10 Organization Hacks for a Neat and Tidy Closet
I’ll show you the 10 best DIY organizational hacks to transform your small space, renter-friendly closet using only Walmart items. Come see this narrow corridor which is our dimly lit closet space.
My husband and I share this area and one of my biggest complaints is the bad lighting. I can’t choose my clothes and there’s this dim little awkward corner that I can’t see into.
Closet before
If you’re like me, you’ve tried many closet organization ideas and home organization hacks, but nothing has worked.
For many of us, it comes down to this: we have too much stuff! So, here are the steps I took to get my closet organized.
1. Donate
I was ruthless with donating items. I was tired of shifting things around and keeping things I no longer wore. I ended up with three large trash bags of donated items.
2. Lighting
I needed to get the lighting right so I could clearly see what I was doing. I found stick-up bars at Walmart for about $10.50 each, and they are remote controlled.
I affixed them to the inside of the closet with Command Strips. I put up one bar on each side of our closet. When I used one remote, it actually turned on both lights at the same time!
I mounted the remote control devices on the outside of the closet so we will never lose those.
3. Clean
I did not actually remove every single thing in the closet. But I did remove everything from the top shelf so I could clean that.
4. Organize drawers
I better organized the bureau that’s located in the closet so I could find extra space to fit some smaller items from the closet into the drawers.
5. Awkward spaces
It’s tough to reach into the side areas of our closet. If you have that problem, you know it’s wasted space. It’s the perfect place to store formal clothes and suits that require only limited access.
6. Shoes
Like most people, I have a love/hate relationship with my shoes. I love to buy and wear them but they are really tough to store and they take up a lot of space.
We originally had an ugly shoe rack up for some shoes and most of my shoes were stored in various locations throughout the closet in boxes and bins.
I decided once and for all to tackle this so they would not be thrown in a dusty, dark corner on the floor.
I purchased three racks from Walmart for about $10 each. The real hack here is that I zip tied them together so they stay stable on the top shelf of our closet.
Thanks to the new lighting bar we can easily see all the shoes. I decided to keep some of my dressier shoes in a plastic shoe box. I can easily access my shoes from these racks, though.
I’ll store out-of-season shoes on the top racks and in-season shoes on the easy-to-reach lower racks. Now our shoes are all in one place and I’m able to get rid of that old wire shoe rack.
Store your shoes one facing forward and one facing backward. It helps you to get the most space for your shoes because they nest together.
7. Cover clothing bars
I paint or cover my clothes racks and I’ll tell you why. I am floored at how much light a white clothes rod brings into the small space.
I had no idea how awful that dirty, dingy, and scratched up rod was making my closet look. I used a roll of Cricut Premium Vinyl from Walmart.
8. Matching hangers
If you can only make one investment in your closet, make it in incredible hangers. I decided to get rid of the mismatched hangers. We used four packs of 30 hangers to switch all of our clothing.
9. Space savers
For this hack, I used Walmart cutting boards. Use a utility knife to cut cutting boards into 1 ½ inch strips and then draw a circle at 2 inch intervals down the length of the strip.
Punch a hole in the circles with a regular hole punch. I used them as hanger extenders to hold multiples of my husband’s many dress shirts. It makes use of the space below a shirt hanging in the closet.
Many of these hanging shelves are flimsy. Instead, I bought a canvas hanging shelf from Walmart.
To hold my husband’s belts, I used economical and multifunctional hooks. I bought a cami holder for my camis.
10. Storage
I needed clear bins so I could see what I was storing. I went with clear plastic bins from Walmart about $5 each and I made signs on cardstock for each for better organization.
The cardstock allows me to switch out bins when I need them for other things.
Bonus step
I had a tangled mess of chains and earrings and purses that flopped over.
An easy fix for the purses: take a black pool noodle from Dollar Tree or any retailer and cut it to fit inside your purse. Insert it into your purse with a small curve to help the bag stand upright.
The hanging bag storing my jewelry was not working because the chains tangled or fell out. I bought a hanging jewelry organizer in black. The black helps me see my jewelry better against the dark color. The way the organizer is designed with Velcro strips helps the chains to stay detangled. I went through a lot of my jewelry and put some costume pieces in a gold-foil box so I can give it to a special little someone for playtime.(The cami holder I bought is to the right of the jewelry bag.)
Organization hacks
I hope you are inspired by these closet organization ideas, especially if you have a cramped, tiny closet. If you are challenged by your closet, take on this project and follow these 10 steps.
Let me know in the comments if this has helped and what else you have done to organize a stuffed closet in your home.
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