The Importance of Closet & Storage Space

When a couple sets out to buy a new house, they consider three important features. The man wants a suitable garage. The woman wants a nice kitchen. But both of them want to make sure there is adequate closet and other storage space. Without enough closets, as well as big enough closets, the sale often falls through. Nobody likes to get settled into a news house only to find they don't have enough room to keep all of their clothing and other belongings. If you've seen many old houses, you know that a lot of them either had far too few closets, or the ones they had were tiny, with very little room for even the most basic wardrobe. Indeed, there are many homes built in the late 19th century that had no closets, period! Likewise,, some apartments have little or no closet space.

'The good news is that even smaller closets often have more room available than you might realize. It's just a matter of organizing them more efficiently. For some people, this might mean just moving things around, tucking them into the sides and the corners. However, yet another way to maximize your space is to begin taking advantage of the overhead space.

Another way of increasing space is by joining two smaller closets as one and then creating a small dressing area. You can also create additional room by turning a vaulted ceiling into a third-tier space. There, you can hang all of your clothes that are currently out of season (Winter clothes in summer, summer clothes in winter, etc.). You can also build a few shelves into it to store items such as hats, purses, even shoes and boots.

Here's an idea that few people consider, but those who have tried it have found it quite helpful. Build closets right inside of your closet (Or, as an alternative, place a dresser inside the closet, if it's small enough to fit). If the closet is deep enough, place the dresser or the drawers all the way to one side, with the drawers facing to the other side. This way, you still have room for bars for your hanging clothes. And while you're making closet alterations, add a second hanging bar right by the first. This second bar can be used to hang ties, belts, scarves, socks, etc. These few ideas will literally double your closet space all by themselves.

If you still need more room, you can also attach several hooks to the back wall of the closet. This creates yet another place to hang ties, belts, and so forth. Also, if you want to get all of those shoes out of the closet to give you even more room, buy an under-bed shoe rack, and keep your shoes there. This will make the floor of your closet available for other things. For instance, now you can keep boxes of pictures, mementos, winter clothing, or other things on the floor where the shoes once were.

By the way, none of this advice takes away from your need to "de-clutter" your life. Often, creating a lot of additional space in closets and drawers is as simple as going through all of your belongings and decide what you use, what you don't use, and what you likely will never use. Anything that you don't currently use and that you don't have plans to use, you should throw out. Don't keep things just because you think that some day you might possibly have some use for it. If in your mind, you cannot currently envision the circumstances in which you would need it, chances are, you never will. When in doubt, throw it out.