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Hang 'em High?

Beth Ann

Veteran

To hang, or to fold, that is the question.

Yes, yes, I know all about the dangers of knits suspended in mid-air. But I've just moved into a house with a small walk-in closet with a bizarre, cheap storage system, with almost everything a hanging rod, unusable wire shelves (the hanging items drape over them) and nary a real shelf or drawer in sight. It will have to do for now, since there are other priorities. I've placed in an old dresser of DS's (I'll paint it a cheery color later), and will get a shoe rack for the left side of the floor. I I have a good shoe collection! All my coats and off season items have to stay in, since there are no other (unclaimed) closets in the house!

Oh, an added oddity: The access to the closet is in the bathroom, not the bedroom. I have two dressers in my 15x17 bedroom (and a chocolate velour loveseat ---- woohoo!). Right now, my undies, and folded tops are in the bedroom, but the rest is in the bathroom. It takes a room change to get fully clothed. I have room for many of these foldables in the little dresser in the photo.

Hopefully, we'll be able to reconfigure the space in the fall. Even better, we may redo the whole master bath area, enlarging the closet to make a true walk in. That will be a year or two down the road.

For now, I could use your input. What do you hang, and how?

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Dressing

15 replies

Latest reply was from Beth Ann

Diana

Veteran

I have one real closet, a small wardrobe, and various shelves. Plus a coat closet that I share with my husband (he has his own closet for clothes).

Hmm, OK, I hang:
-coats and jackets
-woven tops
-dresses
-skirts (on clippy hangers)
-trousers except for jeans (folded over the bar of regular hangers)
-lightweight cardigans
I fold:
-heavy knits (like handknit sweaters)
-lightweight knits (tees etc.)
-sleepwear
-underwear + bras (in baskets)
-jeans

Of the folded things, the heavy knits are the only ones that absolutely positively should not be hung up. I have A LOT of handknit sweaters and they tend to be bulky though so they take up a lot of room. I fold the jeans just because they tend to be heavy and break/bend plastic hangers, but they'd hang fine on wooden hangers.

I actually don't own a dresser. I don't like them because they tend to be too deep and I can't find things at the bottoms or backs of drawers. I have a tall shelf with doors (looks like a very narrow wardrobe) as well as various other shelves in the closet. You might consider sticking a small bookcase in your closet - that works well for me, they are cheap, and come in a variety of sizes.

I have hooks (and hook racks) in various places in the closet for things like belts and scarves. Also vertical handbag straps like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Jokari-H.....038;qid=14...

Shoes live either on the shoe rack in my front hall (I am of the "out of sight, out of mind" mentality so I need to be able to see my shoes), another rack in the coat closet (for out of season shoes) and a very few (dress shoes basically) in boxes.

ETA: Aside from switching shoes from the closet rack to the hall rack, I don't do a seasonal switch at all. All my clothes live in the same place all year.

MsMaven

Veteran

I have a closet off the master bath. It's a pretty big closet, a walk in, but poorly lighted and no electrical outlets, and it is an odd shape. Yes, you will get a good start on your daily step count as you go back and forth. I'm not always sure until I put something on that it is what I want to wear. I do have a small chest in there for undies, but the arrangement isn't ideal. I bring the stuff to the bedroom to dress.

I hang most things, including knits, unless they are heavy. I used padded hangars and hang them inside out. For delicate or heavier items I fold once and put them over a hangar.

I've tried shelves and drawers, but if I don't see it I don't wear it. I've tried different types of hooks and hangars, but so far nothing works well enough.

Out of season stuff and fancy stuff is stored in boxes, drawers and the guest room closet. Guess what, if I don't see it I tend not to remember it. Perhaps this explains why I have five black jackets.

This won't be too helpful for you, but maybe you can take some encouragement from it. Luckily I have lots of room to hang, but I find the wardrobe expands (unnecessarily) with the size of the closet.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Beth Ann, your new digs! Yay!!

It does sound complicated, but I get it. We have our kitchen items in three (connected) rooms. Storage containers and baking pans in one room; pots/ pans/ glasswear etc. in the kitchen proper (along with part of the pantry) and the second part of the pantry along with dishes in the adjoining dining space. We're pretty used to it.

My list is pretty much like Diana's. I switch out of season stuff to a big hall closet which also contains a dresser (for folded items) and a hanging rod for jackets, coats, etc. I have a box under our bed for out of season footwear.

I have rigged up a storage system with some containers from Ikea that go into a cupboard (I don't have a dresser). Baskets take the place of drawers in there. It works fine.

Good luck settling in!

Jeweled

Veteran

Beth, so glad to hear you're settling into your new home! Wishing you much joy there.

If this helps any, here's how my tiny closet is organized (photo below).

I installed a wire closet organizer (from Walmart) in the closet when we moved in here several years ago.

It consists of an upper hanging rack and a lower hanging rack. Each rack has a shelf above the hanging area.

The left-hand side of the upper hanging rack has all my blazers and outerwear jackets.

The right-hand side of the upper hanging rack has all my long-sleeve tops, sweaters, etc.on hangers.

The left-hand side of the lower hanging rack has all my fleece jackets.

The right-hand side of the lower hanging rack has all my short-sleeve tops, tank tops, etc. on hangers.

Over to the far left in the closet (not visible from the doorway) there's a small pocket of space about 10" wide that has a single hanging rack that's high enough to hang long dresses, my velvet cloak, pirate coats, an antique trouser hanger that holds my skirts, etc.

I also have my scarves on a scarf hanger on that long-dress rack.

Also a hanger that holds all my belts.

On the wire shelf above the top hanging rack, I store my suitcase, a basket full of various accessories, and a backpack.

On the left-hand side of wire shelf above the lower hanging rack, I have my jeans folded and stacked up.

On the right-hand side of the wire shelf above the lower hanging rack, I have my trousers and dressier pants folded and stacked.

On the floor of my closet are my shoes. The ones I'm currently wearing the most are right in the front where I can grab them easily. Shoes that are out of season or not worn as much are on the floor more toward the back of the closet.

My closet is pretty small, but I've fit quite a lot of clothes into it, and it's all organized and easy to see at a glance what's in there.

I also have a dresser - for socks, tights, leggings, underwear and loungewear.

I don't have separate wardrobes for different seasons. I just wear more layers when the weather gets colder (fleece tights under jeans, fleece jackets over tops, etc.).

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Kristin L

Veteran

I'm not very good at figuring out what to hang where, but I found this pin a while back about how to hang knits. I hope it helps!

http://www.goodhousekeeping.co.....r-clothes/

Beth Ann

Veteran

You guys are full of YLF wisdom! Thanks so much for sharing your helpful hints and what works for you! Thanks also for sharing what doesn't work so well --- every home and every wardrobe has some limitations. It's just a matter of finding creative solutions when you're trying to find a place for dishes, scooters, coats, bikes........ you get the idea!

Kari

Veteran

My fiancee lives in knit shirts except at work, but until very recently he never had a dresser. He used wide, hanging shelf racks in his closet (like one of those hanging shoe racks that Velcros over the rod, only wider.)

Firecracker (Sharan)

Veteran

Congratulations on the move, Beth Ann! I hang as many sweaters as I can, using this method.
I've had a closet accessible from the bathroom before, and it was in an apartment in Indianapolis! Maybe it's a local convention--ha ha!

MsMaven

Veteran

I've folded knit tops per the method Firecracker links. This is especially useful when you are staying in a hotel with wooden hangars and not enough drawers for knits.

Beth Ann

Veteran

I keep switching between working on organizing the bedroom and closet, and working on those huge dishpacks in the kitchen! When I'm not detailing the stove grates that were coated in black carbon -- as was the oven. Ugh!

Your clever ideas has made one of these tasks easier! I will try the Kondo mode for handing sweaters. That's awesome!

Now... back to the storve!

Vicki

(website)

Veteran

Beth Ann, I'm so happy to hear of your new digs. I'm a hanger and a folder a la the new book by Marie Kondo. I fold the vertical way so you can see my clothes like the spine of a book.

I hang my blouses and shirts and fold my casual wear. Hope this helps. ^_^

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tulle

Veteran

Like Diana and Suz, I hang dresses, jackets, coats, pants (including jeans,) woven tops, and skirts in my closet. I also hang some cardigans. I fold underwear, socks, pajamas, and knitted tops in drawers by the strangely satisfying Kondo method. Three wicker baskets, a recent addition to the high shelf in my closet, have made me very happy by safely containing: 1) large handbags, 2) smaller handbags, and 3) belts & shawls--all of which were previously falling on my head or slithering off hangers. Out-of-season coats now go into a separate closet in my room; other out-of-season clothing goes into luggage stored in a large upstairs built-in cupboard. Shoes are still covering my closet floor--hope to come up with a solution for those soon!

I find that I need to live in a place for some time before the best way to stow my things becomes clear, and even then I'll keep finding new ways of improving organization and access. You might just want to put everything away as well as you can for now, while promising yourself to reevaluate in 6 months or so. By then you'll know better how your new house works. Best of luck in the new place!

unfrumped

Veteran

I confess, I am a lifelong knit- hanger. I hang everything until I run out of hanging room. Even all of my
cashmere sweaters in winter. I do use drawers for casual T's , shirts, loungewear and similar. I prefer seeing things hanging up, and taking down/ hanging back up to folding. Especially workwear but also " smart casual".
I used to use white plastic hangers but then had too many knits which get " hanger bumps", as do even some woven items. I do use some huggable hangers for very slippery knits and boatnecks , but I don't like how it's more trouble to hang things on the fuzzy" sticky" hanger, so my new fave is a plastic hanger called ? Orca from
container Store; has the exact amount of sloping curve to prevent the problem. For the Orca hangers I also bought some fuzzy stick- ons for hanger ends which can make them sort of a hybrid. For my flocked hangers, I only use the single arm style, not the full style made for tops or pants.
Hmm, could there be a little hanger- obsession here?!

dakotacheryl

Veteran

I love the flocked hangars and use them almost exclusively for tops and sweaters.

KL and Firecracker, I have hung my sweaters the way you've linked to in your posts for years...works like a charm.

I hang almost all of my clothes except for gear, PJ's, undies etc. which are folded in a cabinet or drawers.

Beth Ann, congrats on your new home!! My bedroom closet is about the same size as yours, except I have to let my DH have the left half. My work clothes are in the guest room closet which is also small. I so envy folks with those gorgeous walk-in's, but I love our house and wooded acreage and wouldn't move unless forced to.

Beth Ann

Veteran

Worked some more on the bedroom this morning -- and kept chipping away (literally) at the carbon affixed to the stove grates (previous owner was a wonderful person, but not a cleaner, lol). I've got to dress for a wedding in a moment (in all the mess), but I wanted to thank your all for your insightful help. Wonderfully helpful!