We have a small coat closet in our entry that I’ve been itching to transform for years. It’s been a combo coat & front hall closet, with the catch-all part getting more out of control by the day.
Seriously, look at this mess!
With the addition of the coat rack in the main entry last fall and some coat hooks in the garage entry, we eliminated the need for coat storage in this closet. It still housed coats we never wore, but those were ready for donation.
We did need ONE place to store all the cleaning equipment and maintenance supplies and this hall closet was ripe for organization.
Before this project, we had cleaning/maintenance stuff spread out to SEVEN different spots. Such a waste of time when you’re looking for something.
I started by making a list of everything I wanted to move to the new closet, along with the current location.
Office Bookshelves – Tool Bag
Office Open Shelving – Tape Measures
Office Closet – Command Strips/Hooks
Garage – Screw, Anchors, Steam Machine
Laundry Room – Cleaning Supplies/Tools, Lightbulbs
Coat Closet – Vacuum, Mop, Air Filters, Random Hardware
Kitchen Drawers & Office – Product Manuals & Warranty Info
In one rainy Saturday, we installed some quick DIY shelves to create a dreamy one-stop shop!
Since everyone’s available space is different, I’m not going to talk much about the details of the shelf installation. We just used 1×2’s as braces and then 16″ wide lumber for the shelves.
You could easily use pre-made shelves or a kit, the key is just finding somewhere to gather all your interior cleaning/home improvement supplies into one spot.
Here’s what our coat closet looked like once we got the new shelves installed and painted everything very light gray. I used leftover paint from my office. Budget win #1!
Organized Cleaning Closet
Based on the list of things I wanted to move to this “new” closet, I knew I needed several new bins to corral like items together.
I found some geometric black and white baskets which was perfect because you know how strongly I believe that a pretty organized space STAYS organized much longer.
It can be hard to find more modern baskets, so when I see designs I love, I jump on them! It seems like they are no longer available, but this option is also cool!
While I was placing the basket order, I checked out some of the other organizing items and found two more perfect products.
Did you know Command makes a broom holder? It’s brilliant!
You can instantly have a broom hung on any surface with no damage/holes. I bought them to hang on the inside of the closet door, but ended up having enough space to tuck them on the closet walls.
I did go through all our long-handled cleaning tools and weed out the ones we never use. I can’t tell you the last time I’ve used a traditional broom inside the house, so it was kicked to the garage while other random mops went to a garage sale pile.
The other new-to-me item is the perfect adjustable organizer for small hardware, anchors, hooks etc.
The individual organizers even connect together so you can store them neatly. Having all these items organized and in the house makes me wonder why they were ever in the garage!
Other than those three new products, I reused other baskets/boxes we already owned. Budget win #2!
Here’s the full view of the ‘new’ closet.
Much better, right!?!
Here’s the legend of everything we fit into this small space.
The closet is pretty tall, which gave us space to accommodate the full height of the 30″ air filters without taking up prime space.
On the left side, we added an extra shelf that will require the step-stool to reach, but is perfect for infrequently used items.
We don’t have any extra bulbs for the recessed lights right now, but those will go up top. The white photo boxes hold our regular light bulbs.
My goal is to do a quick Swiffering of the wood floors each day to keep the Maddie hair under control.
It’s going to be SO much easier now that all the supplies are easy to access.
Before, I risked an avalanche in the laundry room cabinet every time I tried to grab one of them. Which meant most days I didn’t bother, causing the hair to build up and make me CRAZY.
This closet isn’t about an obsession with a constantly perfect home. It’s about making things as easy as possible to keep a relatively clean house, which makes me happier and less stressed than a mess.
Speaking of a mess, I’m constantly considering cleaning things with our steamer, but it’s always been out in the garage on a high shelf. Not exactly a spot that inspires frequent use.
Now it’s in one of our old baskets tucked at the bottom the closet. So much better!
I can’t get over the fact that we condensed items from SEVEN different locations in our home to this one small closet.
I’m giddy at the thought of newly open shelf space in the laundry room AND office. On top of that, the relief I feel from not having to fight never-worn jackets to get to the vacuum is pretty extreme.
May 2018 Update:
When I did this project, I never could have guessed it would have ended with Better Homes & Gardens coming to my house for a photo shoot! The closet and I were lucky enough to appear in the June 2018 issue!
With all the fabulous mudrooms, coat racks, and coat stands available, I’m convinced everyone with coats in prime closet space should consider stealing the closet back to create a home maintenance command center with all the supplies your family uses.
Anything that makes day-to-day life this much easier should be in every house!
michelle hutchinson says
Closet looks great but where did the coats go? This is not a real solution if the coats don’t have a home
Melissa George says
In the beginning of the post, right under the first photo, I explained that the coats in this closet were the overflow that we never wore. In that paragraph, there are a couple of links to different rooms showing were the coats we actually wear are kept.