Closets and Clothes Hangers » home organization

Preparing for Back to School

admin — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 19:39:03 +0000

The coat closet can be used for a lot more than coats. It can be difficult to make enough storage room in any home. Using the coat closet as an entryway home organizer is a good way to keep your home more organized. If your coat closet is packed with coats and junk, it’s time to give it a makeover. This small area of the home can offer big benefits if its space is maximized.

1) First, you should clear out the coat closet of everything. Get it nice and clean since you probably don’t get in there to vacuum and dust very often. This is the best time to do it while it’s completely empty.

2) Now decide what you can do without. Donating coats to charity is a great way to help out those in need. You can also get a pretty good tax deduction, since coats are generally worth more than regular clothes. Get rid of beat up shoes, ones that don’t fit right, or ones that you simply never wear. If you don’t think you’ll make it to the thrift store with all that you want to give, call around. Most charities will come and pick up the items that you want to donate. All you have to do is put them on the front porch.

3) Another option is to have a garage sale or sell your items on auction sites. Nice coats and boots will generally sell once they’re in season. You can use the money to turn your coat closet into the organization center that you’re dreaming of.

4) Most people’s coat closets are near the entryway of their homes. Are you tired of everyone coming in and shedding all of their belongings right inside the front door? Well, the coat closet is a great place to get these things organized. Hooks, shelves, baskets, bins, calendars, shoe cubbies, and more can all be added into a small space like a coat closet so that things don’t get thrown around the house.

5) If your coat closet is too small to hold coats and all of the items that you would like to store there, consider storing most of your coats in another place. The back of your closet, in a spare bedroom, or on a rolling garment rack with a dust cover can all be great places to store coats that you don’t use very often. Making room for keeping shoes, backpacks and other everyday items may be more important to you than having every coat hanging in the coat closet.

6) If you do keep coats in the coat closet, you should update the clothes hangers. A nice clothes hanger makes the closet look great. Coat hangers, like wood hangers, should be used for heavy items. You may want to choose higher end hangers for your coat closet because it’s nice for guests and better quality ones ensure that your coats don’t end up on the floor.

About the Author: Charlie Hafter is on the staff of Closet Hanger Factory, a leading online resource for clothes hangers. Get all of the closet and clothes hanger accessories you could need at http://www.closethangerfactory.com, which is recognized worldwide for their excellent quality hangers.

Linen and Coat Closets

admin — Wed, 25 May 2011 21:22:59 +0000

You are probably in the same boat with the rest of us. People’s closets seem to be a constant battle in many households. It’s not just the bedroom closets, either. The coat closets and linen closets become so cram packed that you can’t seem to use them for what you need to use them for. When your storage areas become so crowded that your home becomes overrun with shoes, coats, jackets, backpacks, blankets, pillows and towels, it is time to take action.

1) Laundry can become a big chore if you don’t have easy places to put things away. Towels, blankets, sheets and other linens can pile up on dressers and in our bedroom closets when the linen closet gets too full. The problem is that most homes are lacking in storage, so we end up putting things in places that are convenient. Therefore, that forty-pack of toilet paper is probably taking up a whole shelf in the linen closet. Things like humidifiers, heating pads, fans and other household items do need a place to go. Getting them out of the linen closet can help you to reclaim the space that you need to store your actual linens. Think about adding additional shelves to make better use of the space.

2) If you have more than one coat closet in your home, or a spare bedroom closet, then you are pretty lucky. One can be used for everyday items, such as purses, backpacks, shoes, and jackets. The other can be used for storage of sports equipment, winter boots, dress coats, and suits. If you don’t have an extra closet, then consider how you can make more space in the one that you have.

3) Look around the coat closet and see what you can do. If it’s a standard reach-in closet, you may be able to add little shelves to the front corners. This makes a lot of extra space for containers that can hold either everyday items or storage items. You can keep your camera equipment, school supplies, board games, and other household items that need a place to go on these simple shelves.

4) Use the right hangers in your closets to keep your clothing safe, even if it does get crowded. Cascading hangers are great for hanging multiple jackets and other light items. Use wood hangers or coat hangers for coats and suits so that they don’t get crushed. Clothes hangers are designed to save space, support shoulders, prevent slippage and more. Choosing the right hangers can make a big difference in all of your household closets.

Your Coat Closet Makeover

admin — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 17:19:17 +0000

Coat Closet Creative Ideas

admin — Fri, 28 May 2010 04:41:15 +0000

The coat closet is a very important part of your house. It is generally the first organizational area that you utilize whenever you enter or leave your home. We use our coat closets for a lot more than coats. This is where we generally keep shoes, backpacks, school supplies, and more. The coat closet is a great place to store things that we use often. Problems generally arise when we don’t plan for all of the things that we will keep in the coat closet.

Getting the coat closet cleaned out can help you to determine what type of storage you need. Pull everything out and separate like items so that you can visualize the amount of space that you’ll need for each thing. If there are things in there that you don’t use fairly often, go ahead and try to move them to another closet or storage area. Dedicate the coat closet to your everyday things.

When you get the items sorted out, try to rank them in order of what you use the most. The things that are used most often should be easily accessible when you open the closet. The less often you use something, the higher up or further back you can store it. For example, a shelf for keys, wallets, cell phones and work badges should be near the front so that everyone using it can easily get what they need in a hurry.

Now that you have your most important things in mind, figure out ways to store them that makes the most sense for the item. You could use a shelf for keys and wallets, but would it be easier to use hooks for keys and work badges and then use separate shallow bins for each person’s wallet or other important accessories? Making a specialized place for each person to store their things can help keep clutter under control.

Using a variety of shelves, hooks, bins and baskets can make your coat closet a great place for keeping lots of things organized, easy to access, and normally out of sight. A dry erase board on the inside of the door can also help you and your family to keep appointments, soccer practices, school meetings, and other important dates in mind. You can leave reminders for your family that you are sure they’ll see because they’ll have to go to a certain place to retrieve their keys, wallets, purses, etc.

Let’s not forget what the coat closet is actually for. Your coats should be kept safe in the coat closet. Use high quality clothes hangers that are designed especially for coats. Flimsy hangers can break and damage coats. Coat hangers help coats, blazers and suits to keep their shape in the shoulders.

Getting your coat closet under control can help you to keep your life and your family’s lives under control.

Choosing a Closet System

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 17:01:17 +0000

There are a lot of closet organizers on the market to help you get organized and stay within your budget. You can spend anywhere from a few bucks to hundreds of thousands of dollars on a closet, so somewhere in there you are sure to find something that works for you that you can afford! Here are some ideas and things to consider when selecting what type of closet organization system you would be comfortable investing in.

1) Wire shelving is perhaps the cheapest way to go, but it is not necessarily the lowest in quality. Metal shelving systems have come a long way. They usually don’t rely on those tiny plastic clips to hold them up anymore. Most have bars that anchor into the wall studs to provide a versatile space for hanging shelves, baskets, drawers, and hanging bars. These systems can give you the versatility and strength that you need to create a personal closet space without spending a fortune.

2) Wire shelving upgrades. If you have wire shelving but you’re not crazy about the look, consider some of the newer accessories and upgrades that are on the market now. They look a lot better than the standard wire and are really useful, too. The basket drawers are perhaps the most popular wire closet system addition right now. Baskets are great for organizing and storing smaller items that can make your closet look junky. Baskets give the closet system some texture, warmth and depth that the wire alone doesn’t offer. These basket drawers are mounted on smooth gliding rails that make the basket function exactly like a drawer. However, you can easily lift out the basket and take it with you while doing laundry to make keeping your closet organized even easier.

3) Press board laminate systems can be attractive, inexpensive and useful. They give your closet that “wood shelving” appearance without investing in solid wood. These systems usually work a lot like the newer wire shelving systems and hook onto metal brackets that are secured to studs in the wall. The adjustable shelves make this type of system a desirable one to many people.

4) You may be able to install solid wood shelving systems for less money than you may have thought. Do it yourselfers find it relatively easy to install wood shelving, stain and varnish it themselves. You can even use slats to rest shelves on so that you have some control over how close together or far apart the shelves sit. Adjustable shelves may prove invaluable when you are looking at keeping your closet organized long-term.

No matter which type of shelving system you decide on, your hanger choice may be just as important. There are different clothes hangers for different needs. Selecting the right hangers for your closet can make it look beautiful or help you to save space. Coat hangers and wood hangers are perfect for coats and suits, where specialty hangers, like skirt hangers or cascading hangers, can help you save space and keep organized.

Improving Closet Storage

admin — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 18:27:07 +0000

Closets can get out of control, especially when seasons change. Is your closet in serious need of help? Could you use more storage space? Use these tips and tricks to create the space that you need, even if you’re on a tight budget. You may be surprised how much room you’re able to make. In addition to space, you can arrange your closet in such a way that it is easy to keep organized. Don’t let the season change clutter up your life. Get to work on your closet and you’ll be ready for the cold weather.

There are a few basic guidelines that you should keep in mind as you organize. You should adopt a minimalist attitude, to an extent, and get rid of any excess clothing, shoes, belts, or other items that you don’t regularly use. Most people take comfort in wearing their favorite clothing over and over again. What happens is that you get something new that you love and end up taking one of your old favorites out of the rotation. You may look at it and think that you like it and want to keep it and then never wear it again.

Use this tried and true trick to help you determine what should stay and what should go. Turn all of your hangers around backwards on the bar. Wear your clothes as you normally would for the entire season. Then, when it is time to swap out your winter wardrobe for your summer wardrobe, take note of what you never wore and get rid of it. Do this every time you switch out wardrobes and your closet will constantly stay organized. This process keeps you from hanging on to clothes year after year that you never wear, and also helps you to realize when you’ve replaced an old favorite with a new one.

Keeping the amount of clothing in your closet down to a minimum will help you to free up space that you can use for storage. With just a few tweaks, you can make use of the wasted space that you may not have even realized you had. See if you have room above your hanging clothes for two shelves instead of one. Look at the sides of your closet to see if you may be able to extend those top shelves out to the front of the closet. You may even be able to move the top shelf up and make room for an extra hanging bar, drawers, cabinets or shelves below your clothes.

Limiting what you store can be a lot of work, but minimizing the space that you use for the things that you need to keep is key in organizing your closet. Utilize other space saving accessories such as hooks, over-the-door racks, bins and baskets. You can update your clothes hangers to ones that stay separated on the bar, like wood hangers, and your clothes will stay wrinkle free all season. You can also utilize hangers that save space by allowing you to hang multiple items on one hanger.

There are many tricks to getting your closet organized and keeping it that way, you just have to take the time to figure out what will work best for you.

Easy Closet Organization

admin — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 19:33:55 +0000

Use these tips to help you get your closet functioning in an organized way. Once it’s ready to go, you won’t have to do much maintenance throughout the year.

1. Give as much away as possible.

Do a good deed while cleaning your closet. Donate clothes that don’t fit right, have small stains or are simply not your favorites. Ask your friends and family if they would like to sift through before you give them away. Another idea is to have a yard sale and make money to invest in your new closet.

2. Divide your wardrobe into summer and winter sets.

Most people have way too much to fit into one closet. So, putting half of your wardrobe into storage can keep your closet looking nice and organized year round. If there isn’t room in your closet or garage to store out of season clothing, consider shallow containers that slide underneath your bed.

3. Add shelving and hanging bars.

Look around the closet and see if there is room to expand. If your ceiling is high enough, you could add a second bar to the closet. You could put a shoe shelf on the bottom, the bar at about waist-high, and then build a system of shelves, drawers and cabinets above that for storage.

4. Choose storage bins that can be easily maneuvered.

Be wary of buying bins, baskets or crates that are very large. Clothing is heavy. You will want containers that are easily moved around to ensure ease of use. You may want a bin for work socks, one for work-out socks, one for pajamas and one for underwear. Many closets have room on the front walls for small shelves that can hold all of these bins.

5. Thin out your shoe supply.

If you can, get rid of some shoes. If you just can’t, then consider keeping yard shoes in the garage, tennis shoes in the coat closet, and dress shoes in your bedroom closet. If you want, you can store them in clear boxes so that you can see which ones are inside. Store them with cedar closet accessories or a dryer sheet so that they do not start to smell.

6. Remove things that should not be kept in your closet.

Get rid of extra things that don’t belong in your closet. If you can’t figure out where to put them, then you may have to create a space. For example, sports equipment can go into an equipment organizer in the garage.

7. Hang your clothes on specialty hangers.

Now that you have room for your clothes, use specialty hangers to keep them from getting snagged, misshapen or crammed together. Use shirt hangers that are designed to curve towards the back and down on the shoulders. This will keep the shirt from getting wrinkled or squeezed between other articles of clothing. Use a skirt hanger for skirts or shorts. Make sure that the clips are smooth and do not have sharp edges that can tear your skirts. A pants hanger will keep your pants from creasing at the knee.

Getting your closet in order will help you stay organized year round. Enjoy your spacious new closet!

About the Author: Charlie Hafter is on the staff of Closet Hanger Factory, a leading online resource for shirt hangers, skirt hangers, pants hangers and dress hangers. Get all of the accessories you could need at http://www.closethangerfactory.com, which is recognized worldwide for their excellent quality hangers.