A deep closet can act like a black hole. It swallows shoe and it swallows the seasons. Because a deep closet swallows these items, a person may finds themselves in front of the closet every morning, but with nothing to wear.
The more depth that a closet has, the more chaotic that may live within the closet. All that depth for shoes wastes the potentials of that deep closet to store items that a person actualy wear. A deep closet that has too much depth may find its socks dissapearing into the shadows of the deep closet or may have coats from the previous year gather on the closet floor.
To organize a deep closet does not necessarily mean buying more bin for a deep closet. Instead, organizing a deep closet means rethinking the deep closet and its potential use for the individual in the home. A deep closet can become one of the most useful storage area in the house if a person tames the deep closet.
Deep closets can be organized into areas for out-of-season clothing, clothing to wear for special occasions, accessories, and even the items that a person uses for their hobby. The ideas for organizing a deep closet can range from simple ideas that can be done on a Saturday to more complex project that may provide benefits to the deep closet for many years. Here are some ideas for organizing a deep closet that will provide the biggest impact with the least amount of effort.
Effective Ways to Organize Your Deep Closet
1. Install Tall Vertical Shelving
Racking up the space behind the closet by installing tall vertical shelving is one of the first projects that a person should undertake. By installing shelving into a deep closet, the area behind the closet that is typically wasted real estate can become a storage area for bins, suitcases, or items for the out-of-season clothing. To maximize the potential of this idea, the shelves should only be constructed to store items that are no more than twelve inch deep.
This will avoid the lost items behind other clothing in the deep closet. Once this shelf system is installed, label each bin with an index card that is placed into a plastic sleeve. Use this labeling system to avoid buying duplicate item, such as winter hats.
Installing vertical shelving into a deep closet will create an area in the closet for people to edit the items that is in that deep closet. Items that have not been used in the past twelve months should be donated to give them a place on the deep closet shelves. Using this system will ensure that the vertical shelving area does not become a location for items to sit that are no longer use.
When the deep closet is organized with vertical shelving and labeled bins, the rest of the deep closet will begin to feel twice as large in the home.
2. Add a Second Hanging Rod
Another idea for deep closet organization is to install a second hanging rod that is installed halfway down the deep closet. By installing this second rod, a person will have doubled their hanging space for their clothing without taking up any floor area in the deep closet.
By hanging items like shirts and pants on the upper rod, a person can hang items like dresses and coats on the lower rod. This area for the lower rod will only take up the deep closet’s front half, allowing the back half of the deep closet to still be taken up by the vertical shelving system. Many people will be hesitant to use this system for a deep closet due to the difficulty of accessing the items on this second rod.
However, the deep closet’s back rod can be used for items that are worn less often. Items such as dress shirts for video calls or party dresses could be hung on this second rod. The front rod will be used for an individual’s daily clothing.
By using this strategy, a person will only have to access the back rod once a week at most.
3. Use Pull-Out Drawers
Another idea for deep closet organization is to add pull-out drawer to the lower half of the deep closet. Deep closets usually have two feet of unused space beneath the deep closet’s hanging area.
Using this space to install a set of three or four wire or fabric drawers will allow a person to store items such as socks, underwear, short-sleeve tee, or workout gear. These pull-out drawers will allow the deep closet’s contents to be accessed without crouching in the deep closet in the dark. For seasonal clothing, these pull-out drawers will allow a deep closet’s winter clothing to be stored in the deep closet, and the summer clothing can be pulled to the front of the deep closet.
Using these drawers will eliminate the need to lift heavy deep closet bin of clothing. Items stored in these pull-out drawers will also be protected from the closet’s dust since the dust will remain outside these drawers. For deep closets with a sloped ceiling, a narrow cart could be installed next to the vertical shelving system beneath the deep closet to store items like scarves, belt, and purses without taking up any additional area in the deep closet.
4. Install a Vertical Shoe Rack
Another idea for deep closet organization is to install a shoe rack along one of the side wall of the deep closet. A shoe rack that is installed vertically along one of the side walls will allow the shoes to be hung off the floor. The shelves along the deep closet’s side wall can be installed at varying height so that they allow a person to store two or three pairs of shoes on each shelf.
Using this design will allow a person to store twenty or more pair of shoes in the deep closet that may only have once had the capacity to store six pair of shoes. Additionally, using shelves that are made of plastic will allow a person to see all of the shoe in the deep closet. This will allow a person to stop purchasing multiple pair of the same shoe color.
Furthermore, the deep closet floor will be protected. Instead of having to move all of the deep closet’s shoes to vacuum the deep closet floor, the floor can be vacuumed in mere second. For boots that are too tall for the deep closet’s shoe shelves, two large hook can be installed on the deep closet’s side wall.
The boots can then be hung on these hooks upside down. By hanging the boots upside down, they will not lose their shape. Additionally, the space that the deep closet takes up on the floor will be taken up by zero floor spaces.
5. Mount Hooks on Walls or Doors
Another idea for deep closet organization is to mount hook on the deep closet door or on one of the side walls of the deep closet. Deep closets usually have one side wall that is not used for clothing racks. This unused side wall can have a series of hooks mounted onto the deep closet wall.
These hooks can be used for items like belts, ties, hats, reusable bags, or even a step stool of limited height to allow a person to access the vertical shelving system’s highest shelf. The deep closet door has additional space that can be used to mount an over-the-door organizer for items like sunglasses, jewelry, or cord for home electronics. These areas that are typically overlooked by deep closet dwellers can be used to mount hook to store items.
These potential hooks can store items like ties, scarves, and hats. Each of these objects can have their own hook so that the deep closet does not have items stored on the floor of the deep closet. Additionally, the over-the-door organizer will allow a deep closet to look finished when the door is closed.
6. Create a Rotating Capsule Wardrobe
Another idea for deep closet organization is to install a tension rod or another rack for a deep closet’s rotating capsule wardrobe. A rotating wardrobe that contains twenty to thirty clothing item can live in the deep closet’s front half so that the deep closet’s overflow clothing can live in the deep closet behind the capsule wardrobe. By rotating the items from the deep closet behind the capsule wardrobe into the capsule wardrobe every month, a person will have a variety of clothing option for their daily outfit.
This clothing system respects the way that most people dress. Most individuals wear twenty percent of their clothing eighty percent of the time. By having a capsule wardrobe of clothing in a deep closet’s front half, a person will no longer feel like they dont have any clothing option to wear.
A deep closet can be used to donate clothing as needed during the change of the seasons. Deep closets provide the space to store clothing that is worn off-season without taking up the area for clothing that is worn daily.
7. Add Closet Lighting
One last deep closet organization idea is to install lighting into the deep closet so that the light reach the back wall of the deep closet.
Installing light strip or battery lights onto the deep closet’s ceiling will provide lighting to the deep closet so that it is easier for a person to find their garment. This lighting will work especially well for those deep closets that have vertical shelving system in them. Instead of having to push clothing into the deep closet’s deepest portion, a person will be able to find what they need without difficulty.
Deep closet organization will transform a deep closet from a problem area for the individual into a dressing room that works in the individual’s favor. By implementing just one of the deep closet organization ideas listed above, there will be a noticeable transformation within that deep closet. The deep closet will stop working against the individual in their home, and instead, it will work in their favor.
Take one of the ideas for deep closet organization this weekend. Once implemented, the other deep closet organization idea will follow behind this one.
