7 Stylish Organizers That Will Transform Any Small Space

I’m not a big believer in buying your way to organization heaven, but after many years living in a small space and writing about them professionally (I wrote the book: “The Little Book of Living Small“), I have to admit that the right organizer can make a world of difference — especially when you’re tight on space. Here, seven handsome and hardworking organizing finds that I’ve come to rely on.

I turned a shelf in my hall closet into a hyper-organized utility closet with the help of these clear plastic drawers. The ones that I have from the Container Store are meant to be shoe organizers, but I also love the upgraded version they sell from the Home Edit.

Buy: Clear Stackable Small Shoe Drawer, $10.99 from Container Store.

I have a P-Touch label maker, but it’s rare that I actually bust it out. Instead, I rely on a roll of masking tape and a permanent marker to do most of my day-to-day labeling. I keep a marker and a roll of tape in the kitchen because I most often use this back-to-basics labeling for leftovers, spice jars, and bulk foods I decant into jars.

But not necessarily for shoes! I have one of these cloth organizers on the inside of my hall closet to store our gloves, hats, cloth grocery totes, small umbrellas, and more. My pal professional organizer Laura Cattano cut one in half to fit in narrow spaces inside closets — genius!

Buy: Studio 3B™ Over-the-Door 24-Pocket Shoe Organizer in Grey, $14.99 from Bed Bath & Beyond.

Before Marie Kondo started selling her own organizational tools, she encouraged us all to use shoeboxes to store our KonMari folded clothes. I took her advice and ran with it. Now every time we get a shoebox, I cut off the top and use the box for storage. In the five years I’ve been doing this, I’ve swapped out less pretty boxes for nicer ones as they’ve come into my life. The pretty storage is almost a good enough excuse to buy another pair of fancy shoes.

Small acrylic shelf risers, like these ones from The Container Store, are a fantastic way to use every square inch inside your medicine cabinet, because small items like eye cream and dental floss fit neatly beneath them. I have three of these in one tiny cabinet and they are a lifesaver.

Buy: Acrylic Risers, $4.99 from Container Store.

I don’t care what it looks like or where you buy it, but trust me when I say that a large basket in your front entryway is a game-changer. We suffered from the all-too-common shoes all over the place syndrome until I parked a big basket by the front door and demanded my family use it. Even though my son was a toddler at the time, he learned to put his shoes there every time he came home.

Buy: Curved Basket – Natural, $40 from West Elm.

This may seem like counterintuitive advice, and it’s actually the opposite of what I might have told you a decade ago when I was gaga for those slim, velvet hangers that let you cram more clothes into your closet. However, I find that classic wooden hangers are the best for a small space, because they make it easier to see your clothes — and it’s healthier to edit for the space you have than to keep trying to fit more in.

Buy: Natural Finish Hangers (5-Pack), $3.98 from Home Depot.