No matter how large a closet is, including a huge built-in closet, sooner or later, it will end up filled with so much of our stuff that it will start looking small. Men and women appear to have a tendency to hold on to clothing, shoes, accessories, and mementoes accumulated over the years, thus inevitably filling up their closets with often unnecessary things that have not been used nor even seen for a while. Eventually, a point is reached when they cannot find what they are looking for inside the closet.
You can prevent this from happening to you without spending a fortune constructing additional closets or expanding existing ones. Often, revamping your closet and reorganizing its contents is enough.
The first thing you will have to do is to take a close and hard look at your closet. Check if it utilizes all available space inside. Sometimes there are areas in some corners especially at the rear section of the closet that are not being used. Verify too that all space from the bottom of the closet up to the ceiling is not wasted space. If you see possibilities for expansion, you might need to rearrange the shelves, dividers, and even the hanger rod.
Next step is to remove all the contents of the closet arranging them into three piles –one for things you truly need, and therefore should stay; another for things you have not worn in one year that you can either sell, donate, or throw away; and a third for items that should be in other closets, such as in the linen closet or garage tool chest. With these items gone, you will be surprised how much space is freed in the closet.
Plan how you will store the things that are left. If you have plenty of shoes, for instance, consider hanging a shoe pocket organizer behind the closet doors. If you like to hang your shirts or other short items, you can install an additional hanger rod at a lower level so you will have two rods. If you have plenty of clothes that can be folded, you can divide the upper shelf into a set of smaller shelves to make it easier for you to retrieve them without causing an entire pile of clothes to fall on your head. You can also add a box for your handkerchiefs, socks, and underwear and keep it in a corner of the closet. You can remove clothes that are out of season and temporarily store them in sealed plastic boxes in the garage or basement.
There are plenty of organizers, shelves, and storage boxes available in the market that can help you organize your closet. Check these out to see if they are suited to your storage needs and if they fit in your closet.