Small closet organization ideas to freshen up your home this spring

If your closet is smol, it probably isn’t very organized. I’m not pointing any fingers, but it is nice to pull clothing out of your closet without having to play tug-of-war with the pile. 

If you have more things than your closet has space for, you’re not alone. A closet survey of 1000 American women found we own 103 pieces of clothing on average, about 20 of which we’ve never worn. One in four of us think our closet is disorganized.  

Closet organization 101

Here are some tips to help you get ready to put on clothes for IRL experiences again (assuming we’ll have some of those this spring). 

Clean out your closet

As a sustainable clothing brand, we obviously don’t recommend throwing away pieces, but you can certainly remove unwanted items sustainably. Remember: you can swap, upcycle, sell, gift or donate your used clothing. 

In order to pare down your closet, think about your style. What is your signature look these days? If you have a fave outfit, keep it and all of the layered variations of that look. 

Try to narrow your closet down to a capsule of 50 pieces or less that can work for your lifestyle, most days. 

Add more storage space

Even if you have a closet already, you can always add more space by using awkward spaces. Look up, down and underneath your existing walls and furniture for extra space:

• Drill hanging wire baskets into the inside of a door
  
• Hang a shoe rack onto the inside of a door
  
• Add hooks for hanging scarves, belts, or hats to a narrow wall space
  
• Use the empty high space in a closet to store suitcases 
  
• Add sliding baskets or drawers underneath your bed
  
• Create a table skirt to hide things in boxes under a hall table

Use your hangers wisely

Hangers are really useful. There are many, many ways to use them to maximize your hanging storage in an organized way. 

• Hang more than one item on a clothing hanger
  
• Hang another hanger onto a hanger from using a soda can tab as a hook
  
• Use S-hooks from the hardware store to hang jeans from belt loops or purses
  
• Use shower curtain rings to hang tank tops, bras or scarves
  

Subdivide your spaces 

With drawers and shelves, having too much open space isn’t helpful. It means your items can quickly devolve into piles. Instead of inviting chaos, use cardboard boxes as dividers:

• Wine boxes for slip-on shoe holders
  
• Shoe boxes for drawer dividers
  
• Strips of interlocking cardboard for additional divisions (copy Ikea with cardboard)

Hide your messes

Not all organization gurus will agree with this one. But if you’re like me, you sometimes make a mess while trying on clothes. It helps to have a spillover basket with a lid where you can quickly hide your unwanted clothing items when you’re in a hurry. This way, your space still looks clean and organized until you have time to organize again. 

Freshen up the scent

As a final step, make a homemade room spray to freshen up the scent. It’s really easy. 

Mix a tablespoon of baking soda with 2-3 drops of your favorite essential oil scent into a spray bottle and shake with distilled water (leave your own tap water out for 24 hours to distill your own water). 

Essential oils like lavender or peppermint work really well for this. Use this to keep your space soothing to all of the senses. 

Tell us how you’re going to organize your space this spring in the comments.