Closet Shelves
Organizing your closet shelves - clothes, linen, pantry, broom or craft closet - will allow you to make the most of every inch of valuable closet space. Organizing them will save you time and reduce stress because you'll be able to find things easily and quickly. Here we will look at shelves for clothes closet. Please see my other articles for more on how to organize shelves for the linen, broom, foyer and pantry closets.
First step is to take everything off the closet shelves so that you have a clean slate to start with. Categorize the contents and group similar items. For example, for a clothes closet, the main categories will be clothes and accessories (belts, ties, scarfs, hats, handbags and shoes). You can further divide the clothes into formal and casual and then again into tops and bottoms. Tops can be grouped by sleeve type (no sleeves, half sleeves, full sleeves etc.) and bottoms can be grouped by length (shorts, capris and pants). Keep like colors together.
Assign shelves to each category of like items.
Store items you use frequently on the middle shelves which are closer to eye level. It will be easier to find items and put them back after use.
Use boxes or containers with lids to store items on the top shelves. Store things you seldom use in these containers and, then stack the containers to optimize the available space. Label all containers and place them on the shelf with the label side facing out so that you can quickly tell what's inside without opening the boxes.
Arrange the clothes by category such as sleepwear, loungewear, active wear, T shirts, jeans, shorts and apparel you cannot hang (like sweaters) and assign a shelf for each category.
Fold and stack clothes and place them on each assigned shelf. While stacking keep frequently used ones on top.
Similarly group smaller items like ties, socks, underwear, stockings etc. in clear boxes, baskets or totes. These containers can be stacked to optimize space. Also put items that you don't use every day (like hats and scarves) in boxes and label them. You can put these boxes on the top shelves.
Store out-of-season clothing in boxes, label them by season (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter) and store them on the top shelf of the closet. To maximize space, use space saver bags to store them. These reusable bags compress when the air inside is taken out using a vacuum cleaner. They are available in a variety of different sizes and shapes. Manufactures of these bags claim that they are airtight, watertight, mold, mildew, bug and odor proof. You can reuse cardboard shipping boxes to store these compressed bags. Storing them sideways inside the box instead of stacking will provide easy access.
If your closet have only one shelf that is above the closet rod, put clothes you wear most often (like jeans, T-shirts and pajamas) in the center of your closet shelf and out-of-season clothes and accessories on both end(s) towards the wall(s) of the closet. Use shelf dividers to keep taller stacks tight and separate. More on organizing this type of closet is covered in bedroom closets.
An economic option to create closet shelves without having to do any construction are hanging accessory shelves. They come in 3, 5, 6, 8 or 10 shelves and with or without drawers. These can be hung from the closet rod. These maximize space by using the vertical space.
Organizing closet shelves will save space and will also make your closets will look more attractive. Be sure to maintain it.
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