Makeover your closet



With winter almost upon us, it's time to dig out winter clothes and bedding. But before you do, perhaps now is also a good time to get your closets sorted.

Whether for storing clothing, linens or food, virtually every closet - regardless of its size - can be better designed to make maximum use of available space, particularly above and beneath hanging rods and shelving, and along empty supporting walls.

Fortunately, redesigning closets to increase much-needed storage space can be a very simple process and usually does not take longer than a weekend day or several weekday nights.



By using a storage and organisation system - easily available at your local Builders Warehouse - closets can be transformed into multi-purpose areas, yielding up to 50 percent more usable space and allowing clutter-free storage for all your items at a fraction of the cost of custom built-ins.

At first glance, organising a closet may seem like a monumental task, but it actually can be done in a few easy steps, beginning with some quick planning:

Take inventory

Begin by noting everything you would like to store in a particular closet. This includes hanging and folded clothing, shoes, accessories, linens and miscellaneous items, such as sporting equipment, luggage, gift-wrapping paper, etc.

Remove barriers

If you have one lone closet rod at the top of your closet to hang your clothes on - remove it. One rod severely limits your ability to visualise available space and does not allow you to double-hang clothing. Measure your entire closet space from front to back, side to side and floor to ceiling. Note the height and width of doors and door frames, as well as the location of built-in shelves and any obstructions.

Use all available space

Be sure to select a closet system that maximises all of the available space, including vertical space from floor to ceiling and the often-wasted space behind the door. Take advantage of the vertical space in a closet by stacking sweaters, hats and other clothing or accessories on top of closet shelves. Organise clothing into long hanging items and short hanging items. Using this system, there is enough space beneath the shorter section and time is saved by not looking through the entire closet for a particular item.



If the shoe fits

Evaluate all the different ways to organise shoes. Use clear shoe boxes, clear hanging bags or open racks to store shoes so each pair can be found in a single glance.



Double the space

If space is tight, use 'add-on' hangers to stack several skirts or pants together. An add-on hanger takes up as much space as a single hanger and stores four times the amount of clothing.

If most of your clothes are short hanging, add an extra closet rod to double the amount of hanging space instantly.


Make sure the clothing that is worn is within reach on lower shelves. Items used less often, such as a summer straw hat or shoes in unusual colours, should be stored on higher shelves.

So that nothing gets lost in the back of crammed drawers, use see-through drawers or shelves to store such items as T-shirts, short, sweaters, and jeans. Interlocking organisers also are a quick and easy way to make socks, hosiery, and lingerie easy to find. They can be customised to fit any drawer and change with the needs of the user.

container store