The coat closet is an essential part of every home. Unfortunately, it’s often one of the most forgotten aspects of a home. That is, of course, until company comes over and you have to expose your messy, disorganized closet to visitors.
To avoid the embarrassment of a cluttered closet, it’s a good idea to invest a little bit of time and money into coat closet organization.
Thankfully, this is such a small part of the house that it won’t take long to see an incredible difference. Once you add a few organizational touches here and there, you’ll be excited to show off your fabulous new coat closet.
Coat Closet Organization – 10 Tips to Calm the Chaos
Need some help with organizing your closet? Here are some coat closet organization ideas that will help you de-clutter, organize, and design the ultimate coat storage area in your home.
1. Get rid of what you don’t need or use
The first step of coat closet organization is to start getting rid of stuff. That’s right – stuff. Most of the items that we stow away in the coat closet end up lost in there. Why? It’s because we rarely use them.
Instead of wasting precious space, start de-cluttering.
Take everything out of your closet and determine whether it should be kept, thrown away, or donated. If something has holes, tears, or stains – toss it. You may think you’ll get around to repairing it, but how likely is that?
For those items that you decide to keep, the next step is to figure out where they go. Do they really belong in the coat closet? If it’s at all possible, try to keep the coat closet free of anything but coats, hats, scarves, shoes, and a purse or two. The less cluttered the closet is, the better.
2. Consider some shelves
If you’re like the average American, coat closet storage space is sorely lacking. Shelves are an excellent way to add storage to your coat closet.
Some folks have added shelves to the sides of their closet. This minimizes the number of items you can hang. However, some people find that they need the shelving space more than they do the hanging space.
You can even do this if you rent an apartment. Simply hang the shelves using no-damage hooks or strips, and you’re good to go!
3. Coat closet shoe storage
What’s the best way to make a small space look extra messy? Throw some shoes into the mix. The floor of the coat closet is often the space where family members put their shoes.
Unfortunately, they tend to toss their shoes on top of the others. The result is chaos and family members bickering at one another because they can’t find their shoes when they’re in a hurry, or one person’s tennis shoes have scuffed up another person’s fancy work shoes.
All of this anguish can be prevented, though, with coat closet shoe storage.
Some options include:
- Simple shoe racks – each family member can use one row, or each family member gets to keep only one pair of shoes in the closet.
- Shoe boxes – keep shoes in plastic containers or baskets to keep them organized and out of the way. Add a deodorizing ball to the box to keep the shoes smelling fresh.
4. Add some hooks to the door
The inside of the closet door is often wasted space. Add some hooks to the door, and you can hang a variety of items, like:
- More jackets
- Purses
- Scarves
- Leashes.
5. Add a second hanging rod
If you have a large family or if you have company over quite a bit, you probably worry about where to put all the coats. There’s nothing worse than trying to stuff an overabundance of coats into a closet and then finding out that they’re a wrinkled mess when you pull them back out.
The solution to your problem: hang a second rod in your closet. This will provide you with the extra space you need. If you have some long coats that need to be hung up, place them on the hooks on the back of your closet door.
6. Add a coat closet rug
Related to shoes, adding a rug to the bottom of your coat closet can help with all of the dirt. The rug can catch all of the dirt coming off the shoes that everyone throws in the closet.
7. Add tension rods and shower curtain hooks
Looking for a more organized way to store your scarves, gloves, and hats? Simply attach tension rods onto the back of the door, and add shower curtain hooks to it. They are the perfect solution to storing your winter wear.
8. Use command hooks to hang umbrellas
Umbrellas are another item often stored in coat closets that can make it look messy and disorganized. An easy fix is to stick some command hooks on the back of the door, and hang the umbrellas on them. They are super handy to grab on your way out the door on a rainy day.
9. Use colorful hangers
For your coats, either buy some colorful hangers, or spray paint your current ones a fun color. This may not be directly related to organization, but it adds a fun touch to the closet, and makes it much more pleasant to look at.
10. Take advantage of extra space
If you have extra space in your coat closet, take advantage of it! A coat closet can be the perfect spot to store your gift wrap. All you have to do is keep some wire racks and baskets on the back of the door.
Keeping Your Closet Organized Can Help Reduce Stress
Did you know that clutter and disorganization can cause stress? It’s not that surprising, is it?
You deal with enough stress in your life. There’s no reason to add more to it. Your home should be a safe haven, a place that makes you feel calm and relaxed.
One of the best ways to ensure that you feel this way every time you come home is to keep it clean and organized.
Though the closet is one of the tiniest spaces in a home, opening the door to an organized area every time you need to get your coat is a beautiful reminder of the peace you feel in a de-cluttered space.
Make sure you don’t take this tiny space for granted. Don’t ignore it. With a little bit of time and money, you can have a clean, orderly space that makes you feel proud.
