How-to
How to Measure Your Closet Before a Design Consultation
Six measurements, one sketch, and the four obstructions that cause almost every install-day surprise.
Measure the wall width at floor and at shoulder height, the ceiling height at both ends of the run, and the door swing — those four numbers catch most of what goes wrong later.
You do not need to measure anything for us to quote — our measure is free and we bring our own numbers. But homeowners who arrive with a sketch make faster decisions, and a rough plan tells us what you actually want before we start proposing.
The six measurements
- Wall width at the floor. Corner to corner, above the baseboard.
- Wall width at shoulder height. Walls are rarely parallel. If these two differ by more than half an inch, we scribe the panels.
- Ceiling height at the left end.
- Ceiling height at the right end. Old Atlanta houses settle; a 3/4-inch fall across 10 feet is common and it decides whether an 84-inch tower clears with a ceiling cabinet above.
- Depth available. From the back wall to where the door swing or the room boundary stops you.
- Door opening. Width, height, and which way it swings.
The four obstructions that cause surprises
- Outlets and switches. Photograph every one on the run wall. A drawer stack cannot land on top of an outlet.
- HVAC vents. Floor vents under a planned toe kick, or a return in the back wall, change the layout.
- Baseboard and crown. We can scribe around it or remove it, but only if we know it is there.
- Door and window trim. A cabinet cannot finish flush into casing that projects past the wall plane.
What to photograph
Four photographs cover almost everything: the whole wall straight on, each corner, and the ceiling line. Stand back far enough that the baseboard and ceiling are both in frame.
What to bring to the conversation
The most useful thing is not a measurement at all — it is an honest count of what you own. How many long-hanging garments. How many shirts. How many pairs of shoes you actually wear. Rod height gets set by what hangs on it, and a closet designed for an imaginary wardrobe fails quietly for years.
Quick answers
About this topic.
Do I need to measure before booking?
No. The in-home measure is free and we take our own dimensions. A rough sketch just makes the first conversation faster.
How long does the measure take?
Usually 45 to 60 minutes. It covers the opening, ceiling, floor fall and every obstruction on the run.
What if my walls are out of square?
That is normal. Panels are scribed to the wall so the finished run reads straight even when the wall is not.
Start here
Tell us the room. We will tell you what fits.
A field measure, a dimensioned drawing and a fixed price — in that order, before anything is cut.