Margate, FL custom closets and home organization

Margate was founded in the 1950s, when much of the land was still Everglades or farmland. It became the Town of Margate on May 30, 1955, and was incorporated as a city on June 22, 1961. The name comes from founder Jack Marqusee: the first three letters of his surname plus the first four of "gateway," because the town was seen as a gateway to western Broward County. Today the city covers about nine square miles, has 30 miles of canals and sits 7.5 miles from the Atlantic. Calypso Cove aquatics facility and the Oriole Golf and Tennis Club are both here, and the 2020 census counted 58,712 residents.

The 1970s were Margate's big building decade: Census Bureau estimates date 44% of its homes to those years, with a median build year of 1978. About 77% are owner-occupied. Around 44% are detached houses, and nearly four in ten are in buildings with five or more units.

Homes from the 1970s often still have their original closets: a shelf and a rod, sometimes wire, with wasted space above and below. A walk-in closet redesign adds double hanging, drawers and shoe shelves, and reach-in closet systems do the same in the smaller bedrooms. For children's rooms, kids' closets start with low rods and cubbies, then move up as clothes get longer.

In many houses of this age the washer and dryer sit in a small laundry closet or a corner of the garage. Wherever yours are, a laundry room system adds cabinets and a counter above the machines for detergent, folding and drying racks, so the floor around them stays clear.

The garage usually holds more than cars. If you fish or paddle the canals, slatwall hooks and overhead racks keep rods, paddles and life jackets up off the floor, and tall wall-mounted cabinets hold tackle, coolers and tools. A workbench with drawers below gives you a place for repairs, and slatwall hooks and baskets can be moved around as your gear changes from one season to the next. Our garage storage systems page shows how cabinets, slatwall, racks and workbenches go together, and the garage options page shows cabinet colors and countertop choices. Swisstrax floor tiles can cover a stained or cracked slab.

Broward County is in the Florida Building Code's High-Velocity Hurricane Zone, and garage doors must carry a large-missile impact rating. Because the door rolls up under the ceiling on its tracks, overhead racks are planned around its path and the opener. Hurricane-season supplies such as water, batteries and shutter hardware stay together in a tall cabinet, ready when a storm is forecast.

For condos and townhouses, check your association's rules on contractor hours, elevator use and installer parking before you schedule installation, and let the front desk or gate know when the crew is coming.

Neighbors in Coral Springs, Coconut Creek and Tamarac work with the same designers. To start, book a free design consultation: the designer measures, builds a 3D design with you and prepares a quote.