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The Primary Walk-In Closet

Calling our primary bedroom closet a walk-in is a bit of a stretch. Technically, yes—you can walk in. But at roughly 5-by-5 feet (about 25 square feet), walking in is just about all you can do — which made designing this IKEA walk-in closet as a true built-in both a constraint and a challenge worth solving.

When we moved into our new-construction Brooklyn condo, storage was almost nonexistent. I addressed the entry closet situation earlier, but the bedroom closet needed attention at the same time. Much like the blank niche in the entry, the developer left us with a blank slate. There wasn't a single clothing rod in sight. (I actually used freestanding wardrobe systems while we planned the built-ins.)

Rather than tackling one project at a time, I designed all of our built-ins together: an entry closet, this small walk-in, and a living room media unit. Ordering everything at once helped offset freight costs—which add up quickly with heavy cabinet doors—and ensured the designs felt cohesive throughout the home.

Freight is no small line item. Ours came to roughly $700.

IKEA Sektion Cabinets

I designed all three built-ins using IKEA's Sektion kitchen planner. For now, we'll focus on the primary walk-in closet.

This closet is shared by my husband and me, though not equally. I have considerably more clothing and shoes, so the layout ended up being roughly one-quarter his and three-quarters mine. To compensate, I gave him the most accessible section near the entrance. At 6'2", I wanted him to spend as little time as possible navigating a very small closet.

Sektion cabinets are designed for kitchens—which is precisely why they work so well here. The range of sizes, depths, and internal configurations offered far more flexibility than most closet systems. At the time, they were also one of the only IKEA lines supported by Semihandmade's custom doors.

Semihandmade Doors

I'd been following Semihandmade for years and knew I wanted to use their doors someday. Taking on three built-ins at once was ambitious, but I was looking for something that felt more customized, and they felt like the perfect fit.

My goal was something contemporary but enduring—doors that would complement both the entry closet and the media unit in the living room. I visited the showroom and ordered several samples. With a project of this scale, I really needed to see the color in my space and feel the material.

For the entry closet, I chose a combination of Slab and Quarterline fronts. In the walk-in, I repeated the same design language but switched to a woodgrain finish rather than a solid color. The wood complemented our flooring and introduced movement into an otherwise tiny room, allowing the eye to travel throughout the space.

Mock-up of Semihandmade Doors on IKEA Walk-in Closet — Before anything was ordered, I mapped out the Slab and Quarterline door layout and shared it with the designer at Semihandmade. The goal was to create a design that felt balanced and intentional while accommodating the practical realities of the space. There are a lot of doors packed into a small footprint, and every one of them needed to function with ease.

Installation

I handled most of the installation myself. There is a slight learning curve but once you assemble one box, the others will come together quickly. And, like most DIY projects, the process rewards patience more than skill.

The biggest consideration is lead time. Semihandmade doors are made to order, and when a few of ours arrived damaged in transit, replacements added a couple of weeks to the schedule. It wasn't a major issue, but it's worth factoring into your planning if you're working toward a deadline.

To Semihandmade's credit, the replacement process was straightforward and the damaged doors were quickly reordered.

*One practical note—*

Door styles are priced differently. If you're managing a budget, it's worth modeling a few options before placing an order. Small per-door differences can add up surprisingly quickly across an entire project.

The Decisions

A: Cost. Fully custom cabinetry for one built-in would have cost what I paid for all the doors across three separate projects.
Semihandmade doors are thicker and have more heft than Ikea's standard options, plus they offer more color and profile variations to achieve a truly custom look.
When I was designing our closet, I knew I wanted to have custom doors and Semihandmade only offered doors for the Sektion line. They have since expanded and now cover additional Ikea lines as well as their own private line of cabinet boxes.
A: I love the subtle visual interest. If you like two profiles, why not try both? The slab doors also give the eye a bit of reprieve—depending on your profile choice, having them all identical can feel too monotonous.

The Result

Once this walk-in was complete, I finally felt like we could begin to settle into our new home. Living amongst boxes is a specific kind of stress — the visual noise, the inability to find what you need when you need it. Designing this space meant more than building a beautiful closet. It brought function to our days.

What began as an empty room with no storage became a highly functional dressing space tailored to exactly what we needed. Good storage isn't necessarily about having more space. It's about using the space you have more intentionally. In a home where every square foot matters, this tiny walk-in ended up working far harder than its dimensions would suggest.