When moving into a new home, most people focus on bigger expenditures like furniture or kitchenware. While these are important purchases to make, it’s easy to forget that there is still plenty of room for improvement in the old place. One area that can often be overlooked is the space in your wardrobe.
According to built ins Sydney owner John Celik, many people live in small apartments with little floor space. For these individuals, the use of every square inch is important when it comes to furniture and storage solutions. One item many homeowners have is a walk-in closet off their bedroom or bathroom where they store clothing, towels and other bulky items out of the way.
Make use of the following handy tips to optimize the space in your wardrobe.
1) Buy a good set of hangers. Hangers with clips for skirts and pants are a must. While you’re at it, get rid of all the ancient wire hangers that have been languishing in your closet since god knows when! Wire hangers break easily, warp from steam cleaning (which is the best way to get out tough wrinkles), and ruin clothes by leaving little bumps on them where the hooks touch them. If you want to look sharp while maximizing space, go for breathable hangers that keep clothes from wrinkling.
2) Buy a storage solution for accessories, scarves, belts, ties, and other accessories. Everyone has these little things they want to organize in their closets but never think of a good way to do it. Hanging storage bins are perfect for the job! Rolling them up with your scarves takes up less space than folded ones and you can see everything at once. Use shoe pockets for smaller items like gloves or hats; they will stack nicely on top of each other without any wasted space. For more options (and unusual creations), check out Pinterest.
3) Get rid of old clothes that don’t fit anymore/you’ll never again/are hideous! If you haven’t worn something in the past months or years, get rid of it. It’s not doing you any good where it is, and you always have the option to never look at your closet again if you don’t want to see it there. Everything looks better when there’s less junk in front of it!
4) Get rid of stuff that doesn’t fit or flatter your body type. Just because you could fit into a dress ten pounds ago does not mean that you should be keeping it around. If you’re having trouble getting rid of clothes like this, ask yourself: ‘Do I love this?’ If the answer is no, get rid of it immediately!
5) Only buy nice things to put in your closet. If you are not willing to spend money on something, you probably shouldn’t be keeping it around. This is the number one rule to maximize space! Just think how much junk you could get rid of if you made this your philosophy?
6) Don’t let anything hang over the sides of your hangers. It’s extremely wasteful and annoying when everything won’t fit on a hanger because of one article that was too lazy to find its hanger.
7) Hang pants by their cuffs or fold them up into half-moon shapes and lay them on top of each other. There is never enough room for pants but they take up so much space folded conventionally. The more pairs you have, the more important this becomes.
8) Fold sweaters, sweatshirts, and hoodies into large rectangles instead of balls to maximize space. This may mean adjusting your folding style a bit, but it’s worth it when you’re staring at an uncluttered closet! Even if you get rid of all your wire hangers and just use these folding tricks, you should be able to get double the amount of stuff into your closet than before.
9) Use shelves for storing smaller items like socks and accessories. Just because everything doesn’t fit on the hanging rail doesn’t mean that things have to go on the floor or be stuffed into a box never seen again until spring cleaning time. Investing in some good shoe racks is also a great idea; they will keep things organized and make it easy to find what you’re looking for.
