Closet Organization

It’s not that anyone forgot that lockers and filing cabinets exist, it’s just that they aren’t used nearly as commonly as they ought to be in my opinion. They’re affordable (to buy new or find used at thrift stores) and you can store lots of different things in them. They’re DIY’able (hello, paint one a bold color!). They not only fit in with a lot of different design styles, but they offer up a heaping dose of industrial vibes to any room they live in.

Wooden hangers are supposed to be the best—Martha Stewart swears by them, and a quick Google search reveals tons of sites extolling the benefits of using wooden hangers. They protect your clothes by preventing your clothes from being hung too closely together, they’re less abrasive and they allow for more air circulation, according to The Spruce.

Keeping your closet organized is hard enough when it’s just your clothes in there, but what happens when it’s shared by two people? When you have to divvy up precious wardrobe room with someone else, things can get a little stressy, fast. So rather than turn your bedroom into a battleground, try these tips for splitting the storage so everything stays fair and tidy.

While our dream homes are clutter-free sanctuaries that would make Marie Kondo proud, our real homes are where we store our mismatched bedding sets, bulk paper towels from Costco, and Backstreet Boys CDs from circa 1999. To keep all of this mess out of sight and give the illusion of an organized home, try one of our favorite DIY clutter concealers. Curtains, roller shades, no-sew table skirts—these are the easiest ways to keep the chaos under wraps.

Did you catch this tour in which Shelbie and her roommates not only make a four-bedroom apartment look refreshing and cohesive, but also add a bunch of clever (and affordable!) storage solutions to their no-closet bedrooms? They all agree that lack of storage is one of the biggest challenges in their San Francisco apartment, but they make it look effortless and orderly using easily accessible products.

Luggage is just one of those things that tends to take up a lot of space, and when you live in a small home, you know how hard it is to find a place for small trinkets, let alone huge trunks and suitcases. Whether you’re a frequent flyer or just take a trip once or twice a year, you probably own at least a suitcase or two, so here’s how to make use of them when you’re not on-the-go and where to hide (or display!) them when you’re settled in.

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.

Cleaning out your closet is a really big task. There’s a lot to unpack, pun slightly intended, when you determine your wardrobe needs sorting—just deciding to get rid of a few pairs of jeans might send you on a tailspin through everything from sentimental memories to body image issues.

Teeny tiny closet got you down? After you’ve winnowed your clothes down to the essentials with our Closet Cure (of course), check out these nine clever ways to use IKEA products to squeeze out a little extra storage in your closet. Above: A Grundtal rail and hooks squeeze out storage for a few extra pairs of shoes behind the door in this closet from Maria EMB. The Bygel rail can do the same for heels, as seen on Stylizmo.

The master bedroom of Nikkia and Daniel’s two-bedroom apartment had an especially perplexing and inefficient closet situation: two tiny closets side by side, each with a single shelf and hanging rail, and a tiny door that made accessing the closet’s contents a challenge. So as part of their apartment renovation (which included a very smart kitchen update), they combined the two tiny, poorly designed closets into one big, super-efficient one.

No closet? No problem. You know how Edward Sharpe says “Home is wherever I’m with you”? Here’s your new motto: My closet is wherever I keep my clothes. Let’s just grab a sturdy garment rack (or make one from scratch) and set up shop in the living room or bedroom. It can look great, with the right inspiration. Flank a garment rack with a dresser on each side, like shown above in Jeanette & Mikul’s Airy, Sunny and Minimal One-Room East Bay Loft.

Closet too small? Join the club. It’s called “everybody.” But good news! There are two ways to battle a too-small clothes closet: One is to get rid of some of your stuff (in that case, you’ll want to check out this three-part capsule wardrobe series). The other is to get smart about storage. It doesn’t take a lot of time or money. In fact, all you need is one fifty-dollar bill, some sofa cushion change, and an afternoon at your local superstore.

We do a lot of talking about how to organize the big storage spots in the home — from your closet to your kitchen counters to the pantry and more. But what about those smaller but still vital storage spaces in your home? The stand-alone furniture pieces like dressers, credenzas, storage cabinets and more? If you’re anything like me, these vital storage spots can sometimes get overlooked and become messes.

Take inspiration from these five real-life apartments, whose residents found smart ways to store everything with no closet in sight.

We recently featured a House Tour of Joe and Alana’s 160-year-old Newport home. Alana works for a commercial production company and a creative agency, both in New York City, while Joe is the founder and president of a company based in Warren, Rhode Island. To be together, they travel between the Big Apple and the Ocean State, an arrangement which requires them both to work remotely at times.

Happy Monday! After a very ambitious and busy start to the Closet Cure (and with plenty more to come), today is a well earned day away from all the sorting and decision-making – and a chance for anyone who is feeling behind to get caught up with the assignments.

A broom closet of varying depths and without any built-ins was collecting Carla’s random stuff. She decided it might serve better as a place for paperwork and projects, and we love how she made this strange small space fit her needs: From Carla: My husband uses the downstairs as an office, which I didn’t think I needed for my business.

Making a little extra space in your closet doesn't have to involve a lot of hand-wringing and soul-searching.

Mallory from Classy Clutter had been itching to make over her coat closet since she the day she moved in. She found that no one in her house, including herself, wanted to hang up their coats when they had to untangle hangers and fiddle for a spot to hang their coat. She decided it was time to remove the hangers and closet bar, and replace them with hooks and bins.

Recently, for the first time in my life, I moved to a space with a basement. After spending so many years without one, I’ll admit that at first I was hard-pressed to figure out what should go there. Thanks to having more tools, holiday decorations, and some extra kitchen supplies, I now have that covered, but it definitely got me thinking about what I did before I had all the extra storage space.

Thinking of turning a spare closet or nook into an office or craft room? Check out these 10 examples for inspiration. TOP ROW: 1. Studio Renovation from Cardboard Sea 2. Home Office from Natalme 3. Closet Turned Home Office from A Cup of Mai 4. Tiny Closet Office from Design Addict Mom 5. Jason’s Closet Office from Apartment Therapy BOTTOM ROW: 6. Melissa’s “Cloffice” on a Budget from Shoestring Magazine via Apartment Therapy 7.

Small space dwellers have a whole set of issues that folks who live in more spacious homes could never understand. Take this one, for instance: in a perfect world, your (incredibly spacious) closet is conveniently attached to the bedroom or even the bathroom. But what do you do when your closet is in a weird place? Or you have a tiny closet? Or no closet at all? Well, you start getting creative.

For years I’ve coveted pantries, and now that I have one… it’s kind of a mess. Keeping a well-stocked pantry user-friendly is definitely a challenge, but the wisest minds online are here to help… From across the web, here are some of the best ideas for keeping your pantry organized. You’ll never spend 15 minutes digging around for the sugar ever again. Open + Industrial Perhaps the best way to keep your pantry looking its best? Make it public.

My bi-fold pantry door is an eyesore. It has a fake woodgrain and blocks the left side of the shelves when it’s opened. But it’s an unusual size, so finding an off-the-shelf or salvage replacement has been impossible. I thought about converting it à la Jason’s closet-door hack, but then I stumbled upon Ashley’s attractive solution. While she didn’t have a bi-fold to begin with, her door replacement would work for just about any ugly door, including mine.

I love before and after projects that involve a good afternoon of organization — no paintbrush, no tools… just some motivation, a vision, and some hard work.I recently came across this mudroom makeover and thought it was a great example of how a before and after doesn’t have to be a super-expensive or super-involved affair. It’s encouraging to see how little changes can have a big impact!

People always think of the new year as the perfect time to clean out closets, but professional organizer and declutterer Nicole Anzia of Washington DC-based Neatnik prefers to do it after Labor Day. “I always think of fall as a new beginning. Summer is over, kids are back at school and everyone else resumes a “normal” schedule in September. Plus, the weather is about to turn crisp, so what better time to clean out your closets?

This hallway closet needs some serious assistance! Being the only closet in our apartment other than our bedroom closet, I need to utilize every inch of space here. And, as you can see in this before photo, there is all sorts of wasted space that can be reclaimed with a little reorganization.When we moved into this apartment, the hallway closet was set up as seen in the “before” photo above — a few high shelves positioned over the clothes bar with wasted space underneath.

A great solution to making the most out of any closet space is investing in a closet system that will carve out a spot for all your clothes and accessories.