Now, you are left with a pretty huge space above the shelf and below where your clothes hang. But, not all of your clothes hang down from hangers. So what you are left with is the shelf and most people will either put their belongings into boxes or bins and store them up on the shelf or simply stack up their clothes into piles. That can get out of hand pretty quickly. And, who wants to go into their closet to look for anything when it is such a mess?

Closet systems are made to use your whole closet better because they break your closet up into smaller sections. The way they do this is by using multiple shelves that can go up one side of your closet and then breaking up the remaining area by using two or three hanging rods. By breaking up the area, you will be utilizing more of the closet and its easier to keep your clothes neater since they are in smaller groups.

The space around the floor under the hanging clothes is often used by most people for storing their shoes. But what commonly happens is that your shoes end up being tossed around and end up all over the place. This can become a tripping hazard as well as a headache. Fortunately, shoe organizers can be added easily to this area. They come as racks so you can keep the pairs together and keep them off of the floor.

Another benefit of closet organizers is that the sections where the shelves are can be made into drawers. This is perfect for storing socks, underwear and any smaller items that are hard to stack.

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But, you will still need to make your closet ready for the install. Start by taking it all out. That’s right, everything. Doesn’t this sound like a great opportunity to sort through all of your belongings and get rid of all the stuff you don’t wear anymore. Giving all of it to charity is always a good thing. Getting back to your closet, you will have to remove any of the old storage system that you had in it. This is probably only the shelf, rod and brackets. This should be a fairly easy thing to do. If there are any holes left in the walls, take the time now to patch them up, sand when they are dry and give your whole closet a fresh coat of paint.

Remember, the walls will show through in a lot of places if you’ve noticed in any photographs you’ve seen of closet organizers. It wouldn’t look right to have messy walls behind a great looking organizer. Everything should now be ready for you to have fun with the installation.

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The first thing you will need to do is to take out all of your belongings so you can more accurately access the situation. Cleaning out your closet shouldn’t be that hard and there’s a good chance that you needed to anyway. And, besides, when was the last time you completely removed everything just so you could put it all back in an organized manner?

Once you have it all out, then you can remove the organization system that is currently in place. I use the term “organization system” lightly since most closets come with a simple rod and shelf that is standard. And, this doesn’t really hold that many clothes or even help you at all with organization.

Now that everything has been removed, you may need to fix some holes and add some paint but that’s about it. The shell of your closet should look a bit roomier now that everything is out. Now is the best time to take some measurements so that you can pick out the closet organization system that will fit best.

Your new closet organizer should come with all the components and hardware that you will need. Simply follow the instructions and you will have a real organization system that will last for years to come.

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Along each side of your closet is a space that is about two feet deep or even more in most closets. If you have a lot of hanging clothes then this should be OK for you as the shelf and rod extend all the way to the side walls and you can utilize the hanging space. But, suppose you have a lot of small items and not enough shelving space to put them on. You could always stack these item in boxes or bins and stick them off to the sides of your closet. Or, you can install a set of simple shelves to go up the sides of your closet.

These can be made out of any material that you want. You can opt to get wire shelving from a home improvement store or you could upgrade that to wooden shelves. Either way, you can’t go wrong. And, both wire and wood are easy to install and don’t require a lot of tools to do the job. You should be able to install them in less than a day. That’s painted and everything!

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This is an easy project that can be done in just a few hours and you don’t need a lot of materials or special carpentry skills. When you add an extra shelf at the top of your closet, you are doubling the shelf space. Most closets have plenty of space in them since they go all the way to the ceiling.

This space may be harder to reach but this can be remedied by using a footstool. It’s also a good idea to only store items on top that you don’t need to get to very often.

Start by measuring the depth and length of the existing shelf. Purchase material that matches this dimension. You will want to buy enough material for the new shelf, uprights on both ends and a couple of dividers. These dividers should be cut about 16 inches but, since this is a custom project, you can make it whatever works best for you and your needs. The best placement for the dividers is directly over the supporting brackets under the existing shelf.

All you have to do after you have all the pieces cut is to simply screw them all together. Its best to use a level to make sure everything is nice and square. This is a quick solution that really helps you to better organize your closet before you purchase a closet organizer.

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Fortunately, a closet organizer will help maximize this precious space. Of course, a first important step when you do decide to organize your closet is to only put in what is really necessary. You can probably get away without putting in a shoe rack if you don’t have too many shoes in the first place.

Before having a professional closet organizer come in to install a custom unit, you may find it useful to search online for photos of installed closets. This will help you get an idea of all your options. Professional closet organizers can get expensive and they may not take care of all your storage requirements.

So what is the number one advantage to putting in a closet organizer? No more lost or misplaced clothes. Clothes can easily disappear in an unorganized closet. The only effective way of finding them is to actually purge the closet. This should really be done about once or twice a year.

Closet organizers allow you to put your smaller items in specialized bins that free up the other areas of your closet. And, with more free space, you can now add more items all within the original space of the closet.

As far as the types and variety of organizers available, you have so many options that it can be mind-boggling. The best approach is to write down a list of the types of items you have in your closet as a general overview. Once you have completed this step, you can use the list to figure out what organizer components you will need. For instance, if you don’t wear or have that many ties, then a tie rack will be a low priority. Or, maybe a small tie rack will do the job just fine.

You have the choice of going with wire organizers all the way up to professionally installed exotic wood cabinets and racks. It all depends on your own budget and what you are comfortable with. Either option will provide you with satisfactory results. Some homeowners will put most of their budget into their master bedroom closets and have higher end units installed for a better look. The rest of their budget will be spent on wire systems in less used closets or smaller closets such as the ones used for storing linens.

Overall, a closet organizer will help you find items easier, allow for more items in the same volume of space, and provide a great way of keeping your closet organized and neat.

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