[sltkr]

> The notches have to be wide enough for a the thickest stuff, but then a shirt will take as much space as thick coat.

It's probably easier to take out a hinger and let a thick coat take up two spaces (or more). Assuming you have only few coats, that's more efficient than increasing the spacing uniformly.

It does seem like you lose some flexibility due to the slots, though.

It also seems possible to put many more slots in the rod. There is no functional reason why slots and hingers need to match 1 on 1.

> If your goal is to save as much depth as possible the solution is obviously front to back direction rods, as opposed to side to side.

Somehow it feels like it would be harder to store the same amount of clothes on front-to-back rods. I also think it would be harder to browse clothes and take out the shirt you want; even with the retractable rod you have to pull out and push in rods just to see what's on them.