Small closet organization

[mrsg123]

What are your tips for organizing your small (obviously not walk-in) closet? I feel like up pull stuff out all the time and get NOWHERE. I may have a handbag and shoe addiction if that is relevant. Also, H has all his stuff in another closet lol. Thanks!

[mrsg123]

Nada??

[FormerCityGirl]

I've got nothing either. DH has the closet in our bedroom and I have the ones in the guest room and office. We have a shoe rack in the mudroom and my bags are in an armoire with t-shirts and tanks in file boxes that I pull out like drawers. I've basically learned that our next house must have walk in closets. I do use under bed boxes for sweaters and sweatshirts which helps a little. I wish I had some idea, but I'm pretty stuck too.

fashionx may have some suggestions. I think her closets aren't walk ins either and she just reorganized.

[bimbi284]

H and I will be moving to a new place with smaller closets? I'm planning on getting some of those under-the-bed boxes so I can store my stuff under the bed seasonally, to make more room in the closet.

[scout8]

I have to switch out my clothes twice a year. Off season clothes go up in the attic. There is no way I can fit everything in my closet. Depending on your space & needs, I think shelves help a lot and/or double hung rods. That's all I've got. I am busting out of mine too.

[mrsg123]

I need to switch it out seasonally I guess, but lack good storage options. Boo! Our next house will have a walk in closet! Lol

[Deleted]

I wish there was advice!  I suffer from small closet syndrome.  Lol. One bedroom closet shared with my bf.  I keep bags, off season clothes and shoes in a large hall closet in those Rubbermaid tubs.  

[Deleted]

Is your house big enough to add free standing closets? Making sure you are using all of the vertical space will help too.

[mrsg123]

May 5, 2014 21:00:54 GMT -5 @kcpokergal said:

Is your house big enough to add free standing closets? Making sure you are using all of the vertical space will help too.

No. We have storage in the basement but have had flooding and other problems down there unfortunately. I really do pull things out but I then buy more gah!

[elletr13]

We just moved this weekend from an apartment with 2 walk-in closets in the master (plus one in the guest + a regular in the guest as well) to a house built in 1952 with one small closet in each bedroom.

We're lucky the owners (we're renting) installed shelving we can move around. The master closet has all DH's clothes & my dresses. The guest is the rest of my clothes. My DH's folded clothes are currently in a dresser in the guest. My dresser fell apart during the move, so in buying a new one. I'll probably hang a shoe rack on the back of the guest closet.

For the first time, we actually have packed away winter/fall clothes. Those will go under a bed along with my boots (once I order boot boxes).

Still not sure what to do about my bags, but I honestly don't switch it up that much.

[aqualuv]

H and I now share a closet. We have to separate our clothes by season and only have the current season of clothing in the closet. Same with at least my shoes. The offseason clothing and shoes are stored underneath the bed. I also do not keep shoe boxes so I feel like that helps with space and clutter.

That's all I have to add.

[kris356]

I need to redo mine desperately. We don't have walk-ins. DH clothes are in our guest room and I have the master closet Which isn't small but it has a weird nook and I have a long rod/shelf with one similar to what natariru posted on the side but it doesn't allow easy access to the large nook next to it.

But I am not complaining since we moved from a 1930s house with tiny closets in the bedrooms so my current closet is bigger than all the closets combined at our old house.

[mrsg123]

May 6, 2014 8:11:24 GMT -5 @natariru said:

Can you add rods to the side wall? Like this:

Oh I wish we had that room! Our house was built in 1914 and we are actually lucky to have the closet space we do. I think I need to be ruthless about getting rid of stuff.

[kris356]

May 6, 2014 9:36:35 GMT -5 mrsg123 said:

May 6, 2014 8:11:24 GMT -5 @natariru said:

Can you add rods to the side wall? Like this:

Oh I wish we had that room! Our house was built in 1914 and we are actually lucky to have the closet space we do. I think I need to be ruthless about getting rid of stuff.

Do you have closets that are is big as the door? If so I totally feel you pain! I lived with those for 13 years.

I had a rod and a shelf above that where I stored my jeans/pants. Below I had shelves for sweaters and other things that could be folded. Shoes I kept in their boxes on a shelving unit in our spare bedroom or under the bed. I did have to switch out seasonally: sweaters, cords, winter pants all were stored in rubbermaid containers in the basement during the summer and then that was switched with shorts/skirts/etc for the winter.

[BeagleMama]

Storing my out of season wardrobe really helps save space. I also have double and triple rods in the closet. I already really like my back-of-door scarf holder, stacking skirt/pant hangers and shoe racks to keep them from taking over the floor.

[iamali]

My current place has ridiculously small closets. I don't even have a hall closet. Ugh. Thankfully I'm moving to a place that is like storage HEAVEN, but while living here I had to break down and buy a wardrobe closet off Craigslist.

[elletr13]

Oh--I also switched all my hangers for my shirts to those thin felt ones that save space. Ditto the rec for the stacking pant hangers.

[carylee07]

When we lived in an older house, I bought garment racks and maximized wall space with hooks and such as much as possible.
Would you be willing to post pics of your current closet situation that may spark some more ideas?

[mrsg123]

May 6, 2014 20:26:20 GMT -5 carylee07 said:

When we lived in an older house, I bought garment racks and maximized wall space with hooks and such as much as possible.
Would you be willing to post pics of your current closet situation that may spark some more ideas?

Ooh scary lol! Yes I bet I could do that, it might prove helpful!!!

[fashionx]

I bought the skinny velvet hangers from BBB and added drawer and shelf units from Target to keep socks, underwear, tshirts and pants. Shoes I switch out seasonally and keep dress shoes in boxes up high since I don't wear them as often.

I sort everything by sleeve length for tops then dresses.

Sent from my Moto X using Proboards.

[mrsg123]

May 7, 2014 8:42:39 GMT -5 fashionx said:

I bought the skinny velvet hangers from BBB and added drawer and shelf units from Target to keep socks, underwear, tshirts and pants. Shoes I switch out seasonally and keep dress shoes in boxes up high since I don't wear them as often.

I sort everything by sleeve length for tops then dresses.

Sent from my Moto X using Proboards.

This looks awesome! I going to buy those hangers. Where do you keep handbags?

[elletr13]

FYI--I bought velvet hangers this week at TJ Maxx. $12.99 for a set of 25. Not sure how much they are at BBB, but I always find good stuff like that at TJM.

[jane6672]

May 7, 2014 10:57:02 GMT -5 elletr13 said:

FYI--I bought velvet hangers this week at TJ Maxx. $12.99 for a set of 25. Not sure how much they are at BBB, but I always find good stuff like that at TJM.

That's where I've bought mine as well.

I like the ones that have a fairly rounded silhouette - it keeps from getting hanger stretch marks on the clothes.

[Mashara]

I switched to the velvety hangers last year too. I much prefer the ones made for pants that have a bar across the bottom. I don't use them for pants, but the ones that end on the sides always get stuck when I'm trying to add a shirt. Or they fall off the rod as soon as I pull off a shirt. I do cheat and keep a few crystal hangers from department stores for some of my work cardigans that stretch too easily.

[aak0517]

We went to Container Store and purchased some of the Elfa closet stuff and re-arranged the way the rods/racks were in our "non-walk in" closets and that helped a ton.

[esynergy]

We have really small closets (our house was built in 1910). I have garment racks up in our attic, and switch clothes out at least twice a year. I often forget about clothes up in the attic, though!!! I also really try to get rid of stuff I don't wear. I keep most of my shoes in boxes under my bed, but the more frequently worn ones are on a shoe rack on the back of the closet door. Handbags are on the top shelf in fabric bins, organized by type (leather, crossbody, etc.). On the floor, I have bins with scarves, belts, and some tote bags.

I also have a dresser, where I keep t-shirts and things that don't need to be folded.

It sounds like I'm really organized, but it usually looks like a mess.

[carylee07]

May 7, 2014 10:57:02 GMT -5 elletr13 said:

FYI--I bought velvet hangers this week at TJ Maxx. $12.99 for a set of 25. Not sure how much they are at BBB, but I always find good stuff like that at TJM.

This is me, too. And for what it's worth- I would pick black hangers. I was buying 100 hangers or something redonk like that so I basically wiped out their supply and had to mix and match different brands. And they were all slightly different shades of beige. I wished I decided to go with black so they'd look more uniform or less obvious that they're different brands.

[fashionx]

I keep them in my small coat closet in the living room since I don't switch them out often. I hang some on hangers by the handles. And some are up on the shelves above the coats.

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