Get a Closet that Works For You: 5 Ways to Customize Yours

Your clothes aren’t one-size-fits-all, so why would your closet be? Whether you’ve got a walk-in wardrobe, an open clothing rail in your bedroom, or something in between, you’ll want to make it work for you and give you a thrill every time you visit. Here are five ideas for customizing your closet.

So maybe your wardrobe isn’t the walk-in you dream of. It might not even be stand-in. But if you can treat and decorate it like the closet of your dreams, you’re halfway there. There’s nothing prettier than a closet hung with wallpaper (Art in the Find‘s pretty floral paper above is from Chasing Paper and removable!), or boasting a beautiful light fixture. And because it’s likely behind closed doors, you have license to go a little wilder than you might otherwise do.

Standard hanging heights for full- and half-height items are a good guide, but to really make your closet work for you, you’ve got to get out your measuring tape to determine how much of each you really need.

You might not have any full-length dresses or coats to work with, and be able to eke out space for an extra dresser (like Made From Scratch‘s above) or shelf instead. Or maybe you always wear dresses and your closet is light on tops, requiring more full-length hanging space. Either way, determine how you can best use the space.

Works for you, that is. There are a multitude of “rules” floating around for the order in which clothing should be hung up. Some say by length, others by type, and others by color—the KonMari Method combines all of these. I have a friend who always chooses her outfits from the left side of her wardrobe, and hangs things back up at the far right, which encourages her to wear everything regularly. It’s all about finding what makes sense to you. (Image via PinkFoxy)

I cannot begin to explain the thrill of opening a closet full of matching hangers to those who haven’t crossed this bridge yet. Sure, you might have perfectly good hangers already, and yes, the dry cleaner does give them away for free, but investing in matching ones (bonus points if they’re as pretty as Kate La Vie’s) gives your wardrobe a sense of order and calm. Depending on the ones you choose, they can also avoid slippage, take up less space, and prolong the life of your clothes.

Think about your sartorial weakness: what does that storage situation look like, and can it be improved? Bespoke storage solutions take a closet from ubiquitous to useful, which we all could use. Recently, I installed some slider-mounted, pull-out jewelry boards for a client, but it can be as simple as finding a back-of-door organizer that suits, like the watch-friendly version above found on DigsDigs).

→ 12 Creative Ways to Dress Up Your Closet

→ You Can Conquer Your Clothing Storage Without a Closet. Here are 6 Strategies.

→ Real Small-Space Closet Solutions: How To Hang Your Clothes Out in the Open Without it Looking Like a Mess

→ 13 Bedrooms Turned Into the Dreamiest of Dream Closets

*Re-edited from a post that originally appeared 12.11.16. – AH