There’s a version of a custom closet most homeowners know: white modular panels, a rod at two heights, maybe a shoe rack, installed in an afternoon.
Then there’s the version celebrities get. Closets designed like rooms, built like furniture, organized around exactly how one specific person lives and dresses.
For years, getting the second version meant living in New York or Los Angeles. In Austin, it now means a phone call, because one of the designers who spent a decade building those closets moved her practice to Texas.
The Designer: A Decade of Manhattan’s Hardest Closets
Katie Nagji, founder of Swann Closet Design, spent more than ten years as a custom closet designer in New York City before relocating to Austin, where she has been designing for the past five years.
The client list
Her New York roster included A-list celebrities across music, film, and professional sports, the kind of clients who could hire any designer in the world and whose wardrobes and expectations came in equally oversized.
Why that resume matters for a regular homeowner
This isn’t name-dropping for its own sake. Celebrity closets are the hardest projects in the category: enormous wardrobes, absolute expectations, architecturally difficult spaces. A designer who spent a decade solving those problems develops an eye for storage that catalog-based systems never require. That eye shows up on every project, famous client or not.
Bespoke vs. “Custom”: What Swann Actually Builds
The phrase “custom closet” gets used loosely, so here’s the precise difference:
| Typical closet company | Swann Closet Design |
|---|---|
| Modular panels configured to fit | Millwork designed from a blank page |
| Factory components, flat-packed | Fabricated by Austin-based artisans |
| Standard finishes and sizes | Materials, stains, and dimensions chosen per project |
| Installer crew | Designed, built, and installed by the same local team |
The Process, Step by Step
- Complimentary consultation. A conversation covering project scope, design preferences, budget, and timeline, to confirm the fit before anything else.
- In-home measure and deep dive. Exact measurements plus a real look at how the space gets used: what hangs versus folds, where jewelry lives, which shoes get displayed and which get stored.
- 3D rendering and detailed pricing. A realistic rendering of the finished space with firm numbers, typically delivered in 2 to 3 weeks, so there’s no gap between what’s imagined and what gets built.
- Design refinement. Continued edits and discussion until the design is right, then a locked schedule.
- Fabrication and installation. Built by Austin artisans, installed and fully managed by Swann. Small projects finish in about 3 weeks; grand dressing rooms can run up to 4 months.
What They Take On
No project is too big, too small, or too awkward. The portfolio includes:
- Full luxury dressing rooms and primary walk-ins
- Compact reach-ins and oddly shaped spaces
- Under-stair closets converted into fully functional storage
- Home office and paperwork organization
- Custom millwork storage throughout the home
What Austin Clients Say
The review pattern is consistent across the city. A Great Hills homeowner described juggling a delayed renovation, changing floor plans, and shifting budgets, a designer who stayed on top of every detail through all of it, and a finished closet they credit as one of the big features that helped their home sell for top dollar. A Clarksville client called the finished primary closet a dream realized, noting the design maximized space while working around electrical elements that couldn’t be moved from the walls. A downtown client summed up the combination plainly: technical skills plus the soft skills to actually understand a client’s style before layering in the design expertise.
Why This Fits Austin Right Now
Austin’s home stock has a closet problem from both directions:
- New construction ships with builder-grade shelving that wastes half the cubic footage it encloses
- Older homes have closets sized for wardrobes from decades ago
Meanwhile home values have climbed dramatically, which changes the math. On a home worth over a million dollars, a primary closet done at furniture quality is one of the few upgrades that improves daily life every single morning and shows beautifully at resale.
Quick FAQ
Is the consultation really free?
Yes. The first step is a complimentary conversation about scope, aesthetic, budget, and timeline.
Do you see the design before committing?
Yes. Every client receives a realistic 3D rendering along with detailed pricing before fabrication begins.
How long does a project take?
About 3 weeks for smaller builds, up to 4 months for full dressing rooms, since everything is fabricated to order by a local team rather than pulled from a warehouse.
Does Swann only do closets?
No. The studio handles custom millwork storage across the home, from offices to under-stair conversions, though bespoke closets and dressing rooms are the signature.
For homeowners whose primary closet deserves better than wire and white laminate, Austin now has something few cities its size can claim: a designer whose previous clients could have hired anyone in the world, and chose her.
