Organize Your Coat Closet
Aside from its original purpose, the place where you keep your coats is likely to do double duty as the home of many other things that probably don’t belong there. This mess of miscellaneous items may make it nearly impossible to find the coat you need when you need it. Many of us feel completely overwhelmed at the prospect of reorganizing this catch-all space. Don’t panic! Although finding even an inch more space in your already crammed closet may seem an impossibility, it can be done.
A excellent place to start is to really make a list of the things you dislike about the coat closet. Are you overly frustrated by the growing pile of footwear? Do you have to pull nearly everything out to find a matching pair of shoes? Are wet snow boots piled on to the mountain of shoes? This can leave you with a mildew smell that can permeate everything in the closet, including your nice, wool coats. Perhaps you have resorted to plastic drawers in the past and are now finding that you can’t remember what’s in them, and can’t open them enough to see.
Lots of us have heavy coats or jackets that occupy extra room; if your ceilings are high, you can add another layer of hanging storage for these or other items. Consider purchasing an inexpensive hanger “grabber”–a long, adjustable pole designed to help you reach items hanging on the upper level of your closet. The grabber is simple to use and gives you access to those high places, potentially increasing your storage area twofold.
You do not necessarily need a very tall closet if you have children, you can get away with a lower rack at the bottom and store your children’s clothes there, while using the top rack for adult coats. You could also have two racks running down the left and right side of the closet instead of across the middle. You can then keep shoe racks or shelves along the back. You can have hooks in place for bags and other things you would usually just leave on the floor.
If you have drawers in your coat closet try to get some clear plastic ones, so you can determine what is inside each without having to open them. Perhaps have baskets for certain items like hats, scarves, gloves etc. You can use vacuum storage bags to keep bulkier items like quilts stored in as small a space as possible. These vacuum bags work by removing all of the air from the bag once the item is inside, making large things such as quilts extremely small.
You can avoid wet shoes or coats making your coat closet smell by using cedar coat hangers. It may feel like a huge task but once your coat closet is clean and tidy it will be one huge load off your mind.
To read more articles about coat hangers, take a look at plastic coat hangers and space saving hanger.
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