Real Simple reader Lee Doyle, age 35, of San Francisco

The Challenge: How to create storage space where there was none. Lee's 19th-century Victorian house has high ceilings and beautiful moldings, but it was built with only one closet.

The Solution: Lee built storage units on empty walls, effectively turning her bathroom into a highly functional dressing room. She hired a carpenter to construct a grid of adjustable open-faced shelves (for shoes and bags), concealed shelves (for sweaters and files), and two concealed cabinets with both hanging rods (for coats, suits, dresses, and skirts) and drawers (for T-shirts, pants, socks, and underwear).

Why It Works: Lee's regular uniform is casual. Most days it consists of a white T-shirt and jeans, which she enlivens with eye-catching shoes and bags. Her closet lets her ponder her options quickly and easily. "Before I had open shelves, I would forget about shoes I owned because they were hidden," says Lee, a painter who stays at home with her 18-month-old daughter, India, and runs Pillow Talk Pillows, a small company that makes pillows out of vintage scarves. The key element in the closet is the library ladder on rails that Lee first saw in a local hardware store. The store's owner ordered one for her from the Cotterman Company, in Croswell, Michigan (800-552-3337). Without it, the 14-foot-high cabinets would be completely impractical.

Why She Loves It: Lee enjoys having her collection of accessories on display. She arranges her handbags and shoe boxes with an artist's eye. "I pay attention to details. I'm the person who fluffs pillows while people are standing around at my cocktail party," she confesses. "I love things to look nice."