I’m going to start by admitting first that I have an addiction. I love clothes, and shoes, and accessories… I love it all! I know my closet is bigger than most, but it is actually the smallest closet in our house. When we were working with the architect to design the house Dale pointed out that this closet was too small. The problem, however, was that in order to make that closet bigger all three floors of the house would have to be expanded because this closet is located in the middle of the house. It would mean making three bedrooms that are all generously sized already even bigger. The expense to do that all for the sake of making one closet bigger didn’t seem like a viable option. Dale was being stubborn about it so I piped up and said “I’ll take that closet.” Guess what? He held me to it! In full disclosure he has offered to trade me closets in the last couple of years, but I’m not up for the move.
When we first moved in we had put two clothes bars along the back wall of the closet. After outgrowing those bars Manette and I added the third clothes bar at the ceiling, which wraps around the sides of the closet as well. If you remember back in March when Manette was here to visit I mentioned that I didn’t even have a project to tackle while she was here. I almost always have a project in which I need her help tackling. Making my closet more functional was definitely the best project we’ve ever done! (Thanks Bestie!!) I purchased one of those clothes hooks like they use at retail stores to be able to reach the clothes on the top bar, where I relocated my lower use items.
Tips for Organizing an Over-Crowded Closet
- Switch to velvet hangers – the slim design of the velvet hangers allows for more of them fitting within the same space as plastic hangers. They also keep your clothes from slipping off and prevent the stretched out hanger marks that can be left behind from plastic hangers.
- Add a second (or third if you have tall ceilings) clothing bar. A lot of closets do not make great use of space when they give you one clothes bar. Doubling your hang-up space by adding a second bar seems like a no-brainer.
- Use one hanger to hang multiple tanktops or camis. This saves a considerable amount of space not taken up by the extra hangers and frees up the hangers for other items.
- Sort your clothes by season. If you are really tight on space you could box up and store your off-season clothes. If they do all fit, but are a bit crowded, sort them by season and place the off-season items in the back or harder to reach/view areas.
- Use baskets, like these cute herringbone baskets, to help organize hard to fold items – swimsuits, hats, belts, purses.
- Rotate shoes so that one pair faces toe forward and the next pair heal forward. Stack the mated shoe upside down on top of the first.
- Add hooks where possible for hanging belts and other high use items (robe, pj’s, bras).
Did you notice the fuchsia pink sandals in the above picture? As you can see, it’s the only bright pair of shoes I own. I’m going out on a limb here, out of my comfort zone. I am comfortable in neutrals and muted colors. I have lots of neutral and muted colors… I was thinking a bright pink pair of shoes would liven up many of those neutral clothing pieces I mostly stick to. It took me a few weeks to find this pair and once I found them I was so excited – they are the perfect pink, a good heal height and size (not too spindly for me to try to break my neck) and they have this amazing cushioning in the bottom that makes them SUPER comfortable! Eeek, I love them!!
Inc International Sandal (25% off currently!)
Notice the black and white picture in the background of this photo? That’s Manette and I at Chuck E Cheese, like six or seven years ago when our kids were babes!
Extra Organization
I might be a little OCD, but I have organized my clothes by type, and then by color. All of my camis and tank tops are on the right side of the bottom bar, placed from lightest to darkest. My t-shirts are to the left of the tanks, also arranged lightest to darkest. Followed by my short sleeved blouses, again arranged lightest to darkest. I have a dresser full of skinny jeans, but hang my bootcut jeans. The bottom bar in my closet stops short of the right wall by a foot to leave room for dresses to hang from the top (now middle) bar uninterrupted. On that middle bar I have dresses, long-sleeved blouses, button-down shirts, long-sleeved shirts and sweaters – all arranged lightest to darkest. The top bar holds my lower use items – mostly blazers and sweatshirts.
Can you see all of those empty hangers in the top right section of the closet? I did a MAJOR purge last month. Dale was sick over the amount of clothes I had amassed. To be honest I was too. Between Tara, her friends, some other friends and the lady that does my nails (and her sister!) all of the purged items found good homes. I can rest easier knowing that!
I’m dreaming of turning our exercise room into a giant, opulent walk-in closet. I have it all planned out in my head and it. is. amazing! Maybe someday… if I can figure out where to go with the exercise equipment.
Happy Thursday! I hope this post was helpful for provided you with a few ideas to help organize your own closet. If you would like to see the master bedroom attached to this closet you can do so HERE.
