I just did a walk thru with our GC yesterday to configure all our closets, so I have this on my brain. I went to Easy Closets to get ideas. They have a great design tool there. I used that to understand what different configurations might be useful. In general, in all the "extra" bedroom closets I did a mix of long hanging and double short hanging with shelves. Some of the shelves are 12" apart and some or 6" (near the bottom) for shoes. The pantry and linen closets are all shelves (with areas to store a broom and vacuum). The coat closets are all modest in size, so they just got a rod with two shelves above them. The master closet is a little bit more elaborate with lots of shelving and hanging plus the built in ironing center, etc. I also left room in the closet for a dresser or other piece of furniture in case we decide we want to move our dresser out of the Master bedroom. The closet was big enough to allow us to have ample built in storage along two walls and still have a 2 walls "empty".

It was kind of funny because I thought the Master closet was over the top with all the storage and my GC thought it was simple. He said people often do an island or a dividing wall down the center, etc. In retrospect, that could definitely work, but I like the "openness" of the closet as is.

Adjustable! Everything lower than 3' off the floor should be a drawer or roll-out. Above 3' shelving clear to the ceiling. Have your clothes rod set as high as is comfortable for you. I hate closets with the clothes rod set at the "standard" height of 5 and a half feet high, because of all the wasted space above. For tall people, I put the upper rod close to 7' and that leaves room for a single shelf above it and another hanging rod below. I consider the user when I build something. How tall they are, how much stuff they have to store, what kind of stuff, how presious is every cubic inch of space? In San Francisco, every bit of space counts. You may have a huge house and it's not an issue

Aidan-n said it! The more adjustable it is, the more convenient it will be.

Look at what you have and figure out what you need and then don't waste space with a "standard" configuration.

My closet was designed to contain a large collection of transparent shoe and boot storage-drawers. lol, I use them for everything except shoes/boots. I hate shoes on the floor, so those have their own transparent 30-pocket bag which is hung on the inside of the door. The dress-rod is also the slacks rod and that height is set so the hems are just above the floor. The shirt rod is above, with just enough space so the cuffs don't touch the hangars below. BTW, the top rod is about 70" from the floor, and the shelf above holds baskets for storage of quilts. I don't use bureaus or dressers -- everything I wear is in that one closet, except for coats which are all kept in a closet near the outside door. Personally, I wouldn't want to do without the individual storage boxes, but some people like to shuffle through stacks of stuff in deep drawers. Design the storage to suit your nature.

Here is a link that might be useful: drawer-boxes