Anyone like to organize closets?

[sarahsthreads]

I have the tiniest coat closet ever in my foyer. It's 32" wide, 24" deep. It is the only outerwear storage on the first floor - I dream of mudrooms and first floor laundries, but the reality is that we have a 5.3 square foot closet that has to store all of our stuff.

So.

We had a dysfunctional coat hook rack hung on a wall at kid height and a shoe shelf below it on the one tiny wall of our foyer. It always looked terrible and it didn't really support enough weight to hang backpacks or activity bags, so those were scattered everywhere.

We re-tiled & re-painted the foyer recently, and rather than putting back that awful eyesore, I thought maybe I could somehow re-do the front closet so that we could hide all that mess away in an organized fashion? (I looked into lockers or cubbies for that tiny wall space we had the coat hooks on, but they are all far to deep and wide to put in the space we have.)

So, the closet. It's tiny. It has to hold 6 or so adult coats & jackets (nothing super long) and when all is said and done maybe 8-10 kid outwear type things (heavy, mid-weight, raincoat, lighter jacket for each, plus a couple of zip up sweatshirts for layering.) I'd like it to hold most of our shoes & boots (none of us have all that many pairs of shoes). And I need it to hold a backpack & dance bag for each kid, plus DD1's girl scout bag. I already use an over-the-door organizer with pockets for everyone's hats & mittens.

Right now it has a rod that's 63" off the floor, and two shelves above it that are stocked with...who knows? Baskets that haven't really been looked in or touched since I put them there! So I figure I could take out a shelf and move the rod higher, and maybe double hang part of the closet for the shorter kids coats? I could probably reach a rod that's about 76" or 78" off the floor, but not much higher. I'm 5'1" on a bad hair day. ;)

I kind of like this idea (http://www.thechroniclesofhome.com/2012/06/coat-closet-and-wrapping-paper.html), but we don't have a container store anywhere near us. I'm sort of confused about how you'd double hang only part of the closet, anyway? We have Lowes & Home Depot (i.e. Closetmaid) and I'm not expecting the shelving itself to be super pretty, just sturdy.

Any fabulous ideas? Googling "small coat closet organization ideas" gets me ideas for much bigger spaces than I have. Where's the green eyed monster smiley? Cause I'm jealous!

Sarah :)

[mackmama]

I'd take the measurements of the closet and submit it to the Elfa folks at Container Store. They will design a closet for you given your space and design requests (more folding versus hanging, etc). Then you can purchase from them online if you like their idea.

[sarahsthreads]

Wait, you can do that? I tried their design tool online and it couldn't comprehend the minuscule size of my closet. (Neither could Closetmaid's design tool. It's very disheartening to see "Sorry, there are no design solutions for your space".)

I should mention I really have to do this as a DIY because we really have next to nothing in the budget I can steal away for this project!

Sarah :)

[OKKiddo]

We have a similar sized coat closet and it's the only space to store our items as well. One of the things I've been looking at is this website for organization in 30 days, and it includes a coat closet (she mentions you can tweak it however your space/budget require). I don't have a closet as big as hers so my closet will lose the recycling containers.

Here's the original site:
http://www.imperfecthomemaking.com/2011/10/31-days-to-organized-home-day-one.html

And the link directly to her coat closet:
http://www.imperfecthomemaking.com/2011/10/day-two-organized-coat-closet.html

I will say that it's not as polished as some of the closets you see on The Container Stores Website but it's a good springboard for ideas. I think her shoes are just stored on a plain white shelf from walmart like this one: http://www.walmart.com/ip/ClosetMaid-Selectives-31-Horizontal-Stacker-White/16821259

I've been contemplating getting a trofast storage shelf and containers like this: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S49871290/. My plan for my family was to put the kids backpacks/coats/scarfs/hats into the larger bin and their shoes in the smaller one on top. It would just fit my space and still leave me with plenty of hanging room above. For your space you could get two of these: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S49883542/

Maybe this for more folding/stacking space like you mentioned instead of hanging space? http://onlinecatalog.ikea-usa.com/US/en/IKEA_Catalog/

And I like this little cubby for umbrella storage:
http://onlinecatalog.ikea-usa.com/US/en/IKEA_Catalog/

And I saw and loved this item from Ikea for fastening to the wall and taking up so little space (adult sized shoes fit perfectly and still tuck away out of sight--unless you get the clear bins): http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/hallway/tools/hallway_rooms_ideas/#/20111_hors10a_01/876669

[OKKiddo]

Oh, and I forgot to say that from the looks of your picture you provided, the way they got the double hanging but only a partial hanging on the lower rod was by attaching the rod to the shelf directly above it--so a slightly shorter rod than the space and attached to the shelf. Ingenious.

[sarahsthreads]

Oh, and I forgot to say that from the looks of your picture you provided, the way they got the double hanging but only a partial hanging on the lower rod was by attaching the rod to the shelf directly above it--so a slightly shorter rod than the space and attached to the shelf. Ingenious.

Interesting... I think I could do that. :)

I also don't have an IKEA nearby. (I sound difficult, don't I?) That Closetmaid shoe shelf would *just* fit my space, and probably hold enough shoes. I could really always leave the rain boots/snow boots on a mat in another corner of the foyer if needed. And I like the closet you linked to.

Something I'd really like is to have the kids hang up their own coats, but maybe that's just not realistic. They did OK with the ugly coat hooks, but definitely can't reach the closet rod even where it is, let alone if I raised it.

Sarah :)

[essnce629]

I really like these ideas using the Ikea Expedit units for a tiny coat closet. I know you said you don't have an Ikea nearby, but there's always tons of Expedit units on Craiglist so I bet you could get one that way.

http://pinterest.com/essnce629/entry-closet/

[WatchingThemGrow]

I can't open any of these links (bad internet service where we are right now) but .... one thing to remember is that if you're keeping the door, the inside of the door is great for storing some things! We put our currently used lightweight fleeces/rain coats on 3M XL command hooks - 2 on the top, 2 on the bottom. Well, that was at our old house. When we needed 3, that's when we had to move, lol.

[KrisM]

That's the size of our coat closet too. But, we have a small mudroom to go with it.

Do you have any doors nearby? I have a mesh shoe organizer on the back of a door. In summer, it holds sunglasses, sunscreen, etc. In winter, it holds hats and mittens.

I gave up on shelves for shoes and now just have a bin for each kid. Messy, but contained.

Can you put some coats somewhere else? We move out of season to our closet.

I hang snow pants on the back of the garage door.

Our closet doesn't do much for me and I'd like it to be useful. Right now it hold random things and is disorganized. So, this is a good thread!

[roseyloxs]

I would used a fixed system like a wire shelf/rod system from closetmaid. Home Depot is where I went to buy all my supplies. At the old house I redid all the bedroom closets. I just walked around Home Depot to get ideas of what I could use and then planned and installed everything myself. The wire shelves are very affordable and if you give Home Depot your dimensions they will cut the shelves into whatever length you need. This makes it even more affordable because you can buy one long shelf and have it cut multiple times.

As for the actual design I would flip the closet. I would remove the two useless shelves up high and move them down low for shoes/baskets, etc while moving the top rod as high as possible. If space allowed I would put in a shelf/rod at half the height for small coats. You can do this for just half the distance utilizing a vertical rod in the closetmaid system.

Also do you have any other storage space? We are in Germany now and don't even have a front hall closet so I have a limited space where I just put up a few hooks on the foyer wall. This means I can only keep so many coats in the front hall. So I have to change them out seasonally as needed. The rest are in a wardrobe in the attic. We also have a small piece of furniture where shoes are stored. Each child has 2 baskets. One basket for shoes, one for hats/mittens. The baskets enable us to store more shoes for the space. It works for now since the kids shoes aren't over large. Boots are stored on a boot tray at the front door, its not pretty but necessary for winter. HTH.

[OKKiddo]

Interesting... I think I could do that. :)

I also don't have an IKEA nearby. (I sound difficult, don't I?) That Closetmaid shoe shelf would *just* fit my space, and probably hold enough shoes. I could really always leave the rain boots/snow boots on a mat in another corner of the foyer if needed. And I like the closet you linked to.

Something I'd really like is to have the kids hang up their own coats, but maybe that's just not realistic. They did OK with the ugly coat hooks, but definitely can't reach the closet rod even where it is, let alone if I raised it.

Sarah :)

I understand wanting the kids to hang their own coats! If you like the layout for the one I linked, but don't need the recycling containers then you could put the command hooks on that wall and the rain boots underneath in the drip mat thing you mentioned. Or you could do the PP's suggestion and use the command hooks on the back of the door.

Here's one off of pinterest for shoe storage (you could use a whole side wall for this one:
http://pinterest.com/pin/144678206748778596/

Also, it really depends on how crafty you are, but I have seen on pinterest where someone has taken an old dresser (the short wide one) and taken the drawers out and used it for their organization needs. Like this:

http://www.addicted2decorating.com/repurposed-dressers.html

and using Laundry Baskets:

http://pinterest.com/pin/144678206748857637/

And I just have to add this one in here because it's such a cute idea (a Dresser repurposed as a nice kid's play kitchen):
http://pinterest.com/pin/144678206748778194/

[echoesofspring]

I'd take the measurements of the closet and submit it to the Elfa folks at Container Store. They will design a closet for you given your space and design requests (more folding versus hanging, etc). Then you can purchase from them online if you like their idea.

:yeahthat: I've done this 3 times with them, once with a tiny closet I didn't think I could do anything with and once with DS closet that has a weird angle. There's no pressure to buy anything and it's free. Even if you don't buy anything you can get good ideas. And... if I remember correctly Elfa typically goes on sale 30% come January.