Make the Most of Space With a Small Closet Makeover

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One of the things I that sold me on this house was all the storage space! Two of the bedrooms had ginormous closets! Two bedrooms have smaller closets. Guess whose closet is the smallest? Granted, it’s twice the size of my previous closet and you can walk into it, it’s still the smallest. (Yes, my previous closet was tiny!). Not only was it small, but the layout just felt cramped and I almost never used it.

Not only did the closet bar start immediately next to the door, but there was a wall shoe rack on the opposite side, giving about 6 inches of passing space. There’s also another door on the opposite side to another bedroom – old houses always have many, many doors. That made for even less space to do anything. Don’t you love the wood paneling?

No matter what type of house you’re in, you maximize the space you have. While the closet is narrow and there is a weird corner due to the roofline, the rest of the walls are really tall. This is usable space for storage of off-season clothing. That second door does not need to be used, so I’m going to treat it like a wall.

Maximizing Space Guidelines

1. Declutter – This is the not so fun aspect, but you have to get rid of stuff. Clothes you haven’t worn in a year; that well-loved skirt that you are sure will come back in style one day… it’s gotta go.
2. Give yourself room to move! Just because you can have four full-length shoe racks doesn’t mean you should! You should be able to look at what is your closet without bumping into anything.
3. Lights! No one likes a dark closet.
4. Make your walls work for you! Light colors make a room seem larger than it is, as do mirrors.
5. Use what you have! Don’t let corners go to waste; put shelves all the way up to the ceiling; don’t forget about the back of the door.

First Steps

I came up with this plan after moving stuff around for about 30 minutes and bumping into the shoe rack about 20 times. That shoe rack did not fit into my plan.

The first thing I did was remove the shoe rack from the wall. That opened up a lot of space to move around in. Then I reduced the length of the clothes hanging rod and shelf. I cut off about 13 inches and instantly I could walk in without feeling crowded. I think half the battle in having a great closet is feeling like there is space to move around. You can fool yourself into doing this by making sure that you have space to walk around and using light colors.

Painting

I decided the closet was a great testing place for paint colors and I painted it a very light silvery grey (Behr Silver Feather). I really liked it!

Painting paneling is fairly easy, but there is some extra prep required. Before painting, the walls need to be cleaned really well and then sanded lightly. The panels from the 1970’s especially usually have a lovely shiny veneer. The paint will stick better if you sand lightly before painting.

You can use a lightweight spackle to fill in the groves if you want. Since this was a closet, I skilled that step.

I used to paint with primer, so I could go directly to painting color on the walls. It did need two coats to get an even coverage.

Shoes

Since I removed the shoe rack on the wall, I needed someplace to put them. I have a lot of these black bookcases from the living room of my old house. They looked great there, but are too small for a living room with 10-foot ceilings. Now, at least one is going to be great for storing shoes. I can see every pair I have and they’re all easily accessed.

I added this Tangier border sticker to the back of the shelf to make it a little more pretty. If you can’t go a little crazy with your closet, where can you crazy, amiright?

These stickers are super easy to install. They’re vinyl, peel and stick. I’m a big fan of peel and stick. The hardest part is making sure that the placement of the strips are evenly spaced and straight all the way down. It’s also priced right for a closet – cheap! And I had several feet left over for other closet projects!

Using the Wall Space

Since I cut off part of the closet rod and I’m looking to have more space to move around in, I installed hooks and used multi-item hangers. These are great for skirts, pants, and accessories. This way, I can store more clothes and see everything without having to dig! Raise your hand if you’ve ever forgotten about having something in your closet.

Using these hooks and hangers take up more wall space than a hanging rod, but they don’t block floor space. In this wanna-be walk-in closet, having space to walk in is super important.

Use All Your Space

Remember that door into the next bedroom? Well, it’s still there, but I put up a wooden shelving unit over it to store accessories. A little-known fact is that I love purses and bags. I downsized a lot when we moved, so now I’m on the hunt to restock! Plus, I now have a place to store off-season clothes.

With a new jewelry rack, I can put everything in one space!

I didn’t take a picture of it (just in case some kids are reading), but since the ceilings are so high, I added shelves near the ceiling. I’m going to use for hiding secret things. (Hint) I can also use the storage space to store little-used items that always need at least once a year. Like my graduate school hood or my 1980’s bomber jacket. It will totally come back into style one day!

Although this project started out as a simple 1-hour closet reorganization, I really like it now. And it feels like I can go in and find everything I need without feeling crowded or searching for 20 minutes.

How have you organized your closet? Do you have any recommendations?

Read more about my DIY punch list for this house rehab.