Hodgepodge Storage - YouLookFab Forum

I love where I live My neighborhood is surrounded by farms, woods, and a river- and my little house is affordable cause I bought 20 years ago. I feel very blessed to have it!

That said, the way I have to arrange my moderate sized wardrobe is not fab.
The master bedroom does have a walk in closet, but it's narrow and runs lengthwise. Plus it has no door, so the animals go in it, and my water heater/filter is accessed from it (we change filter every few months). There's no linen closet, so that's where they have to be. DH has work clothes in there but I don't.

I use the closet in the room that my mom had been sleeping in. It's small, and my coats have to go in there too in winter, cause no coat closet. Less of an issue in summer, but a bit challenging in cold and transitional weather. That room also has a 6 foot bookshelf where I store shoes and bags. Right now my tall boots are on the closet shelf, but go on a little bookcase when it's cold. Winter accessories are in a little fabric bin in there. My coats now are in a bin on the floor of the closet.

The master bedroom is only 10x13 ft, so not much space beyond the bed. DH and I have tall dressers in there. Mine has makeup (cause no bathroom drawers) and jewelry in top drawer, then bras/socks/slips, sleepwear, knit tops and jeans, and gear. Out of season clothes (besides coats) are in a big cedar chest.

The hall bathroom has a bin with my robe, sleeping bras, and knickers- so I can put them on straightaway post shower. But the master bath (don't use cause cracked tub), is where I hang my in use sleeping bra and sleeping pants (sleep tops are washed after each wear).
So- 4 out of 7 rooms of my house have some of my clothes. Kinda mad right?

Anyone else have super awkward storage?

3 months ago

Jenny H

Veteran

Wow, it sounds like you have a lovely home but with super challenging storage issues.

I live in a 100-year old apartment building, so my clothes closet is not much bigger than the door in front of it (which is a standard door size). I have overflow clothes (typically out of season ones, or other items I don't need frequently) in bins in several other locations. Under the bed, in a hall closet, and in a basement storage unit.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

I can relate to this lack of storage space since we live in a loft in the city right by the water, Suntiger. I get it, and it's a challenge! You've made it work, though! And loving where you live is worth it, so good for you

We don't have a coat or linen closet either. Nor a door ANYWHERE. Except for the bathrooms - there are no inside doors. No walk-in wardrobe either. And our bedroom is a similar size to yours! But it's open, so it feel bigger.

We are improving these spaces right now. Building storage as we remodel! Storage will still be limited comparatively. I quite like that too. Prevents over accumulation because there is nowhere to put things!

Roberta

I had this problem in my former little ranch house in the 90s. A bedroom closet that was mostly behind the wall (narrow door) so hard to get to anything. A 10 X 11 bedroom with little room for anything besides a queen bed. My husband took over the closet in our son's bedroom, and I found a very narrow, tall dresser for the bedroom for our socks and underwear.

I owned much less in general back then, though. A couple of coats on a coat rack, a half dozen pairs of shoes on the floor of the closet, everything else in that narrow dresser or in the closet.

When I moved to a condo, it had ASTONISHING closets. An entire wall in the main bedroom and space for a large dresser too. So I rapidly filled them up! Then when I moved again, I had to weed a lot.

Lisa

My current home is new so I have a lot of storage, but I've lived in older homes where the storage was limited. In those cases I had to pack away out of season clothes, and I was in a four season state, so that meant four times a year I was swapping my clothes out. Now, the biggest challenge with lots of storage is that it is very easy to grow your wardrobe size to accommodate it. I have to be mindful of how much I can actually wear and how often I wear things, because I don't want to own a closet filled with clothes and only wear a small number of them regularly. Of course, I have some capsules worn more often than others, but staying mindful of your closet and wardrobe goals is important to stay happy with what you own.

Jenni NZ

Yes in my 1957 house, until we built this 2018 house, my clothes and shoes were in 3 out of the 4 bedrooms. This was after my 2 daughters had moved out so just husband, myself and son in his early 20s. At that point I felt my wardrobe was out of control and found Recovering Shopaholic then YLF!
I do sympathise with the small home and lots of different bits of storage though.

JAileen

Our house was built in the early 60s, so was lacking in closet space. We added on about 25 years ago, and added three closets. I’d still like more storage. I’m jealous of our neighbors on both sides who have basements.

Brooklyn

Yes, storage is a very modern problem isn’t it? We have a 3 bedroom house that is over 100 years old. So rooms are modest in size and there are no built ins, walk in wardrobes, ensuites or other mod cons. My clothes are spread through the 3 bedrooms. Over the past several weeks my DH and I have been building a wardrobe for me in the second bedroom. I only keep basics in our main bedroom out of consideration to my husband, who is a minimalist and likes things very neat, airy and spartan looking. The new wardrobe in the second bedroom will be my main storage space and our first built in. I’m planning to do a big edit as I put things away. I’m hoping this is the start of a new highly organised phase for me

Jaime

I have an Ikea wall closet that is pretty generous but dream of having a walk in closet. Sounds like you are making it work and it is worth it for your beautifully located home!

Suntiger

Active Member

Glad I'm not the only one with wonky storage! Doesn't help that I'm looking at all these house plan books for a writing project, and many even have seperate walk in closets for a couple. Someday

I don't think I'd really want more clothes than I have now though, even with ideal storage. Wardrobe tracking for the last year and a half has proven that my current numbers are good. Plus, more clothes means laundry can pile up!

RobinF

That does sound challenging! We have always lived in old houses with limited storage. Now, since we no longer have kids living with us, we have a 75 year old, three bedroom house and can spread out a little bit, so I have stuff in all three bedrooms!

The guest room has out of season boxes and dressy clothes for DH and me in the closet. We have two large closets in our main bedroom, although the room itself is small, so no room for dressers. So I have taken over the middle room as an office/sewing/dressing room and have a dresser there for underclothes and some sweaters. I use that room to lay out my clothes for the next day and get dressed in there. DH sleeps later than I do so I have light to get dressed by :). Works pretty well since this room is right next to our room with my closet. DH gets his own closet which is perfect so I don't stress about whether he is keeping his clothes neat!

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