Seven Ideas and Accessories to Organize Your Closets

Heather Towner • May 10, 2022

Your custom closets may have a lot of drawers, shelves, cabinets, and other storage space, but you might not know how to organize everything. We've got the lowdown on closet accessories, organizers, and even DIY solutions to keep all of your items at your fingertips and beautifully arranged!

Corralling, containing, and keeping your closet clutter-free is in large part about choosing the right accessories for your space and your needs. Check out this list of amenities that could help you tame closet chaos.

Shoe Racks
Knobs and Hooks
Shelf Dividers
Hangers
Rolling Utility Cart
Odds/Ends Organizers
DIY Solutions

You may not be Joanna Gaines or Martha Stewart, but you can get just as clever by decking out your closet system with thoughtfully chosen accessories to address any current pain points. Read on to learn more.

Shoe Racks in the Custom Closet

We all have shoes, and they seem to litter the floor in most of our homes without a space to call their own. Shoe trees, tiered racks, and cubbies exist in varying sizes to accommodate shoe inventories. If you are a shoe connoisseur, there are larger storage solutions and shelving units made to act as shoe wardrobes. Coordinating bins or baskets or a dedicated mat can help keep your footwear paired up.

Knobs and Hooks

You can find plentiful options for decorative knobs and hooks that can make your closet space more functional and stylish at the same time. Some purposefully placed on your closet’s walls or other vertical space such as the back of a door can be used to hang purses/bags or for stashing jackets or hats or items that you use frequently. Belts are another item that would benefit from living out of the way on a hook.

Shelf Dividers

Closet shelves can become messy piles of clothing really fast. Use sturdy dividers that slide onto shelves, which can assist in generating delineated and separated sections. With dividers securely in place, they promote boundaries for stacked and folded clothing; this can keep them from toppling over.

Hangers

Use matching or coordinated hangers for dresses, blouses/tops, and suits. Try specialty hangers for items like belts, ties, scarves, and delicates, or those needing to be hung by clips, such as skirts. Using pants hangers allows you to maximize precious space by hanging several pairs on one, which prevents crowding and wrinkles.

Rolling Utility Cart

A rolling utility cart is a smart way to store closet items you need to access easily. You can find them with multiple tiers and in varying materials and sizes including narrow or slim to fit your design and closet storage needs. It is important to decide what will live on it and maintain it to only house those items. Common uses for closet carts are to wrangle shoes, bags, and hats.

Odds and Ends Organizers

Our closets also end up being depots for life’s odds and ends. Trying to find a favorite pair of socks or a special-occasion handbag can be far easier if you organize like items together. A pocket organizer hung on a wall or a door is great for smaller items like socks and a series of pretty storage boxes are terrific for stowing items you use infrequently up on higher shelves. Be sure to label boxes or use clear bins so you don’t have to pull everything down when you need to access them.

Oprah Daily offers these additional tips for making your closet a neat and tidy reality.

DIY Solutions

You don’t have to break the bank to accessorize your closet. There are lots of DIY solutions that you can incorporate into your closet’s footprint. Shower curtain rings can be hung on your closet’s rod to hang heavier items like tote bags or purses. You can also add shorter towel bar rods to side walls and utilize shower rings there to hang items. Drapery tiebacks hung on a door or wall offer deeper capabilities for draping scarves or leggings or hanging multiple items that may be bulkier.

This Country Living piece is chock-full of DIY closet solutions that offer tutorials on how to bring the ideas to life.

Final Thoughts

There is such a variety of organizational accessories specifically for custom closets on the market today that with a little bit of research and some trial and error, you can find the most fitting accessories to keep your own personal closet consistently maintained and functioning in the manner you require.