Four Tips For Organizing Your Custom Closets

Jessica Parsons • January 27, 2022

If you need closet organization tips, you have probably found that your closets are some of the most utilized spaces in your home. They hold a vast assortment of clothing, linens, and a whole host of other everyday essentials, and off-season items. Thus, it's necessary for them to be thoroughly organized.

There are numerous methods for optimizing your closet's real estate based on what needs to be stored. Rods, bins, shelves, racks, cubbies, and drawers can all be tailored specifically for your needs. Additionally, incorporate the following four tips to help you reorganize the contents of your closets:

Grouping
Light Things Up
Map Out Zones
Every Inch Counts

Channel your DIY energy using the above considerations as guidelines, and continue reading to learn how you can reap the benefits of having manageable and clutter-free closet spaces.

Grouping for Maximum Organization

The most efficient closet is based on the premise that every item in your home should have a “home.” Closets shouldn’t be random catch-alls for just anything and everything but in many homes, they end up being exactly that. Bedroom closets in particular are the worst offenders of “anything goes” storage depots. Always consider what items should live in your closets.

For visual appeal and ease of finding items when you want them, group pants with pants, sweaters with sweaters, and hanging items of the same length together. Place shoes in groupings as well, boots with boots, running shoes with running shoes, fancy footwear with fancy footwear. Accessories can be organized in a similar fashion. Check out this piece by Houselogic that talks about why closets are the most important rooms in your home.

Light Things Up

Most closets do not come with lighting and yet are dark areas that require it. There are many motion sensor or quick touch lighting options that don’t require electrical hook-ups, including:

Puck lights
Under the shelf lights
Lightbars
Strip lights
Drawer lights

Most products can be easily hung using double-sided tape, velcro, or mounted with hardware. Illuminating these spaces will make them appear larger than they actually are. Closets are often afterthoughts when a house is built even though they are some of the most used spaces. Adequate lighting provides a warm and welcoming element to any closet space.

Map Out Zones

Half of the battle of organizing any closet, especially those in the bedroom, is finding a system that you and your family can maintain. Creating dedicated zones can help tame future chaos. You don’t want to have to hunt for items when in need and closets that have no plan tend to provide an ongoing challenge.

For a majority of closet spaces, the following zones work well:

Zone 1 -Shelves-Nestle, stack, or place items on shelves using dividers and tiered racks to create additional vertical space.

Zone 2 -Wall Space-Take advantage of any wall space by using hooks, hanging organizers, or small mounted cabinets.

Zone 3 - Hanging Items-Oftentimes, hanging applicable items can free up valuable floor space.

Zone 4 - The Floor-Don’t forget to use shoe racks, cubby systems, or appropriately sized bins, baskets, boxes, or decorative storage solutions to capitalize on any floor space.

Zone 5 - Minimal use/off-season items-For items you only use sporadically, create a zone for them if your closet has higher up shelving. Or, dedicate a guest room closet specifically for minimal use/off-season pieces.

These zones are just suggestions and can certainly be adjusted to fit your home’s unique demands. If you consider your existing closet’s pain points, design defined zones that can resolve them.

Every Inch Counts

Every closet has potential no matter its size, depth, and layout. Thus, make every inch count! Use the back of doors and all vertical space including the walls and the floor. Install an adjustable system that allows you to maximize the full height of your closet. Otherwise, valuable space will be wasted!

Utilizing hooks on the side walls is a great way to store bags, hats, umbrellas, jackets, or get creative with other hanging organizers that fit your space and storage requisites. On shelves, use dividers to assist in generating individual slots and creating boundaries. This goes a long way in maintaining a neater and tidier reality for whatever closet space you are organizing. If your closet is tight on square footage, check out this Martha Stewart article where she shares ways to best arrange a small closet space.

Final Thoughts

Closet organization is certainly not a one size fits all approach. Be sure to evaluate if a particular closet layout is working for you (or not). No sense in being frustrated with a recommendation that simply doesn’t work in your home. Knowing some best practices for maximizing and using them to their fullest potential will allow you to come up with your own list of closet organization tips that work best for your unique storage situation!