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Rethinking One Closet

February 5, 2014

One thing became very apparent when we moved into a house with real closet space: I don’t know the first thing about utilizing closets. And actually, the hallway closet shown below looks bad, but it’s one in four closets that makes me look like I might live in one of those crazy Hoarders households.

I also don’t know the first thing about organizing gift wrapping, if you can’t tell. And I don’t know the rules about what you’re supposed to do with the leftover “Santa” wrapping paper once it has been used. And I also have a hard time throwing away everything from Amazon boxes to gift bags.

I like to think that this closet has a lot of potential, and it probably wouldn’t be hard to start from scratch, considering that I can still see parts of the floor. Thanks to Photoshop allowing my amateur self the ability to merge some terribly lit photos together, I’m hoping you can see the potential in this little space too. Hello, I’m putting this out there because I hope you share some of your favorite closet storage ideas with me. This does not need to remain wrapping storage, but it is a deep closet, one I need to find a better purpose for. Help! :)

One very, very bad closet.

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Closets

Emily
I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle. I've been a freelancer writer for 10+ years and you can find my work on popular home and garden sites, like HGTV.com. Follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note.

7 Comments


Sumshee Kirken
February 5, 2014 at 9:06 am
Reply

Considering your closet question:
possibly remove the hang-rods and install shelving, floor to ceiling, down one wall.
Store things that are appropriate for that area. Hang clothing in other closets.
To not waste the walk-in area, which will be narrow but kinda deep, find some EASY-to-remove Larger items…possibly items that can easily roll out, like an upright vacuum cleaner…which can be tucked into that “access aisle”, so it does not become a wasted space.
Alternately, do floor-to-ceiling shelves on the deepest back wall and install a hang rod length-wise, with a shelf above, in the remaining depth of the closet.



David
February 5, 2014 at 8:31 pm
Reply

Emily-
Been following you for about 2 years, very fun blog!….Do you have a Container store in Rochester? They have some great closet Organizers available though their store or even on their site…(www.containerstore.com) that you can buy and install yourself with shelving and drawers..and all sorts of cool stuff. It gets pricey if you go totally crazy, but you can usually find what you need to make every useable space workable. I agree with the other post that you should move the rod length-wise and do shelving or even cubies down one wall.



Carol
February 5, 2014 at 9:22 pm
Reply

Since you have lots of closet space and it’s so deep I would be tempted to make it a wrapping area. You could put a desktop with a ruler built in and have special shelves for the wrapping paper and ribbons etc.



Sumshee Kirken
February 5, 2014 at 10:28 pm
Reply

In a previous house, we expanded the living room into a bedroom and made up for the lost space of two closets by building a ten foot deep by forty inch wide closet. We hung, down one side of that ten foot length, an over and under hang rod set-up. On the opposite wall, we installed, floor to ceiling, shelves that were only about 4 inches deep, running the full ten feet. We found that there were a lot of clothing items that could be folded narrow or rolled and stuffed on the shelves; and a lot of “things” around the house that would have been stowed in a closet anyway, were the perfect size for the shelves.
There was not a lot of free space between the hung clothes and the shelves, but the clothes were pliable when ya walked in…It worked well.



Annabel Vita
February 6, 2014 at 6:26 am
Reply

Do you rotate your clothing seasonally? Those double rods would make perfect storage for out of season hanging items (and your wedding dress!), with maybe the less worn but non-seasonal clothes in front (party dresses, formal wear, I don’t know?) in the front.

OR if you need the storage for something more specific, I love the ideas above. I don’t know how much widthways space you have, but if it’s deep enough for drawers you could do something like this: http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/our-storage-spaces-under-stairs-progress.html (I have these drawer units and love them!).

Or! Ditch the storage from all but the highest shelf and make something like this to turn the closet into a cubbyhouse for Julia and Hattie: http://www.ikatbag.com/2012/03/house-in-hallway.html.



Leah: )
February 8, 2014 at 5:42 pm
Reply

Hey there Emily!
How about utilizing the entire back wall there for drawers and shelving…remove the rods completely and instead, install hooks along both side walls…you can even still use hangers for things that may require it, and just hang them on the hooks! Maybe the wrapping paper could also be stored vertically, against the wall, in a flat-sides basket or something cool from the container store (I know they make something that hangs on the back of the door, which you could use on the door or possibly against the wall!)??
I changed the orientation of our hall closet and added hooks to make up for a shorter closet rod, and was amazed by how much storage I gained!!! Hint: install a few strips of horizontal slats of wood to attach hooks to, rather than installing directly into plaster/drywall for a sturdy hold.: )
Hope this helps! Have fun – I love organizing!!!
Leah: )



Meike
February 10, 2014 at 1:31 pm
Reply

What I always liked for gift wrap and the like – find a rather narrow box, something the like of an umbrella stand, and decorate it with some nice wrapping paper (no seasonal motives, preferably :-) ). Then you can store all your wrapping paper in there, standing upright, somewhere in a corner. You can also hang a little basket or bag on the side in which you store ribbons etc. Or you could also get a nice umbrella stand (maybe at the flea market and then paint it in bright colors) to do exactly the same thing. Looks fun, and doesn’t take up too much space. As for the rest of the closet, most comments here are also what I would suggest. We were too lazy for custom-build shelving and have an Ikea Expedit shelf sitting in one of our closets. Looks very neat with fitting boxes. :-)



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