another small bedroom. That's a choice we can make thank goodness.

You are right though in measuring up the amount of linear feet of closet space one actually needs before going house hunting and telling the realitor prior to showing you homes that you simply can't fit your things in is a waste of time so... that is a valid point.

I would prefer a huge walk-in with built-in drawers and shoe area that fit both mine and my husbands cloths with enough room left in the middle to dress (not the size of a second bedroom... just enough for us) even at the loss of square feet in the actual bedroom as long as my bed, night stand and comfy reading chair fit in my room without being crowded. For us, dressing is done off the master bath area... not in the master bedroom area. Other people live differently and have different preferences and should be allowed to choose a home that fits those needs.

I love house hunters because they do go back several months later and show how the new homeowners have changed the colors and space to fit themselves. Put their own stamp on a home ~smile~

My brother & SIL did something neat.. for those occasions when you don't want to wake or bother others... there is a hidden door from their closet back into the living room ( faced with bookshelves)...

Walk in closets aren't something new,in the house I grew up in, my parents had a huge walk in closet that had my fathers tall dresser in it, a wall of built in shelves and a rack on the other wall for all their clothes to hang on (a hidden door at the end of that wall to a hidden storage room). The house was over 100 years old. In my previous house I had a good size walk in closet with a window, it was so nice to go in there during the day and have it flooded with day light. I loved having a walk in closet, it was much easier to get to things. The closet we have now is two double closes beside eachother that take up one whole wall. IT is not the same as having a walk in.

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Originally posted by Becky42:
My brother & SIL did something neat.. for those occasions when you don't want to wake or bother others... there is a hidden door from their closet back into the living room ( faced with bookshelves)...

I saw a room just like this on "If Walls Could Talk". Very interesting.

Hi just thought I would add my comment too....my mater bedroom has a walkin closet and a"gentlemens closet" (wall closet) honestly we share the walk in the gentlemens closet has less worn clothes and our guest room closet has out of season clothing....the walkin is just much easier to deal with...yes I am a clothes horse.

I have what most would consider a smaller home around 1800 sq.ft. but I've got a nice sized closet; where you walk into a 5X6 area that houses my dresser, mirror & clothes round for the week, then step down into an additional 10X12 space that houses my shoes, purses, clothes, massage chair, mini trampoline, flat screen tv, etc. Granted my first home had the wall of white closet doors & I didn't complain because that's what I could afford at the time. But I always said that if I built a home, I'd build a master bedroom & closet that pleased me, even if I had to give up the kitchen & I pretty much did.