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Yes, 12-inch shelves are often considered the standard closet shelf depth for storing folded clothing, shoes, and small containers. However, if you plan to store bulky items such as blankets, baskets, or cleaning supplies, you may want to go deeper. For specialized layouts, an adjustable system can give you more flexibility.

You can budget a little less money for how to build a closet with wire shelves than with wood shelves. Some people don’t like the aesthetics that wire shelves provide, though, meaning they’ll gladly spend a little more to add wood shelves to the build. If you decide to buy pre-made wire shelves instead of building custom-sized wood shelves, you’ll be restricted in the closet shelving dimensions you can use.

If you have a bathroom closet with movable shelves, you can place them at virtually any spacing that works for you. Useful measurements between shelves in the working, or middle, section can be 10 to 16 inches for towels or linens. Lower or higher shelving could be up to 24 inches between shelves to store lesser-used or bulky items or boxes. 

The main difference between a closet and a wardrobe is that a closet is a separate room for general storage with its own door, and a wardrobe can be either built-in or freestanding place to store clothing. A walk-in or reach-in closet connected to a bedroom often serves the same purpose as a wardrobe by primarily storing clothes and shoes. A built-in wardrobe often does not have doors and leaves clothes exposed to view, whereas a standalone wardrobe usually has doors.