Too much stuff in your coat closet? Me too! So I’m sharing some simple coat closet organization ideas that will make life easier.
Our coat closet drives me crazy.
It’s full of jackets (of courses) but it’s also the place we store our umbrellas, vacuums, mops, etc., so essentially it’s our mini mudroom. Unfortunately this means every time I pull out a vacuum it gets stuck on a coat, or every time I put away a coat, it knocks over a vacuum (AHHHH!).
Well after knocking the vacuums and mops over about 900 times I decided something needed to change. There isn’t anywhere else to put any of the stuff so I had to figure out a way they could live peacefully together. So here are my simple coat closet organization ideas.
I started by pulling everything out of the closet, including the stuff on the shelves. What a mess! Then I looked through everything to see if there was anything we could get rid of, or relocate to the garage, the linen closet, or another closet in the house. I love purging, it feels so good!
The trick is to not leave anything in the entryway closet that doesn’t belong in there, otherwise it will get cluttered back up really easily.
Next I grouped all the coats together in “sections”. The left side of the closet rod is for my husband’s coats, I put mine on the right and then I put Malea’s in the middle because hers are much shorter and won’t hinder my ability to get the vacuum in and out (WHY didn’t I think of that months ago!?). We even have some left over hangers that can be used for guest jackets or purses.
After doing all that, I still didn’t like the fact that my mops and the broom were just leaning against the wall, taking up floor space, so I ordered a mop and broom organizer on Amazon, to attach to the coat closet door. Getting those out of the way was a much better storage solution and made everything better!
If you don’t want to buy a mop and broom organizer, you could also use hooks on the inside of the coat closet door to hang the stuff taking up your floor space.
Next I scoured the house to find some baskets that I could store stuff in on the shelving. I found these black storage bins that I used to have in my laundry room at the other house. It’s always fun to “shop your own house” to see what you can find!
I think they look nice on the shelves, with their cute labels I made, and they keep the clutter contained.
I was able to purge so much stuff from the closet that I didn’t need the top shelf for storage, but if we lived somewhere it snowed, I would move the vacuum and mop accessories baskets to the top shelf, and store things like scarves, gloves, mittens, etc., in the bottom baskets, to make them easier to grab and go. Getting so much stuff off the floor made room for shoe storage too, so if you needed it, you could also add some shoe shelves against the back wall.
Overall I’d say it’s a huge improvement from what it was. My cleaning tools are more accessible, the coats won’t knock over the vacuum anymore, and the shelves look nice and decluttered. Woo-hoo! I love it when I can give a closet a good clean up, and get it organized, it’s such a good feeling!
How is your coat closet looking these days? I hope this was just the inspiration you needed to go ahead and tackle your coat closet storage space!
For more home organization ideas, check out my posts on how to organize these space:
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Looks great! I really need to organize my home’s coat closet – I’d like to add room for our vacuum, etc., but currently, there is no room!
Your closet looks great! And is that an empty shelf I see on top?
Yep! I’m not really sure what to put up there and it’s pretty high too. 🙂
Thanks for the post! I’m looking at a remodel on my coat closet. I have the same issues as you always dropping my vacuum. Going to tackle the closet this weekend! Thanks for some inspiration.
We are buying a new house. There is no coat closet in that house. It was almost a deal breaker. But all the other things were what we wanted. Unfortunately, the front door opens right into the living room. What options do I have for a coat closet?
That’s a bummer! Is there a closet anywhere nearby that could be used? Our current house doesn’t have a coat closet in the entryway so I purchased (from IKEA) a bench that has a shelf under it for storing baskets (which we use for shoes) and then it also has hooks above the bench that we use for hanging purses, coats, etc. It’s about 3′ wide so if there’s a place for something like that, that might be a good alternative too.