Do you roll your eyes at those staged closets in catalogs with their 4 dresses and 2 pairs of shoes? If you don't have enough closets — or any — you can still create a tidy exposed closet without getting rid of your wardrobe.
Matchy, matchy. When your closet is exposed for all to see, the easiest way to create a seamless look is to have matching storage solutions. Shoe boxes, hangers, shelves, etc, should match each other, if not follow one color scheme. Those wood hangers are lovely, but if you're a clothes horse, go for some slim versions or ones that do double-duty. This closet from A Gift Wrapped Life sticks to an all-white color palette that showcases the clothes.
Get Creative. Sandy, a 2011 Small Cool entrant, thinks beyond the rod and uses hangers for displaying favorite items outside of her clothes nook. I created scarf storage from unused space behind my bedroom door. Maybe you have a lot of hats or shoes — find a way to feature them.
Edit. I know I said you wouldn't be tossing clothes, but if you're not wearing it, it's just taking up precious space and creating visual clutter. Donate it, swap it, get it out. If it's seasonal and you'll wear it next year, shrink it in vacuum storage bags or stash it in suitcases. Take a tip from Alana from Good Girl Gone Blog: She has a closet, but stores her in-season clothes in the open for easy access.
Like with like. Laura is a professional organizer, so you can trust her technique. Her open closet is arranged with by like items and grouped by color. Even before getting rid of anything or swapping out mismatched hangers, this will improve the appearance of your closet.
What are your tips for a tidy exposed closet?
MORE CLOSET ORGANIZATION ON APARTMENT THERAPY:
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• Fresh Start: Small Closet Updates that Make a Big Difference
• Solutions for a Well-Organized Closet: High & Low
(Images: as linked above)
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Is that 3rd photo an example of how NOT to do it? I feel it looks out of place.
Otherwise, great tips. Even if your closet has doors, switching to all wooden hangers looks so nice!
For clothes to look good displayed out in the open, they generally need to be pretty monochromatic. But most people tend to own clothing in a variety of colors, patterns, textures, etc. In magazine spreads, this look works because the clothing tends to be either pinstriped suits or little black dresses. I can't see this translating so well in real life. The fourth photo looks okay (at best) because the clothes are exclusively white, camel or black.
Any recommendations for a slimmer skirt hanger? Those are the ones really making my closet inefficient...
I have lots of different color clothes, but I hang them by color. It looks pretty and makes them easy to find. Shelving books this way wouldn't work for me, but with clothes it's fantastic.
@minnasaur
how about a multiple skirt hanger like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Whitmor-6021-185-Chrome-Collection-Folding/dp/B000L1KN14/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334079076&sr=8-1
I dunno, to me all of these look fairly bad, even the really nice ones. The first one is really cohesive, but even when everything is nicely matched and organized, it still looks crazy cluttered to me.
I honestly fail to see the point of this... beyond the fact that open storage looks sloppy, the benefit of a closet or dresser is that it protects your clothes from dust, dirt, and sunlight. Seems like a surefire way to make your clothing age prematurely.
The third picture is actually pulled from my blog. It's my closet in my first apartment (200 square feet with little closet space) and was actually super helpful. When your entire apartment is in one room (and the view from your bed is a microwave) you have to make the most of tucked away corners and awkwardly shaped nooks. Now that I'm in a bigger apartment, I actually took the doors off of my closet because it felt closed off. Thanks for sharing my photo!
It's been said before but bears repeating ... NO WIRE HANGERS! Yeah, I'm talking to you ABROOKS!
I'm in a dorm right now that just doesn't have doors on the closets, and I'm not really interested in buying a 7 foot curtain that I probably won't use again when I move out. Thank you, this will work wonders!
AT can roll its eyes at anemically staged closets. I'll roll mine at AT's chandeliered lead photo with the dressmaker's dummy. "Yes, we live in Versailles, so let's obscure all the decor so we can pretend we live in Barbie's Dream Ballerina House."