It looks like a miracle, however we’ve gone from completely zero closet house in our bed room (after we moved in we simply had dressers) to having simply as a lot house as our final home’s massive walk-in closet! We’ve beforehand lined how we put in Ikea Pax wardrobes and how we made them look built-in, so right this moment we’re throwing open each door & drawer to indicate you the way we’ve organized them. Should you’re in search of tricks to maximize your storage & particular merchandise that may make it really feel extra personalized, that is the publish for you.
It needs to be mentioned upfront that neither of us have what we’d name a considerable amount of clothes (though I’ve all the time had a factor for footwear and jewellery, so there’s nonetheless loads of that occurring). You may learn all of my ideas for curating a minimal closet right here – however I’ve truly been in a position to develop mine a bit these days, because of the entire storage we’ve added to our bed room over the past 3 years.
Since our home is in a mostly-finished section and we’re spending so much much less on residence renos than we’ve got for the final 15 years, I’ve been having enjoyable discovering secondhand clothes/baggage/footwear/jewellery with a few of the money I’m not spending on furnishings and House Depot runs – ha! So that you’ll see a bit of little bit of that too (there’s a video tour in right here for you as effectively).
Why We Love Ikea Pax Wardrobes
The Ikea Pax closet system is widespread for a motive. It’s extremely customizable, provides tons of inside fittings and organizers, and can be “hacked” with paint, {hardware}, and extra to present it a personalised look. That is the third home we’ve used it in (right here was the primary, over 15 years in the past!) so it was a no brainer for us after we wished so as to add a wall of built-in closets to this room.
We had been in a position to match three 39″ wardrobe packing containers (double doorways) and one 19″ field (single door) alongside this wall (that’s all the best way to the fitting with no brass knob within the photograph above). The three bigger wardrobes – seen open beneath – act as our day-to-day closets. The smaller closet on the tip accommodates our vacation decor and is simply accessed very sometimes (John’s nightstand simply strikes out of the best way for the couple of occasions a yr we have to get in there).
We used a variety of Ikea’s inside fittings but in addition added another methods together with issues we already needed to make every part work as onerous as potential for us. Don’t fear, we’re rounding up the whole lot on the finish of this publish for you.
Closet Group Video Tour
You may see me open each door and drawer within the video beneath, so whether or not you need to see how issues are organized or simply need to poke round another person’s closets (sounds enjoyable to me), right here you go:
Be aware: You too can watch this video right here on YouTube.
The Left Closet: Sherry’s Footwear, On a regular basis Equipment, & Lengthy Hanging Storage
Now we’ll take you thru every part one after the other. The left wardrobe is the one we added earlier this yr and it has actually been a recreation changer, particularly as a result of it offers me room to retailer longer gadgets like full-length clothes and boots much more simply.
Slightly than put in drawers like we did within the different two vast wardrobes, we added this Ikea divider to separate the underside into two 19″ sections. You may customise it with drawers or slide-out trays, however their slide {hardware} takes up extra vertical house than these fundamental cabinets.
With this configuration, I used to be in a position to match 25 pairs of footwear and boots in right here and, by lining every pair up toe-to-heel, I can see all of them from the entrance (the matching shoe is behind the entrance one). I nonetheless hold another pairs of often-worn footwear in our kitchen porch cupboard, however it is a great place for the whole lot else.
The highest of the divider created a pleasant little touchdown spot for some on a regular basis equipment that I have a tendency to succeed in for, like belts, my fav sun shades, purses/clutches, on a regular basis jewellery I put on most frequently, and that form of factor.
A number of the storage items up listed here are issues I’ve had for some time, like this stacking jewellery organizer, however a newer addition is this acrylic divider that I exploit for protecting my small clutches organized. It makes it really easy to slip one thing out with out the whole lot toppling over. Extremely advocate.
For my bigger purses and scarves, we put in this pull-out hanger above the smaller gadgets. You may see within the first photograph of this part that I even have some baggage hung over hangers too (be sure you watch the video for more information about why and the place we put the whole lot). It has been an excellent system for protecting all of my baggage in a single spot with out taking over a variety of house. Additionally… why sure I did get a secondhand Fendi bag just like the Jersey woman that I’m. I’m a giant fan of The Actual Actual, Poshmark, and What Goes Round Comes Round (in addition to any and all in-person thrift shops). P.S. I like animal print, okay?
Oh and every of our three massive wardrobes have a prime shelf that’s more durable to entry – John can attain it, however I would like a stool – so we principally hold miscellaneous stuff up there. For example, on this part, I’ve some unused artwork frames and canvases.
You too can see that there’s a mirror we held on the left door (we blurred stuff that’s private like images, drawings our children made, and many others), however that’s actually useful for selecting sun shades or throwing on a necklace or one thing. I even have one other certainly one of that very same mirror on the left door of my different closet for make-up/earrings – only a small addition like that may make issues really feel tremendous purposeful & environment friendly.
The Center Closet: My Shorter Hanging Garments, Folded Garments & A Pullout Storage Tray
The center part can be my stuff (John simply wants a couple of drawers and a dangling bar and is comfortable as a clam – we’ll get to his closet in a minute). Properly, this wardrobe can be the place we retailer sleeping baggage and different journey stuff on that prime shelf – however in any other case it’s all my garments in right here.
This wardrobe is about up like a fairly conventional closet. I’ve bought my hanging bar up prime and 6 drawers beneath. For our hanging bars, we’re big followers of these slim velvet hangers as a result of they’re so compact, they’re non-slip, and so they are available in numerous colours (ours are rose gold). Sorry wooden hangers, we’ve moved on 😉
I additionally ordered some velvet hanging clips so I might use the identical hangers for my skirts (shorter skirts are on this wardrobe, and longer maxi ones are within the different closet with my lengthy pants and lengthy skirts).
Below the hanging bar are the drawers with the remainder of my garments. Properly, aside from the highest one which is a shallow pullout drawer outfitted with felt organizers.
I’ve bought random getting-ready stuff in right here like make-up, deodorant, hair stuff, sunscreen, lesser-worn sun shades and jewellery, and many others.
I particularly love this part for storing small jewellery like rings, earrings, bracelets, and even stuff like spare buttons. And sure, these are tinkles razors that I exploit on my mustache. Me-ow.
Beneath that shallow drawer are the remainder of my garments. You may see me pull all of them out and describe how they’re organized a bit extra on the video tour, however the prime is mainly socks and underwear and pjs and stuff like that.
The drawer beneath that one is the place I’ve all of my denim (the left two stacks are denims and the fitting stack is jean shorts).
The subsequent drawer down homes varied tops, that are organized utilizing a few of these gentle Ikea bins that we’ve had for ages. I fold my bodysuits longer in that slot on the fitting aspect and it helps me not pull out a prime pondering it’s a tank nevertheless it’s a bodysuit (#AlmostEverythingIsBlackAndIGetConfused).
The drawer beneath that one is colder climate stuff, like long-sleeved tops and sweaters. Decide not my lack of fancy folding – that is my rise up after years of working at Specific in faculty.
And final, however not least, the underside drawer has bathing fits and cover-ups (the best way these Ikea methods work, you’ll be able to’t have a traditional drawer on the underside as a result of the closet door hinges need to go there – so this pullout steel basket is the best choice we’ve got discovered). Sure, I reside someplace that allows me to have a whole drawer full of these items. As a woman who used to have one bathing swimsuit and will solely actually swim exterior a couple of months of the yr once I lived additional north, this thrills me to no finish.
And simply as I discussed, you’ll be able to see that light-weight mirror caught to the left door of this wardrobe as effectively, which turns out to be useful whereas making use of sunscreen, make-up, placing in earrings, and many others.
The Proper Closet: John’s Garments, Hats, And One thing Bizarre In His Prime Drawer
The final of the three giant wardrobes is all John’s. It’s greater than sufficient house for him, for which I’m glad. Hashtag synergy.
Earlier than we tour John’s stuff, let me level out that despite the fact that it appears near the mattress, he has no bother attending to his stuff (see beneath). If it had been too cramped, we wouldn’t have upgraded to a king-size mattress earlier this yr. However we did, and we find it irresistible, and we’re by no means going again.
John additionally makes use of these slim hangers for his gown shirts on his hanging bar. He doesn’t put on them that always lately, which is why there aren’t too many (though there are inexplicably 3 variations on the identical blue test sample). His lack of ten million collared shirts gives us some bonus house to retailer the household’s winter coats in right here throughout the colder months. And we’ve got a sneaky manner of constructing them virtually disappear in the summertime months after we don’t want them…
A lot of the yr all of us get by with no jackets or lighter ones which are stored in our laundry room by the entrance door (see beneath). Nevertheless it does sometimes get chilly sufficient right here to warrant a heavier coat, therefore protecting them in John’s closet to be at arm’s attain throughout the winter months.
The place do they go the remainder of the yr? Properly, we shrink them down utilizing these house baggage that connect to any commonplace vacuum hose. Look how these two fluffy winter coats slim waaaay down because of out little house bag technique (prime pic is earlier than, and backside is after)
Then our little flattened coats simply slip into one of many suitcases that we retailer wayyyy at the back of our son’s under-bed space (he has baskets he makes use of and might simply attain all alongside the entrance fringe of the mattress and our suitcases reside behind these). The house baggage not solely hold our coats compact, nevertheless it makes them simple to unpack from the suitcase at any time when we go on a visit throughout the hotter months.
So, lengthy story quick, many of the yr John’s closet appears prefer it does beneath, the place his shirts have a bit extra room to unfold out. However we wished to indicate you the “winter model” of his closet to show how versatile and hard-working these areas might be for us. And what a distinction some $17 house baggage could make.
One other factor John did since he didn’t want the entire hanging bar house was add this dice organizer shelf on one aspect. This isn’t an Ikea product, nevertheless it was an excellent dimension and it simply sits on the shelf and suits properly. We screwed it to the within wall of the wardrobe to additional safe it, and John makes use of these material bins to corral stuff like sweatshirts within the backside two and the household’s winter gloves and hats up prime. These winter equipment are hardly ever wanted, which is why it’s no downside to be blocked by his hanging hats (if he takes them down he can simply slide out that prime basket).
John’s drawers are organized utilizing a mixture of cloth Ikea bins (like these and these) and random different containers we had round. His prime drawer accommodates necessities like t-shirts, socks, underwear, bathing fits, extra hats, and – sure – a stash of sweet that he retains hidden from his spouse and children. He’s a sucker for these post-Halloween sweet reductions.
As you will have additionally seen, each John and I hold a few of our toiletries like deodorant and hair stuff in these closets. That’s as a result of, as we talked about on this publish about how we reside with just one lavatory, we don’t need anybody unnecessarily monopolizing the toilet with issues that may simply be accomplished in one other room (our daughter has a vanity-type setup in her room for instance). And John and I every have these mirrors on our closet doorways so we do this form of stuff in right here as an alternative.
Again to the drawers. His second drawer has pants and shirts (kinda like my denim drawer) and his third drawer is all train garments. He even has room in there for all of his race medals and a yoga mat.
His final commonplace drawer accommodates his “messy” garments for portray and yard work and stuff. Plus, he randomly retains some extra formal stuff in right here too, like a few ties, undershirts, and gown footwear. Since he doesn’t put on that stuff fairly often, he doesn’t want a ton and it doesn’t take up a lot house. His day-to-day footwear are saved in the out of doors shoe cupboard on our kitchen porch with the remainder of the household’s footwear.
We one way or the other forgot to take a photograph of his backside drawer, however you’ll be able to see it within the video (it holds John’s laptop computer bag and a few spare sheets together with Burger’s beloved blanket that we’ll hold ceaselessly). And on the very prime shelf John retains our journey duffel bag and, for the time being, some puzzles we’re bringing to his mother & dad the subsequent time we go to.
We additionally each have spare house underneath our hanging bars that’s form of a “flex house” that turns out to be useful if we’re having visitors over and must rapidly put away some mail or packages that arrive. We additionally use it this time of yr to stash our vacation presents earlier than we wrap them. And talking of the vacations…
The Bonus Closet: Seasonal Decor
Like we talked about, there’s a 19″ Pax wardrobe tucked into the fitting nook of this wall, and it’s blocked by John’s nightstand more often than not, however that doesn’t imply it’s wasted house. We’re in a position to match ALL of our Christmas decorations in there – ornaments and lights up prime, random decor within the center, and our ENTIRE 6’5″ Christmas tree on the underside (because of it breaking down into smaller segments).
We mainly solely transfer John’s nightstand and open this cupboard two occasions a yr – as soon as in November to get stuff out after which once more in January to place stuff away. I’m so glad it’s not only a lifeless nook that serves no goal and we truly get to fill it with seasonal stuff. Good storage = our love language for actual.
Our Closet Organizing Necessities
I discussed a variety of issues on this publish that we use to maintain our closets organized, so I wished to wrap issues up by placing them multi function place for you:
So whether or not you may have a customized closet or only a fundamental little nook, hopefully a few of these methods may also help. Even enthusiastic about how you may have it organized and seeing if you may make extra sense of issues. For instance, I might retailer my quick skirts with my longer ones and clothes nevertheless it simply made much more sense to retailer them within the different wardrobe with my shorter hanging stuff as a result of my mind works that manner and I’d be in search of them on my “shorter hanging bar” versus on an “all-skirts bar” if I had it organized that manner.
Equally including an inexpensive little mirror additionally helped with operate a lot. Anytime you end up strolling to a second location to do one thing is a clue you would possibly discover it MUCH EASIER when you can create a spot to try this factor throughout the major location.
And lastly, generally you simply want sweet in your prime drawer. No judgment.
Different Closet & Group Posts
Should you’d prefer to see extra peeks inside our closets, or get extra group ideas, you would possibly get pleasure from a few of these posts:
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