Barbara McCandless

I began my career in the custom closet field in the San Francisco Bay Area, where people live in smaller homes due to the ultrahigh cost of housing. With a family of five, I had to make the most of every square inch of storage space. After designing closets for several homes of my own, I became a professional closet designer in 2003, my “dream job.” Since then, I’ve created custom storage systems for over 1000 clients, first in the Bay Area, later in southeastern Virginia, and since 2012 here in the Chicago area. I truly love my Midwestern customers, and especially appreciate the ongoing training and design inspiration that California Closets provides. Whether it’s a simple reach-in closet, a complex room-to-closet, a home office or craft room, or dealing with an “unusual” space, I bring design skill, fresh ideas, and enthusiasm to your project. I’m happy to say that my sales were unaffected by economic downturn a few years ago. I believe my ongoing success is due to a number of factors: being genuine with people, really listening to my clients, working with them in their time frame and budget, being very detail oriented, and providing excellent customer care during and after the design and building process. It is truly a joy to work in collaboration with my clients to meet their storage management needs. I never get tired of hearing a client say, “I love my new closet!” We should generally allow about two hours for our appointment. During that time, I will measure your space(s), and show you pictures and material samples relevant to your project. Then, with your input and my California Closets CAD (computer assisted drawing) software, I will design your closet and show it to you in 3D on my laptop. This will be very much a collaborative effort, and a lot of FUN! By the end of our appointment, you’ll know exactly what your space will look like, and what the cost will be. I look forward to meeting with you! If you have any questions or thoughts beforehand, you are most welcome to call or email me.