Closets can become cluttered when you need to store more than just clothing. Do you feel like you have piles of miscellaneous things just lost and thrown in all over your closet? Clutter like this can not only cause you to lose or damage your belongings, but it can take up valuable storage space. Put the space that you have to good use by storing your accessories in a smarter, more orderly fashion.

Intimates: There’s no need to store your intimates in a dresser drawer if you can make space in your closet. You can use baskets and bins on shelves, sliding drawers, or lingerie hangers. Lingerie hangers are generally satin and padded to protect delicate clothing. They not only make your closet more manageable and organized, but they’re also attractive and functional.

Swim Wear: You can store your swim wear in the same manner, on lingerie hangers, in bins, or sliding drawers. There are also circular hangers for hanging and drying bikinis. These hang your swim suits flat and hold them in a natural shape so that you don’t damage or lose pieces while they’re in storage.

Handbags: Leather handbags should be cared for in a specific way. Leather needs to breathe, but it can also be damaged by other closet contents or arid environments. Use a leather treatment on your leather purses before you store them to keep the leather supple and soft. Then, place it in a breathable dust bag cover or pillowcase to protect it from the elements. You can store bags like these on a shelf or in a small cabinet. Other handbags that don’t require specific care can be hung on cascading hooks, which can be hung on the bar, or installed on the back of the closet door or down the side of the closet.

Shoes: Do you have a shoe rack that wastes room, doesn’t hold all of your shoes, or that you simply don’t use because it’s inconvenient? Closet experts rarely recommend shoe racks anymore. They take up valuable floor space that is better used for a laundry basket, cabinet, or small dresser. Store your shoes in air-tight containers that you can see into. Clear boxes are stackable and keep your shoes safe from scuffs, dust, and the inevitable squash marks that deform and reshape your shoes when they get smashed into the bottom of the closet.

Hats: Hats can be kept in containers or hung by hooks. If you’re looking for a creative place to keep them, try over the closet door on the inside of the closet. You can hang picture wire and attach clips for hanging as many hats as you wish. They’ll be protected from becoming misshapen, you can see which hats you have to choose from, and they won’t take up any valuable space in your closet.

Odds and Ends Clothing: We all have those odd pieces of clothing that we don’t use very often, but we want to keep hanging. It could be a prom dress, a dress coat, or an interview suit that never gets used, but you need to protect it anyway. Hang heavier items on coat hangers so that they don’t end up in the floor. Wood hangers are great for many items. Just choose the ones that match the size and shape that is necessary for your specialty clothing. The rest of your clothes hangers can be any type that suits your needs, whether you’re looking to make your closet look sophisticated or save space.

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.

Is your closet overrun with junk? Do you want to fix it up and organize? Are you interested in creating an inspiring space that helps you start off your day on the right foot? Then use these ideas to get your creative juices flowing! An organized closet doesn’t have to be a boring one. If you put your mind to it, you can create a closet that inspires you and helps you to stay organized.

1) Our first idea is to improve the lighting situation in your closet. Shelves and drawers are great in a closet, but we end up rummaging through them so much that we can’t keep them nice and neat. Installing lighting over each shelf and even inside of the drawers can make it easier to see what you’re looking for. This can help you to keep your drawers and stacks of clothes organized for longer periods of time. Plus, it just makes your closet look like a welcoming place. Consider installing a dimmer switch with motion detection so that your closet will automatically illuminate for you at the desired brightness every time you open the door. When you close the door, the light should automatically go off.

2) If you keep linens and comforters in your closet, they can end up taking up a lot of valuable space. Most people use a good portion of their bedroom closet shelving for sheets, blankets and comforters. The space can become even more cramped if you store table linens and curtains in there, too. You can free up that closet shelf storage space by using comforter hangers. They come in different depths to accommodate thick down comforters or thinner quilts. There are special hangers for keeping your curtains and sheets wrinkle free as well. Choose ones with nylon or rubberized surfaces so that they don’t slip off and end up crumpled on the floor.

3) Now, you may be thinking that hanging all of your blankets will free up shelf space, but then it will only be taking up your hanging space. Not necessarily. For around ten dollars, you can get an extra hanging bar. In a reach-in closet, you can install the extra bar up high on the right or left side of the closet. This will give you extra long hanging space for your linens.

4) Using specialty clothes hangers can help you to maximize space and stay organized at the same time. Hangers that allow you to cascade things that hang flat save a lot of space. You can cascade things like skirts, shorts, pants, or anything else that hangs safely close together. Go ahead and use curved, sturdy hangers for coat and suits. Coat hangers or wood hangers are best for hanging heavier items that need to keep their shape at the shoulder. Using a variety of hanger types will allow you to adjust the hanging space that you use to make room for everything else.

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.

The closet can seem like a giant project to tackle, so many people put it off until it really can’t be ignored any longer. There are a few basic rules of closet organization that you can follow. These simple steps make things easier to find, easier to organize and helps you get your closet in order.

First, rearrange your clothing so that your shortest clothes are on one side and your longer items are on the other. This usually frees up some space beneath the shorter clothes. You can add shelves for shoes or drawers underneath the shorter hanging clothes. You can use this space for just about anything.

Next, arrange your clothing in order of color. Make sure that you keep the length of the clothes approximately the same, but group together your shortest black shirts, white shirts, black pants, etc. This will make it easy to find clothes that match when you are getting dressed in the mornings.

Utilize inexpensive items such as over-the-door organizers, hooks and bins. Storage bags that can be flattened with a vacuum are very useful in keeping linens fresh while minimizing the space that they occupy. Store out of season clothes or bulky linens in empty suitcases to maximize overhead space.

Shoes usually end up in a huge pile. Even if you have a shoe organizer, it is hard to keep them all where they go. They fall off, they don’t fit, or you simply have more shoes than shoe space. Use clear boxes for dress shoes. Not only will they be protected from scuffs and damage, but they will be very easy to find. Make a tall stack of clear boxes in the front corner of your closet. You may want to put a dryer sheet in each box to keep shoes smelling fresh. If you plan on storing shoes for quite a while, put them in a plastic bag and store them in the freezer over night. This will kill any odor causing bacteria that may be living in the shoes and ensure that they are ultra-fresh the next time you want to wear them.

If you need additional space for hanging clothes, consider adding another hanging bar. You may have high enough ceilings to have a high bar and a low bar in your closet. Another option is to get an adjustable bar that hangs from your existing bar. You can hang it around your shirts and it gives you another bar just below your shortest items, not all the way across.

Another option for making more hanging space is to buy hangers that can piggy-back on each other. Specialty hangers can hold a lot of pairs of pants, ties, or group together outfits. Some clothes hangers are thin enough to hang clothing closer together, making more room than you might have imagined. Using these simple guidelines, you can make space in your closet and get it set up in an easy-to-maintain order.

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.