Closet organization: Shelves and drawers

Closet organization doesn’t have to begin and end at how and where you hang your clothes. For some people having space for folded clothes is more is more usable, a.k.a more useful. However, not everyone has the to shove a dresser into their closet, a dresser definitely isn’t the best solution for what some people are looking for. So, for all the people who can’t and probably wouldn’t want to anyways, let me suggest a shelf and draw system.

A shelf and draw system is exactly what it sounds like, a series of shelves and drawers that would
give your closet all the pros of having a dresser without the cons all the cons of stuffing a big piece
of furniture into your closet. There are tons of options for closet customization available to buy and
DIY yourself. That’s before you consider having shelves custom built for you.

There are several ways you can go about setting up a shelf and drawer system in your closet. You
could use a basket system which would use layers of shelves using baskets as an alternative for
drawers. This approach has the possibility of being exponentially more decorative as well as being
able to pick and choose the size and relative shape of said baskets. Baskets can be used to sort
any number of things clothes, shoes, accessories, etc.

A cubby system would be a sort of hybrid between shelves and cubbies. Depending on the size
cubbies would be more useful for organizing shoes and one-off items, such as a sweater or other
clothing item to delicate to hang. Larger cubbies can either be arranged decoratively to stare
jewelry or store a pile of folded or rolled clothes. Just about anything stored in a cubby would be
on display, which is great when you’re deciding what to wear.

Adding a dresser or custom drawer system would not be out of the question for an addition to a
closet. The top of a dresser can be used as a table or surface space where jewelry or accessories
such as hats could be stored. The space below hanging clothes or shelves could also be used for
shoe storage by adding a simple shoe rack. However, these kinds of additions would have to be
chosen carefully with regards to the aesthetic of the rest of the closet.

Closet Storage: Stagger Rod System

Ok, so closets usually come in with a standard rod or rod shelf combo that spans across the length of

your closet. This system is fine, you can organize a system based off just this hardware. Long clothes
shorter clothes in middle or vice versa. However, an improved version of this basic rod system may
be a staggered rod system.

A staggered rod system is basically using rods at different levels. The idea is that having staggered
rod system makes it possible to optimize your closet space by stacking levels, fitting more clothes into
the same space, as well as leaving space above and below for storage of things like shoes, accessories,
folded clothes, etc. You can place the rods wherever you please based upon your own needs, closet size
and shape, as well as organizational preferences.  

Double Hang Rods, would be stacked rods above and another rod below.  The top rod should be placed
above your eyeline but comfortably within reach. FamilyHandyman.com suggests you put it at
approximately 84 inches high. The lower rod should be about half of that. If you followed the suggestion
of placing the top rod at 84 inches that would place the lower rod around 42 inches.  This would give the
clothes on top and bottom equal hanging distance for bottoms, tops, jackets, etc.

Long Hang Rods, for hanging pants at full length, dresses, long skirts, long jackets, and coats, etc. items
long enough to reach below the knees or calf length while wearing it. Still, above eyeline, the length
suggested is around 70 inches off the ground.

Medium length rods or Pants rod, this height is for stuff that doesn’t need to be at the length of long hang
rods but are kind of long for the height given to the double hang rods. Items around knee-length or
full-length clothes that you prefer to folded over. The suggested height for that rod was around 60 inches.
If you wear enough pants and own enough for them to need their own rods the suggested length is around
54 inches.

Closet Storage

Perfect closet storage and organization, it’s something we all need and rarely achieved. We all try to optimize our
closet space for maximum storage, or at least try to keep it from becoming a complete mess of clothes and other
assorted items that aren’t actually supposed to be there. So, what could the elusive solution to this common
problem? One good answer could be customization.

When it comes to custom closet organization units and products you will have a good number of options. Too
many, you’ll have way too many options. So, how do we narrow down those options to something more
manageable? You need to start with my personal favorite step, planning.

The most important part of this process is planning. How big is your closet space and how much do you really
plan to keep in the closet itself? Do you have a dresser? Do you use a dresser? What clothes do you prefer to
have folded instead of hanging? You’re going to want to consider things like whether or not you share the
closet space and how it needs to be divided. How much vertical and horizontal space you have to work with.
Do your shoes need to go in there? Do you want drawers inside or outside of the closet? How about shelves or
cubbies? Where will your hamper go? Do you need more hanging space, should you add more rods? Is your
closet big enough to need tablespace? If so, how would you use it and would it be an effective storage method
for you? Once you’ve answered these questions for yourself the real planning can really begin. It might be
helpful for you to sketch out the space or use some kind of room planner that you can find online. Just
remember to take stock of how much stuff you need to fit into the space and what you’ll want and need
to achieve that goal. Also, consider room for an expanding wardrobe or shoe collection. The most important
thing to remember is what you need to keep and will you make use of? The best system in the world will be
useless if it doesn’t conform to your specific organizational needs. You need to make the organization of your
closet natural to you in order for it to do you any good.

Once you’ve planned you can begin to take action. This processed can completely be DIY’s, again there’s a
thousand products and choices available for you to pick up from the store and install yourself. You can also
hire someone else to do it if your plans are to strenuous or complicated for you to be able to achieve yourself.
Check out the rest of our series about different closet organization methods for ideas.