How To Squeeze More Storage into a Super Small Closet

Frustrated with the lack of storage in your small closet? Squeeze in more items with my helpful tips and tricks on small closet organization. 

Our new closet has been installed and everything is loaded in and looking pretty. And I am so excited to show you the before and after! If you happen to have a small closet like we do, you know how hard it is to fully optimize the space. But good news! Through the process of our closet renovation, I’ve learned some great tricks on small closet organization. And I’m sharing them all with you!

So before I show you how our closet transformed into a master piece of organization, let me show you the disorganized builder grade closet.

We basically had two long hanging rods on one wall and then a shorter rod on the far end wall. Obviously there was no room for shoes — as you can see the massive pile of shoes on the floor. It also lacked storage for my handbags and off season clothes. The entire closet felt so small, super crowded and lacked any organization. 

So are you ready to see what it looks like now? Let’s take a look inside!

Thanks to my fabulous partnership with The Container Store, our closet is now an organized dream come true!

We can now store more in this  small closet than ever before with room left over!  Our new closet system solved all of our closet problems. There’s plenty of room for shoes, handbags, seasonal clothes, under garments and even a place to store all of my jewelry. Plus there’s now room for a cute little stool too!

And right now is the perfect time for me to be talking closets because The Container Store is having a HUGE closet sale through May 19. You can get up to 25% off all your closet organizing essentials. (Including lots of the items I’m going to mention below!)

So what were the big changes that transformed this tiny closet? Let me tell you about my best small closet organization tricks!

Raise the ‘Closet’ Bar

Don’t forget to look up when trying to make the most of small closets! When our new Elfa closet system was installed, he installed the top hanging rod about eight inches higher than the previous location. Eight inches may not sound like a lot but it totally makes a huge difference in this space.

Now our clothing items hang a little higher but we can still easily reach them and we are utilizing our closet to the fullest! So if you can reinstall your hanging rods just a few more inches up — do it. You will love having more space below your hanging clothes for possibly an extra clothing rod or drawers.

Divide and Conquer

One of my favorite features of our new bedroom closet are the eight drawers.  They’re such a great way to organize smaller clothing items. Chris and I split the drawers right down the middle — his on the left and mine on the right. His top narrower drawer contains socks and underwear. To utilize this drawer to the fullest, I used a drawer organizer.

It’s amazing how one little tool allowed me to fit so many items into such a small drawer. The rest of his drawers contain t-shirts, shorts and long sleeve waffle shirts. 

For my side of the drawers I found the coolest jewelry and accessory system.  Thanks to 28 little individual compartments, I’m now able to store all of my necklaces, rings and earrings in one central location. And a big plus, they won’t be sitting out collecting dust anymore! 

Dividing our drawers with just a few simple (but so helpful) organizers really helped us vamp up the amount storage in our closet. And now there’s no more hunting down items because everything has a space and is in it’s place! 

Our new large storage boxes are also perfect for dividing seasonal items, swimsuits, purses and my work/painting clothes.

Sort and Keep

Yep, you know it’s a must do. We took everything out of our closet and went through each piece one by one. I’m usually pretty good about removing an item from the closet when I purchase a new one. But Chris…that’s a different story. He still had ties and dress shirts that he wore in high school. Say what?! We have moved twice and I still can’t figure out how he snuck those by me. 😉

So we donated what we could, tossed some and then kept our favorites. This one simple trick helped us gain more space in our closet and gave us a closet full of clothes we love and actually wear. 

Hang It Up

Maximize any empty wall space to store items as well. I found the loveliest wood knobs.  Rather than taking up valuable shelf space, I used them to hang my hats on the side wall of our closet. Our closet now has some pretty stylin’ wall art too! 😉 

I also sneaked in some more storage with a bracket hook on the side of an upper shelf. This was a great place for Chris to hang his belts. So definitely don’t under estimate the small closet organization power of a simple hook here and there! 

Speaking of hanging things up, we also updated all of our hangers as well. I love the clean natural look of the wood hangers. The black finish on the hardware just makes my neutral loving heart skip a beat. I know — who gets that excited about hangers? ME!!

Accessorize It The Closet

To complete the new look of our closet, I took down the builder grade boob light as well. (Yes!! I’m slowly removing those one by one!) I replaced it with this gorgeous black linen pendant light. It gives the closet a more direct light source (with the vaulted ceiling) and it’s just pairs perfectly with the new modern look of the Elfa closet system.

Lastly, I added a pretty new runner and a little stool. The stool is the great little seat when needed. Plus it helps me reach the higher shelves as well!

So I hope you now have a ton of great ways to utilize all the space in your small closet! And don’t forget to shop the big closet sale before May 19! 

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^{A huge thank you to The Container Store for partnering on this blog post and for gifting this Elfa Decor closet, closet accessories and installation. As always, all opinions  expressed are authentic and my own!}