How to Find Tons of Hidden Space in Your Small Custom Closet

Heather Towner • Jan 17, 2023

The beauty of a custom closet is that it’s designed with various features and organizers that find unused space and get it ready for storage. You may be convinced that your closet doesn’t have any space that you aren’t already using, but the truth is that even a small custom closet can store more things than you might have believed possible.

Store Vertically Instead of Horizontally
Make Use of The Floor Space
Learn Space-Saving Folding Techniques
Don’t Forget the Door

Learn how to find a lot of hidden space even in a small custom closet.

Store Vertically Instead of Horizontally

Usually, a small closet is narrow but has the same ceiling height as the rest of the bedroom. If that’s the case for your closet, you should think about storage in terms of moving up. Cabinets with stacking drawers or hanging vertical storage systems are great examples of how you store up instead of out, increasing your overall storage space.

If you have shelves or drawers that go up above a level that’s easily reachable, try sorting these clothes by season. Store out-of-season clothing higher up than clothes that you’re currently using. Then, when the seasons and your clothing needs change, just swap which seasons are on which levels. If you only need to access the higher-up items when the seasons change, those storage spaces closest to the ceiling become much more manageable.

Make Use of The Floor Space

It’s best to store clothing and accessories off the floor, since putting items directly on the floor is a good way for them to end up scattered and jumbled. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t use the floor. A floor is a great place for shoe organizers, bins, and even storage boxes.

Don’t forget this area when you’re arranging your small custom closet. You don’t want your floor to be messy but using the space for different types of containers and organizers can give you a lot more space that you didn’t know that you even had. Just be careful not to simply drop items on the floor – your organizers and containers keep things neat and tidy as well as saving space.

Learn Space-Saving Folding Techniques

A lack of drawer space can be a big problem in a small closet. You don’t have enough room in your drawers for everything you want or need to fold, and the size of the closet prevents you from adding more drawer space. What can you do? The correct folding techniques can help you discover more room in your closet’s dresser drawers than you thought you had.

Reader’s Digest explains the Marie Kondo folding method for T-shirts, long-sleeved shirts, sweaters, hoodies, pants, shorts, and even socks and underwear. This method involves folding items so they can be stored upright, which not only creates more space, but it also makes it easier for you to see and pick out the clothes you want when you open the drawers, instead of having to search through stacks of items. This also keeps your clothes from becoming disheveled from searching through them to find what you want. Keeping the drawers neat is a plus for organization and being able to find things, and it also means that more space is available

Don’t Forget the Door

The closet door is a source of storage space that many people forget they have as an option. The closet door may be empty now, but with the addition of an over-the-door organizer, it becomes a space with plenty of pockets and compartments for storage.

Over-the-door storage compartments can be used for any number of small items. They can hold jewelry, hair accessories, and even socks. Flat shoes, like flip-flops, sandals, or tennis shoes may be able to be organized in an over-the-door storage container. Since this accessory for the closet has so many versatile uses, it’s smart to invest in one and put it to good use. Your formerly empty door becomes a valuable storage space.

Conclusion

Your small custom closet may seem to be full, but there are things you can do and additions you can make that will add more space to your closet than you ever believed you’d have. These strategies include relying on vertical storage, making use of the space available on the floor, learning how to fold items in a way that saves space inside drawers, and adding an over-the-door organizer that turns one side of the closet door into valuable real estate for storage.