The 7 things you should never store at the top of your closet – and where to keep them instead

The top of your closet can seem like the perfect spot for extra storage, but using it incorrectly can quickly lead to clutter.

While it can be tempting to throw anything and everything up there to get it out of the way, there are many items that are better stored elsewhere to avoid damage, disorganization, and wasted space, professional home organizers say.

Here, our experts share the seven things you should never store at the top of your closet storage to help avoid clutter chaos.

The 7 things you should never store at the top of your closet

Generally speaking, your closet should only ever be used to organize clothes and other dressing-related items, to avoid any items stored in the wrong place. Otherwise, your closet organization ideas will quickly become muddled and difficult to navigate.

1. Super heavy or bulky items

It can be hard to find the right storage ideas for big, bulky items that we need out of the way the majority of the time, but we should never resort to the top of our closets.

Audra George, expert home organizer and owner of Pretty Neat Home Organizing, Oklahoma, says, ‘This is dangerous and if a heavy item falls from high up, you could get hurt. It is also difficult to get things that are heavy or bulky up high for storage and difficult to get them down to use. We suggest storing heavy or bulky items down low. The same goes for fragile items.’

2. Items you use regularly

While the top of your closet can be a great place to store items we use every once in a while, such as holiday luggage, it doesn’t work as well for those items we need every day – unless you can reach the top of your closet with ease.

Jamie Hord, professional organizer and owner of Horderly reminds us, ‘Don't store items that are used frequently at the top of a closet because this will make it hard for you to access or take too much of your time to access or you'll avoid those items completely because you don't want to take the time and energy to get it down.’

These everyday essentials are best stored in lower-down storage ideas to improve accessibility in your home.

3. Items you never use

Conversely, you should never store items that you never use on top of your closet. The chances are, these should be decluttered instead says Jamie Hord, professional organizer.

‘Consider if you really need the item before storing it up high on the top shelf of a closet, like clothes that no longer fit. You might never see them again if they go on top of the closet and it might be better to donate them and use that space to store something else.’

4. Valuables

The top of your closet might seem like a safe, hidden spot for storing valuables, but Audra George, expert home organizer, advises against it.

‘Valuables are best stored elsewhere than up high in a closet. It is difficult to reach the corners of a high shelf and to see. Things may get pushed to the edges and forgotten about or lost.’

So far as your home organizing ideas go, your valuables are best kept in a safe, or a secure box beneath the bed where it is away from temperature and humidity fluctuations.

5. Non-dressing items

If you are looking for the best aesthetic ways to organize a closet, Amélie Saint-Jaques, certified home organizer and Kon-Mari expert, owner of Amélie Organizes says you need to ‘Be very selective about non-clothing items that you store in your closet.

‘Maybe your suitcase can have a place in there, but you shouldn't use it to stash random items that didn't have a home. I have seen it all: the broken lamp that you meant to get fixed, the Amazon package that you meant to return or never got around to opening, the framed photos that you want to hang – make the time to go through your to-do list and find homes for non-clothing items.’

6. Electronics

Whether you have the odd electronic that you only use once in a blue moon, or need a place to organize cables when not in use, you should always avoid the top of your closet.

Audra George, expert home organizer, says, ‘If these fall, they can be damaged beyond repair. Store electronics where they can be easily reached and utilized.’ This is usually at hip height or below.

7. Opaque boxes

Storage baskets and decorative opaque boxes can help to keep clutter contained, but they should be avoided at the top of your closet suggests Amélie Saint-Jaques, certified home organizer.

‘While you want to keep things dust-free, you need to see them to remember they exist, so don't box them up (unless you are using clear bins),’ she says. ‘I suggest having a foldable step stool [available at Amazon] in your closet to access the top shelf more easily.’

Getting rid of these seven items you should never store in a closet keeps your clothes storage space super neat and easy to access. Reducing the amount of clutter in this spot will help to organize your morning routine for a more relaxed start to each day, and make winding down easier.

Next, learn what to never store in an over-the-door organizer.