2022 Top Shelf Design Awards

Designer: Kathleen Jacobson, The Couture Closet

Category: Closet: Wood Under 18 linear ft.

Project Title: Kips Bay Dallas Show House "His Closet"

Project Description: 

The Couture Closet was invited to design and build the closets for the Kips Bay Decorators Show House in Dallas. A charity event to raise money for the Boys and Girls Club and Dwell with Dignity charities. We partnered with our cabinet team, J & J Construction, to design bespoke cabinets in a very tiny space dedicated to "His Closet". When we first saw the space it was long but less than four feet deep. An additional two feet were tucked behind sheetrock with an angled pitch.  

We removed the two sections of sheetrock to build angled boxes for the wardrobe hanging space. The front height of the boxes was 7 feet high while the back was only 61 inches. We mounted rods at 54-inches high and enclosed the angled upper cabinets behind glass inset doors. On the sidewalls, we built two units at 15-inches deep with adjustable shelves for shoes and other storage and enclosed them behind glass inset doors.  The closet was finished off with stunning lacquered brass hardware donated by Schaub.

Project Construction: 

Our cabinet team, J & J, used paint-grade maple plywood for all the woodwork and Baltic birch inside all the drawers.  For the show house, we wanted bespoke cabinetry, so we designed mitered doors with a beaded shaker-style front. All cabinetry was inset-style with a bone trim to dress up the millwork. Angled finish end panels were custom cut and fitted into the space.  

Lighting is an important element in all our closet designs and fabrication. We used Hafele Loox5 LED tape with a 45-degree angled channel to distribute the lighting back into the 23-inches deep wardrobe boxes. The lighting is concealed behind custom run styles and rails all trimmed out on site. Recessed pull-out valet rods were drilled into the millwork. Side-mounted tie and belt racks were added. Wallpaper and a beautiful greenish paint color glammed up the closet.

Materials Used: 

*All cabinets were built with paint-grade maple plywood
*Baltic birch inside the drawers  
*Grass under mount soft closing full extension glides
*Blum full overlay soft close hinges  
*Hafele Loox5 LED tape lighting and WAC 45-degree channels  
*Satin brass finish hanging rods and flanges by Palmer Industries
*Colonial Bronze recessed style pull out valet rods  
*Benjamin Moore Advance Paint – Color: Springfield Sage & Muskota Trail
*Schaub lacquered brass hardware pulls  
*Starphire ultra-clear glass – Glasshouse of Dallas

Equipment Used: 

CAD Drawings were used for the conceptual design work. J & J Construction & Cabinetry field measured and laser leveled all walls & floors to begin fabrication.