Handmade Simply: Organization: Master Closet

I am here to tell you that I am the official owner of the smallest Master Bedroom closet known to mankind. We moved in to the house we are living in 5 years ago and after living in 2 small apartments we were so excited to have a space to call our own. To be honest we didn't think much about things like closet space or storage room when we were making our decision. Once we started moving things in however we quickly realized that going from a walk in closet to this much smaller closet was a bit of a stretch. We did what we could to make it work until just recently I couldn't take it anymore!! Something had to be done! So, before I tell you what we did to change it let me show you what it looked like before.

Before:

We had two racks - one on top and one on bottom. We originally started out with just one rack along the top but my husband installed the second rack a few years back which did help with maximizing our space.

Hers:

His:

One of the biggest headaches this closet gave me was the shoe storage situation. WHAT A DISASTER! They were all hidden behind our clothes on the side walls of the closet. We bought these little shoe towers but it was always such a pain in the rear to get to the shoes that were in the back.

We were also keeping our laundry baskets in the middle section of the closet so we lost a lot of good space doing that. So by building this new closet we have created a new dilema in that we need to find a new place for our laundry baskets but it was so worth it!

The very top shelf held extra shoes, shorts, pants, bags, sports stuff, etc. Nice storage space but not cute!

Now that you've seen the before, let's take one last look at it all emptied out...

Now the good stuff! About 3 months ago we were at The Container Store (L.O.V.E that store BTW) looking for some baskets and bins to organize some things in our guest bedroom closet and on a whim decided to have them build us a closet with their organization system. Not gonna lie - I was pretty shocked by the quote they gave us but seeing what they were able to do with our small space got me excited and got me thinking about what we could do. A few weeks passed and we were in Home Depot looking for some hooks I needed for another project. We were walking up and down the isles and ended up on the closet organizing row. Martha Stewart has an organization line there that is pretty reasonable and ended up costing a fraction of what we could have had done through the Container Store so we went for it! We had to order all of the pieces on line because they don't carry the white unit in the store. It was delivered to our door about a week later and we got to work! The whole system is completely customizable and very easy to install and we are MUCH happier!! Ok so here we go...presenting our beautifully functional closet!!

After:

Shelving, nearly floor to ceiling for shoes

Two bars for hanging

More shelving for shoes and folded clothes

Two bars for hanging

Hooks for hanging belts, ties, jewelry - one on each side of the closet

We decided to put the shelving in the middle with the hanging rods on either side

His side

Her side

I love that we were able to customize the shelving to fit each of our needs. My husband wanted to be able to fold his shirts, shorts and pants and didn't need as much hanging room or shoe space so we were able to build his shelves accordingingly. I wanted all of my shelves to be used for shoes so we built my shelves accordingly. Perfect!

Here are a couple of shots of the closet all filled up. We bought some baskets at the Container Store to store my hubby's socks on one of the shelves. On the floor I used the same baskets to store swim wear, slippers and warm weather accessories.

I am now able to store all of my handbags on the top of the closet instead of in a laundry basket like before which I love. The last thing I need to do to finish off this closet is to get some dividers to put in between the bags to help them stand up better.