Brilliant Closet Organization Ideas

We all want to feel less stress, right? But you don’t have to hire Marie Kondo or spend a fortune on expensive organizing products in order to tackle your closet once and for all. With easy systems in place, even the most disorganized closets can learn to be orderly. And stay that way! Learn how to maximize the space you have by utilizing these brilliant closet organizer ideas.

Inexpensive DIY Closet Organizer Ideas

Once we decide to embark on a mission to organize our closets, the last thing we want to do is spend a ton of money trying to do it. Here are some ingenious and inexpensive DIY closet organizer ideas.

If you really want the look of a built-in closet organizer, here’s an idea for building your own and keeping it under $50! Pick up some MDF board and other tools from your local hardware store (you can even rent tools) and with your own plan in mind - you can build one to fit the exact dimensions of your closet.

See post: Ashley Meyer - Design Build Love|DIY Closet Kit for Under $50

IKEA can also be a good source of inexpensive DIY closet organizers, but sometimes even their systems need a bit of tweaking. Here’s an idea for making a closet organizer look totally custom and built-in with just a few pieces of molding.  

See post: The Sweetest Digs|The IKEA Pax Wardrobe Hack That Looks Totally Custom

Speaking of IKEA, you can take some of their furniture and retrofit it to your closet. This way it looks like a custom piece, but it’s really not. And only you will know! 

See post: Single Girl’s DIY|Custom Closet Makeover on a DIY Budget

Sometimes just a regular piece of furniture can serve as an organizing system for your closets. Just take an open bookcase or a set of open cube shelves and put them right inside your closet for a nifty storage idea!

See post: Jill F.|A Closet Makeover - IKEA Hack

Small Closet Organizer Ideas

What about those smaller closets? They can certainly be a challenge to organize and keep straight. Try some of these ideas for small closet organizers.

First, let’s talk about those closets with the awkward corners. Fortunately, they sell curved rods to use up that corner space in your small closet. You can buy them at most home improvement stores or online. 

See post: Cncnc|Corner Closet DIY

A huge space saver is utilizing the slim hangers. In fact, most professional organizers don’t use the fancy hangers we all see in the department stores. They use slim hangers! They are velvet so clothes won’t slip off and they save a boatload of space. HomeGoods, Amazon and other stores are great sources to find these slim hangers.

See post: Nikki Egdamin|Affordable Closet Storage Organization

Inexpensive boxes or fabric bins are very handy to keep like items together. This works especially well in small linen closets where you tend to have a lot of different things in there at once. These fabric bins can work all over your home to organize items and can be folded flat to save space when not in use.

See post: Katie Maris|Realistic Linen Closet Organization

A lot of closets, even though small, have unused wall space - why not put it to work? This is the perfect space to hang pegboard or hooks for ties, jewelry, belts, and scarves. And shoes too! All you need are a few inexpensive curtain rods and curtain tie backs and some spray paint (to make them look uniform). Hang them up and use them to store shoes and ties and belts!

See post: Chas’ Crazy Creations|Closet Organization and Hacks

See post: Lindsey|Small Closet Organization Ideas with Curtain rods

Another idea is just to rearrange the way our closet is set up. Try moving your hanging bar and shelves to the side walls instead of the front walls. This frees up valuable space in the middle and gives you the option to add a mirror or some hooks for even more organization.

Some pretty wallpaper to adorn the walls doesn’t hurt either!

See post: Amy|Make the Most out of a Small Closet

If you find yourself out of wall space - you can try this little organization hack. Take a regular hanger and clip on some shower curtain hooks. Use these shower curtain hooks to hold ties, belts, scarves - even tank tops!

See post: Chas’ Crazy Creations|Closet Organization and Hacks

Another great idea for organizing your small closet is to keep clothes color coordinated. It makes it easier to put outfits together, to find what you need, and to put clothing and accessories back in their place. Separate slacks by color as well, lightest to darkest or darkest to lightest.

See post: M.J.|Closet Organization

Shoe Closet Organizer Ideas

Shoes can end up taking over your whole house if you let them. But not if you put a great system into place for keeping them all organized! Check out these fantastic shoe closet organizer ideas!

First up - boots! Here’s a trick for keeping boots standing tall and looking pretty. Cut up a few pool noodles and cover them in some beautiful fabric, secure the fabric at each end. Insert the fabric covered pool noodles into your boots and the noodles will help your boots stand up straight and keep the shape.

See post: Shawna Bailey|The Prettiest Way to Keep your Boots Standing Tall

Bins and baskets are a great way to store shoes. Let's be honest, for most of us, as soon as get home we want to pop off those shoes. If you make it easy to throw them in a nearby bin or basket - you will be that much more likely to do it! And you will keep your closet and entryway areas clean.

See post: Darla DeMorrow|Organizing Shoes

Keep a separate bin to corral just those flip-flops that we seem to accumulate. Pull this out during spring or summer and store it away during cold winter months.

See post: Tiffany from Dream Design DIY|How to Make a Flip Flop Bin for Storage and Organization

High heels can be hung from curtain rods that you can attach to the unused wall space in your closet. It keeps them easily accessible and off the floor.

See post: DIY Passion|Framed Fabric Shoe Organizer

Again, don’t forget about that unused space behind the closet door or even under the bed to store out of season shoes! You can attach wheels onto an old drawer and use it as a pull out organizer under the bed.

See post: Redoux Interiors|DIY Shoe Storage From Old Drawer

Closet Drawer Organizer Ideas

If you have drawers in your closet, you may be wondering how to tackle them as well. In order to organize your drawers, it helps to have some dividers or organizers to keep items neat and in their place. If you don’t want to spend money on new organizers, fortunately, you can easily make your own from cardboard boxes.

See post: EngineerMommy|DIY Drawer Organizers

These drawer dividers come in handy to store socks, jewelry and even rolled up ties and scarves. Sunglasses are also kept neat and at the ready in these drawer organizers.

You can also make shelf dividers easily with cardboard covered in fabric. It’s a great way to keep your sweaters organized and keep them from toppling over into a big messy pile. Or, you can use them to divide up different purses and bags.

See psot: Lela Burris|DIY Fabric Drawer Dividers

Drawers are a great place to store jewelry. Make your own jewelry drawer organizer for your closet. This one will rival that of a fancy jewelry store. All you need is an old frame, some velvet fabric, and some cardboard. You can make compartments to accommodate your necklaces, watches, bracelets, and earrings. Doesn’t this look amazing? 

See post: Sabrina|DIY: Jewelry Organizer Drawer Insert

Walk-in Closet Organizer

Do you have a walk-in closet that needs organizing? Here are some great ideas to utilize that space.

Try storing a few empty laundry baskets on the floor underneath your clothing or somewhere in the closet with easy access. These can serve as laundry baskets - sorted by color or fabric. (For examples - darks and whites.) When the laundry bin is full, simply carry the basket down to the laundry room. After you have finished washing it, bring it back up and put away the clothes. The empty laundry basket is there for you to use again and again!

See post: Darla DeMorrow|Organizing the Master Closet - 6 Simple Organizing Tips

An organized walk-in closet starts with a good plan. Draw out and design how you want your clothes to be organized and be sure to utilize all the walls - the tops and bottoms too. You should take stock of what you own - pants, shirts, jeans, dresses, shoes etc. A place for everything and everything in its place. Don’t forget to save some long hanging space for skirts and dresses if need be. Take a trip to your local hardware store and pick up some inexpensive but sturdy shelves and brackets. Use these to start bringing your closet design to life. 

See post: Mother Daughter Projects|Walk in Closet Makeover

Large baskets and bins keep items organized on the very top shelves, while the lower shelves can be easily organized and accessed through a set of pull-out fabric bins. A lower hanging bar is also great for hanging pants and jeans. And don’t forget about shoes! Be sure to check out some amazing shoe organizer ideas discussed in this article as well as on Hometalk by your fellow Hometalker friends.

See post: Mother Daughter Projects|Walk in Closet Makeover

If it still feels really tight in there, you can fake more room with a strategically placed mirror. The mirror will help bounce the light around and give you the illusion of more space. Plus, it never hurts to have another mirror in the house.

With these brilliant closet organizer ideas, you’ll be on your way to a brand new, spacious closet in no time! Whether you have a walk-in closet, a small closet, or no closet - whether you need a place to store shoes or create more drawer space - you will find ideas here and on Hometalk to inspire your next closet organizing project.

Don’t forget that a big part of organizing any space, is purging and/or donating clothing and items that you no longer want or use. There are a lot of local and national shelters and nonprofit organizations that will take gently used clothing and accessories. Even your local pet shelters and veterinary hospitals will take donated items to help make comfortable beds for animals. Organizing your closet can be fun and you can enjoy giving back to the community as well.

See post: Chas’ Crazy Creations|Closet Organization and Hacks

By the way, are you stuck on what to donate? Here’s a great way to figure out what you aren’t using. Turn all your hangers in your closet backward. As you wear an item, put the hanger in the right way. By the end of the year, any of the hangers that are still turned backward are the ones you can probably donate away since you haven’t worn them. 

See post: Darla DeMorrow|Organizing the Master Closet - 6 Simple Organizing Tips

Hometalk is a valuable resource for organizational ideas and more! Simply go to the Hometalk website and look under the ‘Organize’ menu button.

Are you embarking on a closet makeover anytime soon? Be sure to snap some before and after photos and post your makeover on Hometalk. We all want to see your project and gush about what a beautiful job you did. And we could always use some more closet organizing ideas!

Written for the Hometalk community by: Karen | Decor Hint