Shelf & Closet Rod Planner
Lay out shelves and brackets that actually fit your wall, or size up how much a closet rod can hang.
Plan the wall before you drill
Shelving looks simple until the last bin won’t fit or the top shelf is too high to reach. Planning on paper first — how many items per shelf, how many shelves up the wall, how many brackets to buy — turns a guess into a shopping list and saves a second visit to the hardware store.
Closet rods follow the same logic in one dimension: length divided by the space each hanger claims. Once you know how many bins your shelves hold, size each bin with the Storage Volume & Capacity Calculator.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many items fit across a shelf?
It's not simply the wall width divided by the item width, because the gaps between items eat into the space too. For items of width w with a gap g between each, the count is the whole number of times (item + gap) fits into (wall + gap) — that extra gap accounts for the fact that the last item doesn't need a gap after it. A 48-inch shelf holding 11-inch bins with a 1-inch gap fits four.
How far apart should shelves be?
Match the spacing to what's going on them. Paperbacks are happy at 9–10 inches, most bins and hardcovers want 12–14 inches, and tall boxes or appliances need 16 inches or more. The planner divides your wall height by the spacing you choose, so try a couple of values to see how many shelves each yields.
How many brackets does each shelf need?
A short shelf needs a bracket at each end — two per shelf, which is what this tool assumes. Once a shelf passes about 32 inches, add a middle bracket, and heavy loads like books or tools want support roughly every 16–24 inches to stop the shelf bowing over time. Always fix brackets into studs or use proper anchors.
How many clothes fit on a closet rod?
It depends on the garment. Shirts take about an inch of rod each (12 per foot), pants a bit more, and bulky coats two to three inches apiece. The planner multiplies your rod length by a typical width for the garment type, so a 48-inch rod holds roughly 48 shirts but only around 16 coats.
Educational tool. Bracket counts are a minimum starting point — heavy loads and long spans need more support and proper wall fixings.