If you’re like many busy college students, the closet is a place to throw stuff, shut the door, and forget about it — until you open the door and half the contents falls out. Transforming your closet from a mess that resembles Armageddon into organized storage is much easier than you think. All you need is a little time, attention, and a few storage accessories.
Here are a few closet organizer ideas to help you keep your dorm clutter-free.
1. Get Rid of Stuff
Before you start implementing any closet organizer ideas, sort through everything — yes, everything — in your closet. Take damaged clothing to a textile recycling center, and donate wearable clothing you don’t want any more to a charity or thrift organization. Do the same for any shoes, hats, gifts, sports equipment, and other items hiding in your closet.
2. Use the KonMarie Folding Method
For clothing that doesn’t hang, follow Marie Kondo’s folding method. By folding pants and shirts into thirds and storing upright, you’ll suddenly have tons more space in your dresser, allowing you to move many items into drawers and out of your closet. Store additional KonMarie-folded sweaters, jeans, and other items in storage cubes or milk crates.
3. Get Shoes Off the Floor
Shoes take up precious floor space. Nancy Haworth of On Task Organizing in Raleigh, North Carolina, suggests low-lying shoe shelves or over-the-door shoe hangers. A repurposed wine box makes a handy, low-cost shoe organizer. Stack them vertically to save even more space.
4. Use Cubes
If you have space below your clothes, stack small closet organizers, such as plastic or fabric storage cubes for bags, notebooks, laundry detergent, hair dryer, toiletries, towels — really anything that might end up tossed on the floor. “Make sure bins or baskets inside the cubes are clearly labeled for specific items or specific categories of clothing,” says Haworth.
5. Get Hooked
“Make use of any free wall space by hanging hooks for items such as hats, bags, and scarves,” says Haworth. You can also use shower curtain hooks on the closet rod to hang bags, belts, and heavier items. Scarves and ties can go on a regular hanger with shower curtain rings. Clever!
6. Install Extra Rods and Shelves
If you’re handy and have the space, install a second rod underneath your clothing rod for extra shirt- and pant-hanging space. If you don’t have a shelf above the rod, consider adding one. If you already have a top shelf, then get stacking. “Usually, it’s easier to put items on the top shelf into stackable containers than build a higher shelf,” says Haworth. “If you do add more shelving, remember to put a step stool in your closet.”
7. Store Like with Like
Keep all belts together in the same spot as well as scarves, bags, shoes, and ties. Organize your tops and bottoms by category and color: dresses, dress shirts, jeans, dress pants, and so on. Kondo suggests hanging everything in the same direction, with longer items on the left and shorter items on the right. This lets you find your favorite wool sweater in a flash.
An organized closet makes it easy to find what you need and fit more of your belongings into the space you have. After you’ve conquered the closet, let CORT Furniture Rental help you equip the rest of your apartment with everything you need.
