Asked on Aug 11, 2013
Walk in closet redo
by
Antoinette M
Please help find ideas for redoing my small 5 x 6 walk-in closet. Thanks!
3 answers
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Move? Only kidding. Those wire shelving units that are used in your closet in my opinion waste more space then they save. The trick to organization and design of a closet storage unit is dependent upon exactly what it is that your storing. If you have lots of short blouses and dresses you need more poles, not slotted wire openings where the hangers cannot slide. Shoes? hanging on back of doors works well, Long pants and dresses, require large areas that waste space in a small closet area. You need to first clean out and separate your belongings. Once you know the amount of volume you have of each type of clothing can you then begin to determine what design will allow the most storage with the least amount of wasted space and easy access to the clothes. Shelving in a small closet should be left to just along the top. it wastes space and fills up closets fast. They do make a closet system that works well for the DIY person. It starts with long hanging brackets that are screwed along the top edge of the entire closet. Then long vertical brackets are clipped onto these and are allowed to slide side to side to obtain the distances needed between hanger brackets. Then brackets are clipped on to these vertical units to hold your closet poles, and devices such as wire baskets, shelves and other attachments for the closet. The advantage to this system, you only need to find the studs to hold up everything for the bracket that runs around the top. All the vertical brackets simply hang on that and with the aid of some small screws into the drywall to prevent them from moving sideways prevents the need to fasten to studs every time to support any weight. Do a Goggle search for Closet Maid shelving systems and you will find the product I am speaking about.
Woodbridge Environmental Tiptophouse.com
on Aug 12, 2013
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A - I see you live in FL but you still have seasonal clothes. First - be ruthless - take everything out of the closet and separate. Anything you haven't worn in a year gets 'donated'. If it is in great shape - then off to a consignment shop, good shape, then off to a woman's center where they help people get interviews for jobs, okay shape then the nearest thrift store and things that are broken or stained get their own pile. Give yourself a month to fix them or clean them or they too get donated. Then separate what you really wear into seasons (including shoes). The off season clothes go into space saver bags in under-bed bins clearly labeled. The seasonal stuff goes back in the closet in whatever configuration you want. The last piece of advice is to buy a big bag of clothespins and hang it in your closet. When you wear something put a clothespin on the hanger. Now, when you go to change seasonal clothes, you will know what you no longer wear and they too can be donated. Being a fashionista, you do realize that if you haven't worn something for a year then it is probably out of style by the following year unless it is a truly classic piece. You will find that with this system you will end up with more 'wearable' clothes and less in the way of 'things'. Good luck - been there - done that
Margaret Barclay
on Aug 13, 2013
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Before you consider changing what you have I highly recommend you first go through, set aside what you wear and purge out what you don't first. You may find that what you have only needs a little tweaking. Here are my thoughts. As I look at your photo it is really difficult to know what would really work for you...I don't know how much of what you have in there are clothes you actually wear for starters. With that said I highly recommend you begin by following steps the professional organizers say to take before trying to make. This process is one that will help you determine what you HAVE that you do actually wear and need to be able to get to easily and help you chose the system that will work to serve those needs. Yup...you should clean out the closet first before getting a new system. Even someone like me who doesn't have that many clothes needs to sort and purge my closet. THE REASON...The closet organization system needs to serve what you are actually using in that closet to work properly. So if I may...Here is what the experts recommend and I have found works great. By the way...this needs to be done BEFORE you decide on any changes to what you have. TRUE: A system is only good if it fits your needs and you don't want it to be just something to serve to store things you do not use. (Form follows function) Buying something because you don't think it is working before taking stock of what needs to be stored often leads to a system that won't serve your storage needs. Know what needs to be stored is key to determining what you need before choosing the storage system and will help those decisions be good ones. STEPS: Sort out what you REALLY wear first and get rid of the rest. Rule to follow: If you haven't worn it in a year toss it. (I even have to do this with my meager wardrobe and can say it feels so good after the unworn clothes are gone.) Next sort by season and store out of season items in storage bags or a bin you can easily pull out when it is time. These get stored away from what you are wearing during the current season. (I loved it when I discovered this trick! This one thing gave me so much space in my closet it was amazing.) What you have left in clothes, shoes and accessories is what your closet organizing system needs to serve. When you go to put the clothes back into the closet I recommend you sort clothing by type...like with like (short sleeves, long sleeves etc) and by color too as it is a lot easy to find things that way. A mish-mosh of mixed colors and types may also hide things we like but are forgetting to wear. It may seem crazy to do this but it REALLY can help you to see what you have. One organizing expert recommended you put the hangers on backwards and when you have worn and item and put it back in the closet put the hanger on the regular way. That way you can quickly see what you are not wearing and every few months go in and edit out those things as needed to make space for new clothing you will wear. Once you have done all the sorting and purging you may find you have a lot more space than you thought. Any good professional organizer would tell you the very same thing. And I agree with the wire racks being a waste of space. I fight with mine for the same reason stated by W.E. above. (Yup...we made the mistake of buying them before considering what our needs really were...big fail and a lesson learned.) I hope these tips will help you make the perfect choice for your closet redo. =)
Patty Hicks
on Aug 13, 2013
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