Closet Clothes Storage: Ideas for Small and Big Closets

The best closet clothes storage uses the whole height of the closet, gives every garment type its own zone, and keeps what you wear most at arm level. Add a second rod, a few shelves, matching hangers and some drawers or bins, and most closets hold noticeably more.

If your closet feels hopeless right now, that's very common. Most closets ship with one rod and one shelf, which wastes the top and the bottom. The closet clothes storage ideas below fix that, starting with the cheapest changes.

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How to store clothes in a closet: start with a purge and zones

Take everything out. Sort into keep, donate and repair, and be honest about what you haven't worn in a season or two. Fewer clothes means less storage to buy.

Then group what's left by type: hanging items (shirts, dresses, coats), folded items (knits, jeans, tees) and small items (belts, scarves, socks). Each group gets a zone. Put daily pieces between roughly knee and shoulder height, where you reach without bending or stretching, and push off-season items to the top shelf or the floor level.

Use the vertical space

A standard closet rod sits high, and the space below a row of shirts is mostly empty. Hang a second rod beneath the first for shirts, skirts and folded trousers. A double-hang setup gives you two short rods in the footprint of one long one.

Above the rod, add a shelf or two for bins and boxes. Keep heavy items low and light ones high. As an architect, I'd always pick adjustable shelf brackets over fixed ones, because your wardrobe changes and the closet should be able to change with it.

Choose better hangers

Matching slim hangers save more room than you'd expect. Bulky plastic and wooden hangers eat up rod length, while thin, non-slip ones let you fit more and keep clothes from sliding off. Use padded or wider hangers only for heavy coats and knit-prone pieces, and fold sweaters instead of hanging them so the shoulders don't stretch.

Uniform hangers also make the closet easier to read. Your eye stops snagging on random shapes and colors, and finding things gets faster.

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Add drawers, bins and shelves

Closet clothes storage drawers are the best answer for folded items. Stackable drawer units or slide-in drawers keep tees, underwear and workout clothes visible from above, so you don't dig through piles. If floor space is short, cube shelves with fabric bins do the same job for less money.

Use drawer dividers or small bins inside drawers for socks, belts and scarves. File-fold tees upright so you can see every one. Label bins on the front if more than one person shares the closet.

How to organize a small closet with lots of clothes

For small closet clothes storage, the order of operations matters. First, swap the rod for a double-hang setup wherever clothes are short enough. Second, use the back of the door for shoes, scarves or accessories with an over-the-door organizer. Third, move bulky off-season items into under-bed boxes or vacuum bags, and keep only the current season in the closet.

Slim hangers, a shoe rack that stacks, and hooks on the side walls round out the setup. If you're still short on space, look at the rest of the home too. Our guide to organizing a small house with no storage has ideas for moving overflow out of the closet entirely.

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What is the best clothes organizer for a small closet?

There isn't one winner, but a few types earn their place. A hanging shelf organizer adds cubbies below the rod without any tools. A stackable drawer unit suits closets with floor space. A double-hang rod extender suits closets with lots of short items. Over-the-door racks work in almost any closet. Measure your closet width, depth and rod height before you buy anything, and take the numbers with you.

Keep the closet healthy for fabric

A packed closet needs air. The USDA's National Agricultural Library notes in its exhibit on closets and storage spaces that ventilation is especially important in clothes closets to help keep clothing free from odors and, in humid areas, to keep mold from developing. Don't cram clothes so tightly that air can't move, and leave a little gap between the clothes and the wall.

If your closet is damp, a dehumidifier can help; our roundup of humidifiers may help you think about room humidity in general. Pet owners: dog and cat hair settles on clothes in open closets, so a door that closes fully keeps things cleaner.

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Walk-in closets and moving day

Walk-in closets have more room, so the risk is wasted space. Run rods along two or three walls, put drawers or an island in the center if you have at least a few feet of aisle, and keep a clear walkway of about 30-36 inches so you can move and open drawers comfortably.

If you're packing a closet for a move, wardrobe boxes keep hanging clothes ready to go. Our guides to packing hanging clothes and the 9-step hanging-clothes makeover walk you through it.

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Frequently asked questions