Looking at a $55,000 closet redo, one might expect a gold-leaf ceiling, a crystal chandelier, and enough space to pick up speed on roller skates. But closet guru Charley Turo’s latest masterpiece appears modest. To the naked eye, the 375-square-foot Highland Park walk-in has nothing ostentatious about it. So where did all those dollars go? It’s in the details.
Turo, the founder of Closet Karma, was given free rein by the owners of the multimillion-dollar new build. After taking stock of the couple’s belongings—noting everything from the height of the tallest boots to the number of furs to be hung behind tempered-glass doors—Turo completely customized the space in partnership with TCS Closets, the Container Store’s luxury line. With a large island, adjustable LED lighting, and mirrored back panels for the shoe shelves, the TCS Closets bill totaled just over $40,000 (an entry-level 14-by-16.5-foot closet starts at about $9,600).
Then Turo helped his clients pick Carrara marble to top the island and other surfaces ($11,000), had the bench cushions covered in Alexander McQueen fabric ($250 each), and special-ordered an optical makeup mirror ($850) for the built-in vanity. Quilted shapers ($15 to $30) fill the designer bags displayed on the top shelf, and thick acrylic hangers rang up at $8 to $30 a pop.
Throughout this process, Turo, who is certified through the National Association of Professional Organizers, worked to arrange his client’s worldly possessions in ways that made sense ($100 per hour). First, he purged the entire contents of the closet, only granting re-entry to belongings that passed his two-prong test (Has it been worn in the past six months to a year? Does it bring you joy?) before borrowing techniques from his retail merchandising background to finish out the space, rolling scarves and belts, color-coordinating lingerie, and file-folding sweaters.
What to do with the extra room? Turo is available to help clients shop for clothes ($75 per hour), and he’ll even style outfits and create a lookbook for future reference ($2,500 to $3,000 on average); book him at closetkarmastyle.com. “Once people get closets like this,” he says, “they start forgetting what they own.”
