Many people struggle with finding room for all of their gifts that they get for Christmas. This is especially true in small apartments or houses with small closets. Part of the problem is that Christmas comes on the heels of switching over from summer to winter wardrobes. If you haven’t completely switched over, then your closet is probably really overcrowded already. Use these tips to get your house in order and be ready for the holidays.
1) Finish clearing out the summer clothes and get them into storage. You will need containers or boxes for summer clothing. Shallow containers are great for storing things underneath beds, where they will be out of sight, yet accessible for the next season. You can use bed leg lifts to make extra space under the bed. Don’t forget to get beach towels, floats, and other summer accessories out of your closets, too. Get all of this stuff out of the way and you can make room for your winter clothes.
2) Thin out your winter clothes and try to leave room for new clothes that will be coming in. Coats should be kept in a coat closet so that there is room for your bulky winter clothes. A small shelf can usually be installed in most closets to make space for your sweaters to stack. You don’t really want to hang them, because they can get stretched out at the shoulders. They are also more likely to get snagged when hanging, because you’ll be pushing them around while you’re looking for clothes to wear. Many people ruin sweaters because their rings snag the sleeves while they’re hanging.
3) Make room by giving as much as you can to charity. This is definitely the time of year for giving, so be generous and give away usable items that you don’t wear for one reason or another. Make limits for yourself on what space each item is allowed to take up. Only allow so much room for pants, so much for long sleeved t-shirts, sweatshirts, thermals, etc. If you discover that you have way too many pants, try to get rid of some. Shoes are notorious closet space robbers. Be selective about which ones you want to keep.
4) When the closet is thinned out, come up with a design that will allow you to make the most of the space. Vertical space is often ignored. How much empty space is available up by the ceiling? That top closet shelf is usually too low for what you need to store there. Consider installing a second shelf above it for items that you don’t use much, like suitcases. You’ll be surprised how much room this makes! You can then use your regular top shelf for bins or baskets that hold smaller items, like gloves, scarves, socks, underwear, phone and camera chargers, or whatever you need to store out of sight.
5) Update the rest of your closet by investing a little in space saving hangers, like velvet hangers. Velvet hangers are flat and can save more space than you imagined. The velvet hanger surface grips clothing without damaging it. Using space saving hangers affords you the extra space that you need for hanging all of the new clothes that you will be getting for Christmas!
About the Author: Rick Miller is on the staff of Only Slimline Hangers, a leading online resource for velvet hangers which are space saving hangers, non slip hangers and slim line hangers. For more information, please visit http://www.onlyslimlinehangers.com.
