6 storage saviors I would buy at Walmart to organize my awkward, tiny closet if I didn't already own them
I'm working with the worst closet I've ever had – these are the tools that have made it more manageable
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I have lived in five places in the last five years having moved from my parent's home to college, before ending up in my current rental. As a result, I have had to work with five different closets and none have been as bad as my current one.
It is tiny, awkwardly shaped, and raised off the ground making access irritating at best. It has also made organizing clothes a struggle since day one. So, these are the six things I would buy to organize my awkward closet at Walmart if I didn't already own them.
Luckily, through some trial and error, I have found a combination of closet organizers that have made this awkward storage space a little easier to live with.
How I organize my awkward closet with six storage saviours
Given the small, awkward size of my closet, I needed to perfect space-saving closet techniques to fit both my and my partner's clothes. I used to have two separate types of hangers for my tops and bottoms but stumbled on these combination hangers. Not only do they let me hang multiple things on one hanger so I can pair outfits up to save space and time when organizing my morning routine, but the uniformity means the hangers themselves take up less space on my rail so I can fit more on.
Another great way to maximise clothes hanging space is to use less conventional hangers. My partner has a lot of trousers that he uses occasionally but doesn't want to get rid of. To help keep these accessible without them taking up too much space I invested in a multi-pant clothes hanger. It has been a lifesaver for keeping those lesser-used items neat without condemning them to the space beneath the bed.
I am a certified fall enthusiast and I have a lot of chunky sweaters. They probably make up around 40% of my entire wardrobe, if not more. Storing them is a logistical nightmare. I can't hang them or they will stretch, and they won't all fit in my dresser either. For the longest time, they sat folded (or screwed) up on my closet floor. That was until I realised I could repurpose stackable shoe boxes to keep sweaters folded up neatly and safe from pests. They still live on my closet floor, but they look a lot neater.
I would love to store all of my clothing in a closet at the same time, but in such a small awkward space it is just not feasible. This means I had to invest in good seasonal storage ideas. Vacuum storage bags are the best for this, helping me to squish all those sweaters away in summer and keep my dresses safe over winter. I store most using nifty in under-bed storage ideas, but I have leaned them against the back wall of my closet on occasion when my under-bed storage is full. When they are fully deflated, they stand-up sturdy and take up next to no space.
My closet is raised off the ground, which means neither me or my partner can reach the top without climbing. A step stool was a must in order to keep the closet organized and avoid the top shelf falling victim to having things thrown up there and forgotten about. A folding step stool is a great addition to any closet to help you easily reach those high-up corners both for storage and to help you clean a clothes closet.
I always thought that clothes storage bags were just for fancy items we didn't want to damage in storage, but I have found they are especially useful for longer items like dresses in closets where you have two rails stacked on top of one another. I picked up some shorter clothes bags and folded my dresses up into them. This allows me to hang them without them dangling down onto the rail below or the floor and getting in the way. It is one of the best ways to aesthetically organize a closet when dealing with an awkward space.
Because my closet is so small and so many of my items are squished together or folded up, I frequently have to deal with wrinkles. They are an unavoidable fact of my life. That is why I keep a small handheld steamer at the bottom of my closet.
A steamer is one of the best ways to get wrinkles out of clothes quickly and means that my storage solutions continue to work for me without cause me any further inconvenience.
With over 2,000 five star reviews, this handheld garment steamer is a great investment for anyone with an awkward closet that leaves clothes looking a little worse for wear. Reviewers love that it is lightweight and effective. Some even claim it has drastically improved their laundry days.
You shouldn't have to reduce your wardrobe to a capsule collection to organize a closet with lots of clothes. Accept a bit of trial and error. mixing and matching storage pieces to find the perfect solution for your space, and remember to be creative with storage pieces to make the most of your space.
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Chiana has been at Homes & Gardens for two years and is our resident 'queen' of non-toxic living. She spends most of her time producing content for the Solved section of the website, helping readers get the most out of their homes through clever decluttering, cleaning, and tidying tips. She was named one of Fixr's top home improvement journalists in 2024.
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