Closet space is something almost everyone wishes they had more of. Unless you have a maid service that frequently cleans out and rearranges everything in your closet for you, the task is often avoided.
You should clean out your closet—or ask your maid service to do it for you—and pay heed to the following five steps. Then you will find yourself with extra closet space. No, you won’t be building an addition to your closet. Instead you’ll simply maximize the space you already have.
Before Increasing Closet Space—Purge
Before taking even the first step toward increasing your closet space, it’s important to completely clean out your closet. Start by emptying the closet of everything, and then give careful consideration to each piece of clothing you put back.
Make use of the following items to speed the process along; a box labeled “donate” and one labeled “mending”. Also have some packaging tape to close the boxes, if needed.
If you’ve got things in your closet you haven’t worn for two years, it’s likely you’ll never wear them. Place them in a donation box and get them out of your home. If you’re waiting to fit back into those skinny jeans but it’s already been a year and a half, also get rid of them.
Make a pile of items that require mending. If you don’t sew, you can take them out to someone who does. If that isn’t going to work for you, then you need to add them to the “donate” box. You can’t wear them as they are.
Now you’re left with items you wear on a regular basis. The next few steps will help you find ample closet space in which to store them.
1. Don’t Keep Your Closet Space Hanging
No one likes to be kept hanging, and the same goes for your closet space. Make sure that everything you hang inside your closet is on matching hangers. Buying new hangers—and never the ones made of heavy plastic—that are all the same will not only make it look as though you have more space in your close, it will actually free up some space.
Those cheap plastic hangers are thick and they take up at least twice the amount of space as the popular sleek hangers with the suede-like finish on them. Another great step is to make sure all of your hangers are facing the same direction in your closet. Uniformity will look sharp, and will encourage you to continue on your journey toward more closet space. Learn this Quick Process to Organizing a Hall Closet.
2. Pop That Soda Can Top
You’re no doubt asking—and maybe even out loud—what a soda can top has to do with acquiring more space inside your closet. It’s a very good question.
Even though many recent brands of canned soda open with the tab top pushed into the can, you can still remove it with minimal effort. Your next step toward finding more closet space is to remove every tab top from every can of soda in your home.
Ask your friends to remove and save theirs for you. Those tiny tab tops can help increase the space in your closet. How, you ask? They increase space by allowing you to double up on your hangers.
For example, if you always wear your white blouse with your plaid skirt, simply slip the tab top over the top of one hanger. Slip the top of the second hanger into the tab top. Now your white blouse can hang with your plaid skirt, with only one hanger attached to the closet’s hanging bar. You can now fit twice as many hangers into the same amount of space.
3. Twice as Nice
Two is always better than one—right? It definitely is when you’re working to gain extra closet space.
Stand back, a few feet away from your closet. Now look at the length of the items you’ve got hanging in there. There are likely some dresses and long pants. You’ve no doubt hung a skirt or two. And there are sure to be several shirts, tops, blouses, etc.
Hang a second closet rod so you can double up on your closet space. Measure the lengths of the items hanging in your closet in order to decide where to hang your second rod. Consider moving the top rod up even higher. After all, how much are you really able to store on that lone shelf at the top of your closet?
Once you’ve got two rods hanging in your closet, you can hang twice as many articles of clothing. Consider using the upper shelf—if you raised the height of the original rod—for folded sweaters and sweatshirts. It’s also perfect for out of season items you are storing in plastic vacuum sealed bags. You might like reading How to Organize a Linen Closet.
4. Do the Heel-Toe Shuffle
Those who line up their shoes on a shoe rack in the bottom of their closet can make a switch that will add closet space. It won’t double the closet space, but will free up enough for a few more pairs of shoes.
Instead of lining up the shoes in perfect pairs on your shoe rack, line them up using the heel to toe method instead. That means one shoe in each pair faces out, while the second shoe faces the back of the closet. Give it a try, and you’ll soon see how much extra space you acquire.
Shoe holders that hang on the back side of your closet door are great for saving space. In addition to holding pairs of shoes, they are perfect for belts, scarves, and even neckties. These items are typically hung on hangers, so you are not only neatening your closet by using one—you’re creating more closet space as well.
A great pre-emptive measure before utilizing one of these handy tips is to clean all of your shoes before doing so. Why would you want to free up closet space with several pairs of dirty shoes? It doesn’t make a lot of sense.
5. Dry Your Tiers
No, that’s not a misspelling—just a little play on words instead. Tiered hangers are available almost any place regular clothes hangers are sold. Consider buying tiered hangers for your skirts and dress pants. Each tiered hanger holds a half dozen skirts or pairs of pants. That means—you guessed it—you’ve made room to hang even more clothes.
Just because you’ve made room to hang even more clothing in this newfound space inside your closet, don’t necessarily run right out and buy more clothes. It’s nice to have some breathing room in your closet. Clothes that are stuffed in your closet on hangers that are too close together tend to become wrinkled.
The appearance of a closet that still has some space left in it is very calming. You don’t feel like your life is in utter chaos when you see a neat and tidy closet with room to spare. Even if you don’t have a maid service to keep your closet in tip-top shape, you’ll appear as though you do when you follow these easy steps to gaining extra closet space.
Once you have reviewed all 5 steps, read How to Organize a Bedroom Closet.