Now that the Christmas decorations are all tucked away for another year I find my thoughts turning to organization. Recently I have been collecting a series of images that highlight some of my favorite storage ideas but for the sake of keeping my posts manageable I decided to divide the topic into segments. Today I will be focusing on clothing storage and our closets.
To begin, don't think that all clothing storage needs to be confined to the four walls of your closet. Do you have space near the back door for gloves and purses? Get those things out of your closet to make room for something else.
A storage piece of furniture or a collection of shelves in the bedroom can also be an extension of your closet.
This Ikea Expedit shelving unit with a few baskets could handle some of the over flow and because it goes up instead of out it doesn't take up so much of that coveted floor space.
No room for furniture? Consider this. I have one of those ubiquitous over- the- door shoe holders with the canvas pockets that I hang right on a wall on the way out to garage. This holds my collections of gloves and sunglasses ( hey, everybody has a few weaknesses). :0
Having them by the back door not only frees up some space in my closet for other things but it is also handy for the quick grab on the way out and it makes for easy put away when I come back home.
I have a walk in style closet but I decided to make use of the hallway right outside my closet door- expanding beyond the closet again. This spot is a good place for a dress form that I use to drape some of my favorite go to scarves and chunkier necklaces on.
I liked this look. It kind of felt like she was greeting me each morning as I went to get dressed. She, of course, had to have a name and I thought Anne Boleyn was appropriate. As I look at this picture though I realize that there is a lot of wasted space going on here. What if I screwed some hooks into the base of her bodice and used them for hanging some more of my scarves? It would look like her skirt! Um mm Hmmmm, I am liking that idea.
Put that on the to do list too.
In a perfect world I would pull everything out of my closet and start over with one of the great closet systems like they display at Ikea. I dream of something like this in white.... someday.
I would have a stack of at least three of these retractable shoe organizers.
For Rosie's closet, I would be sure he had a couple of these pull out pant hangers.
As I look around my own closet, though, I realize I am fortunate to already have quite a bit of hanging and shelf space. I use totes on the shelves to contain a lot of the items where wrinkling isn't a concern like leggings, socks, and panties. I thought this Rugby Stripe Tote from The Container Store had a lot of style going on and would be a fresh looking update. Put that on the wish list.
I did noticed while I was taking stock of the overall look in my closet that maybe I should invest in a few of these.
I fold my jeans and sweaters and then stack them on shelves. These dividers would help keep those stacks looking a bit neater and I like that they are clear and unobtrusive.
To organize some of the other smaller items that I like to have near by like receipts for things I may be returning, scissors to remove tags, and belts that don't hang well I use a canvas Ikea hanging shelf with drawers. The unit and the drawers are sold separately and they are available in black or white. I like to mix it up a bit so I combined the two for a bit more pizazz in the closet.
I attached tags to each drawer to help me remember what is inside.
Like I said, I really have enough, if there can ever really be ENOUGH, hanging and shelf space. My concerns lean more toward jewelry, shoe and purse organization.
I keep my purses in a small closet by the back door. It works great for most of my purses but there are a few that are too wide to fit in nicely so I am looking at a few over flow options.
If my shelves were deeper this would be great. It doesn't work for me but maybe for you?
An Ikea expedit would make for great purse storage.
I like this Ikea Billy unit a bit better though because the glass doors would keep the dust at bay.
I saw this great shelf unit during my last visit there. I thought the red was totally hot.
Can't you see it for purse storage? It would make a collection of handbags look like works of art.
It could also look great hung horizontally on the wall with the shelves pointing up. I'm just sayin'. Think beyond the expected.
I have always thought that pieces of furniture used in unexpected ways was an excellent way to bring a sense of style and humor into a room. If they are vintage, well that's even better.
To dial up the fun a bit more...
turn those shoes sideways.
As for the jewelry, I currently have a jewelry chest that is similar to this.
It works wonderfully but sadly I have already outgrown it. I know, really? but I collect the costume stuff like it is my job. I have a couple drawers dedicated to jewelry in my dresser, a two sided hanging jewelry deal-e-o with little clear pockets that works nicely for earrings and a shallow cabinet that hangs on the wall that is also full of jewelry. It's a sickness, but there are very few pieces that I would want to eliminate. So I am looking for some ways to expand. I don't care for the look of lots of things sitting out on my dresser so that eliminated a lot of smaller table top options.
I thought this style was interesting. A full length mirror with jewelry storage inside.
Nice.
A much less expensive option I am looking at would be these drawer inserts from WalMart. They would be great for some of the longer necklaces that tend to get tangled. I like how she hung several of them together. I don't have any wall space left but this could also be installed on the end of a shelving unit so I may just have the perfect place for this.
If you share your closet with a boy then this is an interesting twist on tie storage. Rosie and I have invested in several methods for his ties and none of them were good but we agreed that eventually this might be the solution.
These are simply wooden slats that are stair stepped from the floor to the ceiling and angled just a bit to allow the ties to drape freely.
I am hoping to incorporate a few of these ideas into my clothing organization and perhaps you found a few that will work for you too. Check back tomorrow as I showcase my finds for bathroom and cosmetic storage.
So glad you stopped by.
xoxo,
P
