Do you have a hall closet that is full of stuff? No hall closet? What about a storage closet? These often become the catch all closets and become stuffed full of everything from clothes, shoes, batteries, games, tools and more. It can be quite overwhelming to to think about clearing it out and organizing. It doesn’t have to be stressful. Follow these simple steps and you will have an organized closet in no time.

First, determine what you will store in the closet. Will it be for hats, shoes, and seasonal clothing accessories? Will you use it for storing your vacuum, broom and mop? What about first aid kits and emergency supplies, games, and kids craft supplies? There are many uses and functions for storage closets. Once you determine what you will use it for start the sorting and purging process.

Here are few simple steps.

1. Take everything out of the closet.
2. Sort into categories, grouping like items together.
3. Make 3 categories for sorting: keep, donate, relocate
4. Take items to donate to garage or car.
5. Relocate items that don’t belong to other areas of the home.  For example, if you are dedicating this closet to coats, hats, shoes and winter accessories, then find a home for the other items that were in there.
6. Utilize the shelf above the clothing bar for storing hats, mittens, scarves and emergency items like flashlights, batteries, and first aid kits. Store these items in baskets with labels for easy access.
7. Consider over the door storage for small closets. I like these.

I used this for a kitchen pantry to hold spices and seasoning packets. It would work great in a hall closet for storing sunglasses, gloves, hats, sunscreen, batteries, flashlights, etc.

If you have a second storage closet, you could dedicate that to storing games, craft items, cleaning supplies, and so forth. Add additional shelving for storing items and remove the bar for hanging clothing. You could even add a small bookshelf inside for storing things on.

If you don’t have a linen closet, set up a mudroom in the entryway. You can do this by placing a coat rack and bench or cubicle shelf by the door. You can put baskets under the bench for storing shoes, hats, gloves and mittens. If you go the cubby route, get baskets for each cubby and store all winter and summer gear in the baskets. If your kids are involved in sports, keep sports equipment in one basket. If you don’t have space in your entryway, you can set this up in the garage. This makes it easier for transporting things to and from the car. I love these from overstock.com. You can also find similar cubby shelves at Kmart, Target and Ikea.