I always thought my apartments would get bigger as I got older, but the opposite seems to be happening. I’ve gone from a large 2 bedroom in Chicago to a small 2 bedroom in San Francisco to a tiny 1 bedroom in New York.
My husband and I really lucked out with our New York apartment, so I’m definitely not complaining. It’s the perfect size for the two of us, and it has a lot of charm. The main issue is storage – we need more!
This week, I finally switched out my summer and winter clothes, and it was the perfect opportunity to reorganize my bedroom closet. That’s right, MY bedroom closet. Much to my husband’s chagrin, he got the boot to the hall closet a while ago.
It’s a walk-in closet, but a very narrow one. When we moved in, I tried configuring the closet a number of different ways. I finally ended up hanging my clothes along the back wall, using a large shoe rack on the left, and hanging my scarves, belts, and handbags hang on the right wall.
At some point this summer, I became quite lazy about hanging my clothes, and they started piling up on the shoe rack. Between these piles of clothes and the scarves and handbags sticking out from the right wall, things had gotten really messy and tight.
The first thing I did was remove all the folded/stacked clothes, take out any extra hangers, and unpack my winter clothes. Everything went on the bed, and then I began sorting.
Then I moved my summer clothes to an under-the-bed storage container. This thing holds a ton of clothes – it’s the perfect way to maximize space in a small apartment.
Next, I moved onto my shoes. I don’t have room to store my sandals, so I simply moved them from the top of the shoe rack to the bottom. My husband keeps his shoes there, as well, and I organized those a bit, too.
I also have an over-the-door shoe organizer (I may have a small shoe problem!), which hangs on the inside of closet door.
Don’t worry, I filled up those empty spaces!
After organizing my shoes, I moved my jeans, lounge wear, exercise jackets, and t-shirts back to the top of my shoe rack – neatly folded, of course!
The right wall was next. Previously, I had a bunch of hangers (full of scarves and belts) hanging on two hooks. All these hangers stuck out so far that it was difficult to get to the back of the closet.
To fix this problem, I simply added two nails to the lower half of the wall and moved a scarf hanger and the belt hanger there. Then I rehung another scarf hanger and my most-used handbags back on the original hooks. I also moved the handbag file (it holds bags I don’t use very often) to the opposite wall next to the shoe rack (not shown here).
Finally, I reorganized all of my hanging clothes. I like to hang similar items together, so I can find clothes easily.
I’m so happy with how my closet turned out!
It’s still tiny, but at least it’s organized, and I can actually reach my clothes. Now comes the hard part: keeping it this way!
What part of your home needs to be organized?
P.S. Check out how I organize my jewelry, too!
Impressive. I love all the stripes. We have very similar tastes. I wish I didn’t have to wear hawaiian shirts 50 hours a week so I could justify buying more clothes!
I do love stripes! I think if I were you, I’d just buy a ton of jeans to make up for the shirt issue;)
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