Aside from its original purpose, the place where you keep your coats is likely to do double duty as the home of many other things that probably don\’t belong there. This mess of miscellaneous items may make it nearly impossible to find the coat you need when you need it. Many of us feel completely overwhelmed at the prospect of reorganizing this catch-all space. Don\’t panic! Although finding even an inch more space in your already crammed closet may seem an impossibility, it can be done.
A good place to start is to actually make a list of the things you dislike about the coat closet. Are you overly frustrated by the growing pile of footwear? Do you have to pull almost everything out to find a matching pair of shoes? Are wet snow boots piled on to the mountain of shoes? This can leave you with a mildew smell that can permeate everything in the closet, including your nice, wool coats. Perhaps you have resorted to plastic drawers in the past and are now finding that you can\’t remember what\’s in them, and can\’t open them enough to see.
It could be a good idea to have more than one rack for coats, if the coat closet is tall enough there is no reason why you can\’t have two levels of coats to open up some storage space. If the top bar is slightly out of reach you can easily get a hanger retriever in order to reach. It will not cost much and you will benefit from double the storage space.
A storage area that contains many short jackets and coats, or kids\’ outerwear, can probably accommodate an extra bar on which to hang these items, even if the the ceiling is only the average eight-foot height. If you need less room for coats but more room for accessories, a bar on either side of the closet may help you store items such as handbags, footwear other than boots, throws, and scarves. This will free up space in the back of the closet for drawers, shelves, or other storage devices. Reusable grocery or tote bags as well as other items that tend to accumulate on the floor can be hung on handy hooks.
If you have drawers in your coat closet try to get some clear plastic ones, so you can determine what is inside each without having to open them. Perhaps have baskets for certain items like hats, scarves, gloves etc. You can use vacuum storage bags to keep bulkier items like quilts stored in as small a space as possible. These vacuum bags work by removing all of the air from the bag once the item is inside, making large things such as quilts extremely small.
Cedar coat hangers are good if you find that your closet is prone to moisture, mildew or unpleasant odors. Taking the time to organize this space will help every day to go more smoothly.
For more articles about coat hangers, take a look at plastic coat hanger and space saving hangers.