Our coat closet is supposed to be for coats and hats, but it turns into a big mess because we store all kinds of things in there. I regularly clean and organize it, but it always ends up messy again. The closet organizer that came with our condo isn't good enough because we keep more than just coats and winter gear in there.
This coat closet needs better organization and a makeover!
I took everything out of the closet and sorted it into piles of things to Keep, Donate, and Can I Store This Elsewhere? I realized that our historical cloaks and capes were stored in the coat closet, but they should actually be in our costume closet. By getting rid of a few coats we no longer use and moving the historical items to a different closet, we created more space for the coats we do wear.
The hat, glove, and scarf organizer I made for the closet door still works well for us, so it stays. (You can read the tutorial how to make a hanging closet organizer here) I organized each pocket with similar items: gloves, Lacey’s sweaters, knit hats, etc. This helped me see that the main problem was storing our exercise weights, yoga equipment, throw blankets, shoes, and some decorations in the closet.
Hi everyone Lacey here! Lisa couldn't do this project without my help!
I couldn't find a ready-made organizer that would fit our small closet. Additionally, it needed to allow us to store the exercise equipment. I looked at the options at The Container Store and used their on line custom closet organizer tool here to give me options that I could DIY. (Disclosure: I am including affiliate links for your convenience.)
I ended up buying the custom coat closet organization system from the Container Store because is was better than anything I could have made or bought elsewhere. (This Elfa coat closet organizer is similar to mine) I decided to go for it because we have an Elfa custom closet organizing system in our walk in closet. The quality is light years above the builder quality closet organizer it replaced (and the Elfa hasn’t fallen off the wall like its predecessor.) It was a little pricey, but worth it.
The walls in the closet were in bad shape. I patched the holes from the old closest system and primed the walls with my favorite, covers everything in one coat primer Kilz. Two coats of Dutch Boy Twisted Knot paint (that I had leftover from painting our kitchen) later I had a beautiful blank canvas ready for the new closet organizing system.
Initially, I planned to used
this wicker laundry hamper
to store throw blankets on one side of the closet but found it didn't fit
because I used the measurements I took before I installed the Elfa organizer.
I put the throw blanket storage in another part of the living room.
Then, I focused on finding a storage solution for our hand, ankle, small plate weights and my yoga stuff. Unfortunately, the hand weight racks I found were either too big or could only accommodate one style of weights. I bought a cute KALLAX shelving unit to store our workout weights. (You can buy my KALLAX storage shelf here) I bought black metal mesh storage baskets similar to these to store the ankle and plate weights on top the shelf with room for a third basket to store my yoga blocks and wheel. Which I love! I just grab that basket and the yoga mat bag I made (you can read my DIY yoga mat bag tutorial here) in one fell swoop when I want to work out.
Everything is in its place and easy to find
To make sure the shelves stay neat, I used more black mesh baskets to store summer hats and necessities. I am loving my coat closet organization makeover
My closet is no longer messy. It's easy to find what we need, and it’s going to stay that way because it is easy to put things back exactly where we found them in the closet.
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