Most rooms we draw have a window right where the storage should go. It happened twice this week in the same walk-in closet. The tempting fix is to run tall units straight across and live with half a window. We almost never do that. The window stays, and the storage moves around it.
Measure the window before anything else
Four numbers decide almost every layout:
- Width, measured across the outside of the trim, not the glass.
- Floor to sill: from the floor to the bottom of the window.
- Floor to top: from the floor to the top of the trim.
- Distance from the corner to the edge of the trim, on both sides if you can.
Note whether the window opens inward, has a crank, or has blinds and a deep sill. Those need a little extra room. A phone photo of the wall with a tape measure in the shot helps us more than a long description. Our guides on how to measure your closet and how to measure your kitchen walk through the rest of the room.
Go low under the window
The space under a window is good storage, as long as it stays low. In a closet that usually means a chest of drawers or a bench with drawers. In a kitchen it's often the sink run, or base cabinets with the countertop running past. Keep the top of the unit an inch or two below the sill, so the window still opens and the trim isn't buried.
If the sill is low, the unit gets lower too. A bench at sitting height under a low window is one of the nicest spots in a walk-in closet.
Keep tall units off the glass
Tall towers, pantry units and hanging sections go on the stretches of wall with no window. Stop them a couple of inches short of the trim so it doesn't look crowded. If a tower has to stand next to the window, put shelves or drawers in it rather than hanging, so nothing presses against the glass.
In a closet, check one more thing: you still want at least one long-hang section and one double-hang section somewhere in the room. If the window takes the wall where they were going, we move them to another wall rather than drop them.
Leave room to walk
When units sit on facing walls, the aisle between them matters as much as the cabinets. Planning around a window sometimes means making one side a little shallower so the walkway stays comfortable.
Where we come in
Design help is free, and the standard price list is the same for everyone. Send us the four window numbers, the wall lengths and a photo, or start your design, and we'll draw the layout around your windows for you to check in 3D. You can see what we make on our closets and wardrobes page. Lead time is about 7 days. Shipping within the US then takes 3 to 7 days, depending on your location. For custom work we confirm the production time when the order is placed.
