Handbag displays, special watch storage, and high-tech lighting—closets are having a big, bougie moment.

Bedroom closets are no longer just storage spaces dedicated solely to shoes and clothes. They’re now destinations built to create dressing experiences for people who want to be surrounded by luxury even when they’re simply getting ready for the day.

With the right amount of space and money, homeowners can outfit a closet with fun and functional amenities, including a steamer, a washer and dryer, a makeup station with refrigerated drawers and light-up rods, and a hidden safe—plus decorative touches that make it feel like a private boutique. Think chandeliers and wallpaper, maybe even a fancy rug. 

If you’re the kind of person who likes to host cocktail parties from your closet while friends admire your luxury handbags, shoes, and gala frocks, this is your moment. 

“The closet has come out,” declares Houston interior designer Courtnay Elias of Creative Tonic. “We spend a lot of time dressing ourselves and preparing to go out in the world. People have really elevated the closet to be a dressing experience.”

The bigger the home, the higher the price tag and the more elaborate the closet, it seems. In a large, multimillion-dollar house, a luxury closet could cost $350,000 to $400,000. Closets with luxury-brand finishes start at around $60,000, but those with tighter budgets will find a range of options and price points worth exploring.

Limited in space? Elias suggests drop-in jewelry organizers, pull-out valet rods, pull-down closet rods, and pull-out baskets, available on Amazon and retailers such as The Container Store and Rev-A-Shelf. A spare room near a bedroom can also serve as a closet without any construction, using rolling racks for clothes and shoes. For in n new-home construction, imagination and budget are the only limitations, and in Houston, both tend to run large.

Adrian Dueñas, who installed 68 closets in The Allen high-rise, has also designed and installed luxury Italian Molteni&C cabinets in many other closets. He and his husband, Marcello Saenz, operate the BeDesign modern furniture showroom, the exclusive Molteni&C provider in Houston.

Dueñas says people are spending heavily on clothes and accessories and want to display them the way a luxury boutique would. His wealthiest clients have bigger, more expensive homes, and the big-name brands to match. Louis Vuitton and Hermès bags demand special display. “One Houston client has 20 Birkin and Kelly bags,” Dueñas says. Christian Louboutin shoes won’t be satisfied being stuffed in a shoebox, and men’s watch collections call for elaborate storage cases that serve as watch winders.

One of his clients in The Woodlands installed a 3,000-square-foot closet that cost between $350,000 and $400,000. “It’s almost an apartment,” Dueñas quips, but Houstonians, he notes, tend to have the space. “We have the land,” he says, and the closet has become “as important as the kitchen.” “You’ve got people moving from one house… and they say they want ‘the closet of my dreams.’”

Rasha Nasreddin, whose Ornare Houston showroom recently moved to 3951 San Felipe St, says an Ornare closet system can run anywhere from $65,000 to $300,000—but many people deem it worth it for trendy new additions, including lighting in closet rods or near clothes.

Aside from beautifully lit racks and shelving designed to showcase accessories, Elias, Nasreddin, and Dueñas agree that a seating area is now essential in nouveau closets—somewhere to perch with a glass of champagne while debating gowns, or for a partner to settle in with a cocktail while you finish getting ready. Some install mini fridges in their closets to stock their favorite beverages and splits of bubbly, or refrigerator drawers to keep face creams and serums cool.

Nasreddin says Ornare, a Brazilian luxury brand, has dialed up the glitz for makeup stations, with what they call a four-sided glass “crystal box” that opens up to a makeup station with great lighting. 

At this point, the only thing missing is a doorbell.