C.O.P. – My “New” Small But Efficient Clothes Closet
I have another cleaning, organizing, purging project finished! Since yesterday was a holiday, I decided to have a very easy and restful morning. I slept in a bit, but then just lounged around, scrolled Instagram, finished up a podcast I had started (Murder In Apt. 12), started a new podcast (Serial Season 4), and then finally went to Sonic to get some lunch around 11:30. Even though I wasn’t really in a “get stuff done” kind of mood after we finished lunch, I knew I couldn’t go the rest of the day being unproductive. But I also didn’t want to work on my studio at all. What I really wanted to do was tackle the organization of my other closet in the bedroom — the closet that holds my clothes.
About two weeks ago, I tackled the other closet. I turned that very underutilized closet into my shoe closet, and I have absolutely loved having that organized closet, and not having my shoes in a heap on the floor. I am diligent to put my shoes away now every time I take my shoes off. As I’ve said many times before, I’m not a naturally neat and organized type of person, but once I have an organizational system in place, I’m pretty good at using it.
If you missed that organization project, you can check it out here: C.O.P. – I Have A Shoe Closet! (A Quick, Easy, and Very Satisfying Organization Project).
So now that my shoes were out of the way, I needed to tackle my clothes closet. Ever since we moved into this bedroom, I have only had one 40-inch hanging bar for clothes. Imagine that. There’s no way to fit all of my clothes onto one 40-inch hanging bar, so that means that some of my clothes have been in the bedroom closet, while the rest has been folded or hanging in the sunroom (where the washer and dryer are), while other clothing has been draped over the desk in the bedroom.
So yesterday morning, before I decided to tackle this project, this is what my closet looked like.
I had a shelf at the top that I never used because I made it too deep to be practical. I had one 40-inch hanging bar with mostly shirts, but about four or five lucky pairs of paints and jeans that made it into the closet. And I had the four-tier shoe rack at the bottom, which was now empty as of two weeks ago when I turned the other closet into my shoe closet.
Because there was no more hanging space in the closet, that led to this mess on the desk between the closets. Most of my pants lived here. After the laundry was done, they started out in a nice, neatly folded stack. But over time, that neat stack devolved into this messy pile as I would rummage through to find what I wanted to wear each day.
Obviously, this system I was living with as untenable, so yesterday afternoon, I emptied out this closet and removed the shelf so that I was starting with an empty box.
And then I went to Lowe’s and purchased everything I needed from their Closetmaid closet organization line, including the rails, brackets, three shelves, two pairs of the clothing rod holders, and two rods. Since I was screwing the rails into plywood, this was so quick and easy. Here are two of the rails installed, but I ended up needing three rails, with one in the middle. So they were spaced about 20 inches apart.
And then up went the brackets (which just slip very easily into the slotted rails), and the shelves. And then the rod hangers attach very easily to the shelves, and the rods snap into the rod hangers. The whole system is so quick and easy. And then I got to the fun part — loading in all of my clothes and getting everything organized.
Since we’re heading into summer, I put all of my sweaters on the two top shelves…
On the top hanging bar, I hung all of my pants and jeans. I think I might need one more bar support in the middle since it looks like that bar might be bowing under the weight just a little bit.
I even got so into this whole organizing thing that I bought some hanging tags that say “cropped” and “long” so that I can keep my pants and jeans organized by length.
In hindsight, I wish I would have bought colorful tags so that they’d show up better. And I can’t believe I didn’t think to use my label maker instead of hand writing on the tags! I have extras, so I’ll probably make new ones using my label maker. 😀
Here’s the other side where you can see my “long” tag. The tag in the middle says “cropped” on one side and “long” on the other. And of course, “long” is relative since I’m only five feet tall. 😀
And then I put the shirts and tops on the bottom. I decided to put pants on top and shirts on the bottom because shirts take up more space from front to back than pants and jeans do, so with shirts on the top bar, I’d have to be looking under and slightly back behind the shirts to see the pants. This way, everything is easier to see.
And now, not only is my tiny closet a very efficient work horse for me, but I also have my desk back!! I’m so excited about this. I love to sit here and read, and I haven’t been able to do that in a very long time. I used to sit here every night and read out loud to Matt, so hopefully we can start doing that again.
So that is how I spent my holiday, and once again, I am so excited to have another organization project done! Every time I do an organization project, it’s like a weight is lifted off of my shoulders. And it feels so good to have two very efficiently organized closets in this room now. Here’s a look at both of them, although I’ve added two more shelves to the shoe closet since I took the picture below, so I really need to take a new picture.
By the way, I only own five dresses and zero skirts. For now, and as long as we’re in this bedroom, those dresses will still have to live in the sunroom. I’m okay with that, though. I can’t even remember the last time I actually wore a dress. I’d love to buy more dresses and skirts and actually wear dresses and skirts more often, but I’ll have to get way further along on my health journey before that happens. I don’t like how dresses and skirts look on me right now, but maybe in a few months that will change!
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
I love your consistency – the colors in your closet mirror the colors in your home. So fun!
Your closets look great! You’ve inspired me to clean and organize mine!
I have used the same Closetmaid systems for over 20 years and they are my go to closet organizing system! I recommend them to everyone! Good job!
I can only imagine how good you feel. It is wonderful to get something done that has been weighing on you for some time. It looks like a system that will last you for a long while.
Dang! That’s pretty 😍
Good job, now let me offer a few tips. Either spend a bunch of money and get some wire shelf liners or spend a whole lot less money and get some white foam board and small zip ties and line your wire shelves. It makes it so much easier to slip things, including the organizers in the next paragraph, on and off the shelves and it protects the bottom item in the stack or the bottom of your handbags from wire marks.
As a short person, rather than shelf dividers to keep things from toppeling, I actually like to put tshirts, sweaters, etc. in boxes like these https://www.amazon.com/VIVIDECOR-Trapezoid-Organizing-Organizer-Organizers/dp/B0BZ194LG1/
on the shelf because it’s much easier to put things away or get the one I want by taking the box out rather than pulling it out of the middle of the stack. I made my own out of some boxes that were just the right size for my clothes folder because at the time I couldn’t find them on Amazon.
Also, if you get more shoes, you may find this type of shoe shelf organizer handy because you can get a lot more shoes in the same space. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079JZG421/
Okay, off to do some C.O.P. in my bathroom.
Great suggestions Chris. I used liners for the wire drawers and shelves I got from The Container Store and they were invaluable. And the shoe holders are really nifty too.
Great ideas, thanks for sharing! How do you attach the foam board to the wire shelves?
I actually bought a roll of the plastic ClosetMaid shelf liner, and then forgot to use it. 😀 So I need to remove everything from the shelves and add the shelf liner.
Dear Kristi,
It looks great! You’ve done a great job of utilizing the space you already had. Did you purge anything as you were organizing?
Your desk looks inviting. Reading aloud before bed is a wonderful habit.
I can only hope that this might mean that the shelves and lighting in the bathroom are safe? That is one of my favorite (mini) spots in your home.
Enjoy your day!
YHWH Bless You : )
I did purge quite a few things! Several pairs of jeans, a couple of pairs of pants, several shirts. And when I did the other closet, I was able to get rid of about seven pairs of shoes. So I’m left with things I actually wear, which feels really nice.
Now I want to redo my closet. Thanks
I have loved watching you redo your closet space. Just know, having a bigger closet does not always mean you are better organized. I am currently going through my closet and trying to get rid of things I have not worn in a long time (time is different for each item…just saying). Great job and your shoe closet is MARVELOUS!
My niece used hand sanitizer to remove permanent marker from a white card. Maybe that might work on your tags. Also have you considered either covering them with brightly colored cardstock or even painting them? Love everything that you have done!
I’ll echo the hand sanitizer note. We use it at a place I volunteer at to recycle unused name badges. On that note. Never ever ever clean treated lenses with hand sanitizer it will remove a lot of the coatings you pay real $$ for. Husband learned this the hard way after a stint in retail and sanitiser was more available than water (pre-covid). He’d regularly clean cardboard dust and mystery gunk off his glasses after opening a bunch of boxes in receiving.
Great suggestions Chris. I used liners for the wire drawers and shelves I got from The Container Store and they were invaluable. And the shoe holders are really nifty too.
I do have plenty of spray paint! 😀
I wear mostly dresses. We are living in a camper as we build our retirement home. Very little hanging space. So hubby get most of the closet and I find having an over the door hook rack works well for my 8 or so dresses.
Sheila F.
You are such an inspiration!
Good for you!
Keep on!!!!
I have one more idea for your shoe closet. Since the shelves aren’t deep, what about adding shelving to the inside of your doors. You could use it for your handbags, more shoes, or any number of things!
That would be an awesome idea if I had swinging doors! Unfortunately, I have sliding doors, so nothing can be attached to the back side of the doors. That’s a design decision I regret in hindsight.
About a year ago I came across an old book (1986) from a sale at the library. The name is Dreaming in the dust (restoring an old house) by Katherine Chrisman. When I read it you come to mind. I would love to send it to you, I know you will get a kick out of it. Dreaming in the dust chronicles two years in the lives of the Chrisman family as they fall in love with a slightly tilty and much abused Victorian house and proceed to restore it with equal measures of loving care and frustration. Problem is I do not have an email address. I have listed my husbands. I am an old lady and am not as computer saavy but I would like to send this to you if it would be something you would enjoy. Thank you and I absolutely love everything you do, and I love your column.
How kind! You can email me at [email protected]
Girl, you got lots and lots of spray paint to color-up those clothes dividers!
The organization is fabulous.
Ha! That’s right! I was also going to suggest the ever popular Magic Eraser
Kinda amazing how much you can get done in an afternoon! I was thinking this was at least a two day project. Would be for most of us. It looks wonderful, and it is going to be SO much nicer for you…EVERY day! Love it.
The first thing I thought when I saw your “before” closet I thought , you need a double hung closet!! And jeans mare collectively very heavy so another support is a smart idea. Are you concerned that the metal verticals going into plywood is enough? I’m not a naturally organized/tidy person either and just like getting off my butt to walk once I get into it it’s not so bad!
I’m not concerned at all. Each one of those vertical supports has five screws holding it up. And plywood hangs onto screws very well, unlike MDF.
Nice job! My closet is still arranged as it was when I was off to work every day instead of working from home and I really need to purge and reorganize things so I appreciate this nudge! If at any point you want to get another inch or so of space for longer tops or putting something on the shelves, consider this sort of pants hanger: https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Trouser-Slack-Hangers-Organizers/dp/B07Y3BCNDP
I don’t have that particular hanger as I got mine at Ross or the like but you can see in the photo that the pants fold is hanging around the height of the collar of the jackets, a few inches higher than the cross piece on a regular hanger. Sometimes, every little bit helps!
I love how organized it looks. Since you are short like me, do you have plans to put in a step stool of some sort, nice and sturdy. I have step stools all over my home, such life savers.
I’m not sure. I won’t have any need for a step stool through the summer since I won’t have any need for sweaters until September at the earliest, but maybe even later. But I also went with this Closetmaid system because everything can be moved. So when cold weather gets here, I can move the sweaters down within reach, and move the short sleeve shirts up high.
You are the master! Both closets look so very nice. I’m sure it is a joy to see what you have accomplished in just a short time. They look great.
Nice!!! Must be nice for Matt too, to have a more serene space around him when he’s in the bedroom.
But Kristi, you left something important out; if you are making a post about closet organisation, you really, really, REALLY must tell the world what an amazing thing those velvet clothes hangers are; they need to have their praises sung always and everywhere! 😉
I knew I forgot something! 😀 They really are amazing. I love how thin and space-saving they are. But the best thing is that shirts no longer slip off their hangers and end up in crumpled piles in the bottom of the closet!
See, I’m the opposite – all dresses, no tops and pants (except for active/sleep wear), so as much as these posts are satisfying, I can never find any inspiration because I don’t know how I could do anything other than a single rod. LOL.