We all have some sort of closet and they are all set up pretty well the same way. And that may work for some, but for this particular closet user, it wasn’t working very well and needed some ReThinking. When you look at the closet before, it wasn’t organized at all, it had a lot of different types of things all over the place. Not one thing seem to be housing the items well or with purpose. And a dog or two took up residence in the bottom.
The first thing we did in this particular case was to decide what was needed by this space. The dogs wanted to be in the same sleeping space as their owners and their owners also wanted them close by. You may not wish to have a dog in your closet, but for this person, it was necessary. These dogs were crate trained and although their bed could be in other areas of the bedroom, they preferred the closet, which closed them in on three sides. There are some obvious problems with having a dog sleep in your closet, the clothes that were hung were being rubbed up against the dogs. Not god for anyone. The second thing was the dogs were spilling out of the closet with an over sized dog bed.
The next thing we looked at was how the other items in the closet were being used. First Hanging clothes. There were uniforms that were used everyday, Dress Casual clothes and seasonal clothes that were used a few times a year and there were formal clothes that were used less than a few times a year, sometimes not at all. Then Folded Clothes. Folded uniform clothes that were used everyday, casual clothes used on weekends and seasonal clothes used for half the year. On the shelf there were other items as well, stuffed toys, boots, sweaters and more clothes. There was additional shelving in a unit that contained everyday and seasonal clothes. There was no obvious reason for placement. Things were stored in no particular way and likely just accumulated in closet.
Everything was taken out of the closet and inventoried.
- Three stuffed animals
- 1 pair of Novelty slippers
- 1 wool sweater
- 1 high school football sweater
- 1 large suitcase
- 1 medium suitcase
- 1 carry-on bag
- 1 small duffel
- 1 hanging garment bag
- 1 pair of boots
- 22 tank tops
- 8 dresses
- 7 sweaters
- 8 light sweaters
- 18 pairs of womens shorts
- 10 pairs of mens shorts
- 14 womens tshirts
- 18 mens t shirts
- 19 women shirts
- 3 long sleeve mens shirts
- 2 pairs of womens khakis
- 1 exercise pant
- 15 pairs of mens pants
- 2 leggings
- 1 skirt
- 2 pairs of novelty socks
- 1 pair slippers
- 5 hockey jerseys
- 1 long skirt
- 5 two piece suits
- 10 dress shirts
- 2 dress pants
- 1 vest
- 1 shop coat
- 8 mens uniform shirts
- 8 mens uniform bottoms
- 12 womens uniform shirt
- 1 hat
- 1 womens blazer
Next considering how often items were used, the items were categorized into four categories: 1. Used Daily 2. Used Weekly 3. Used annually 4. Storage items. We started ReThinking the closet configuration. We considered what needed to be hung on hangers and which would be better on shelves. Things that were better to be protected from dust and dogs. There is a lot of space above the current shelf and the unit in the closet didn’t really fit well and wasn’t really accessible.
To utilize the space closet to the ceiling, two brackets were installed at one end to hold suitcases, which were nested together. This took the suitcases off the ground and out of the way while staying accessible. Next we filled a bin with a lid with storage items. We installed a simple pulley system to lift it off the ground and out of the way.
There were clothes items that were best hung and away from the dog. And moved all of longer hanging clothes to the far side of the closet. We installed a shelf above the bar which made a perfect place for a long bin which houses some of the clothing that could be store lying down. We also put the Hanging garment bag on top of this bin. With room left over for a small bin of clothes that were not needed for a while.
The MULIG shelf from IKEA fit perfectly and saved some time for installation of custom shelves. There is also bins that fit well into the shelves. In the bins we rolled our clothing items which allows you to see the items while taking up minimal space using method from Marie Kondo’s The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. Each bins has a lid so that the seasonal clothes can stay dust free while waiting for the sunshine. Overall we reduce the space in which the all of the items fit into the closet. Lastly we reduced the size of the Dog bed to open up floor space.
After ReThinking the closet configuration, the only thing left to do to maybe reduce the number of tshirts one person can have. But that discussion is for another time. For now, the closet is better organized and the clothes are more protected and the dogs have a bit more space. If you need some help ReThinking your Closet ReFocused can help.
