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One of the best parts of owning your own home is having the ability to transform your space into exactly what you’ve always wanted. You don’t have to buy a huge house to meet your needs. And you don’t need to spend a ton of money to make your home warm and inviting.
Simple projects like cleaning, organizing, and decluttering are the perfect way to start making your home a happy, peaceful place to be.
Living a simple, minimal lifestyle both inside and outside of your home can also make a big difference in helping you feel relaxed and eliminating the need for a constantly growing to-do list. And once your house is clean, decluttered, and organized, it’s much easier to tackle the home improvement projects that you’ve been dreaming about.
Even simple, low-budget projects can make a huge difference when it comes to the aesthetics, functionality, and future resale value of your home. And if I had to choose just one thing we’ve done to drastically improve our home, I would have to say that the small closet makeovers we completed had the biggest bang for our buck.
So if you’re in desperate need of more storage space like we were, check out these easy and affordable small closet makeover ideas for your next DIY project.
Small Closet Makeover
I love saving money by completing DIY projects, so we knew right away that we needed to start looking online for some inspiration for our small closet makeovers and then customize them to meet our needs.
We have a three-bedroom home and all of the bedroom closets appeared to be the same size. We measured each of them before deciding which small closet makeover projects would work best for us.
After verifying that all of the closets were in fact the same size, we started an inventory of what items each closet would need to store.
As expected, the closet in the master bedroom was mainly storing clothing and accessories. Whereas the closets in both kids’ rooms, were storing a combination of clothing, books, games, and toys.
All three closets had a wood shelf and a metal rod attached to the wall and nothing else. For a short period of time, I had placed some old bookshelves in the bottom of the kids’ closets as a temporary solution, as well. But it certainly didn’t look very nice, and we knew that it would only be a matter of time before their storage needs would change as they got older.
So we looked at a lot of small closet makeover suggestions online, and then we drew our own custom design that would fit perfectly in the dimensions we were working with. It was really important to us that we maximize the space we had available by having as much storage as possible.
For the kids, we wanted the storage options to work for them now, but also to evolve as they got older. So we kept the wood shelf and the metal rod where they were and built custom wooden shelves below. As they get older, we’ll simply raise the shelf and the metal rod to accommodate their bigger clothes.
My husband built and installed the custom shelves, and then I caulked them where they made contact with the wall and also painted them with two coats of white paint. Doing so gave them the finished, built-in look that we were going for.
We also purchased 10×10 fabric bins in two colors to coordinate with the look of their bedrooms and a laundry hamper for each kid.
For now, the fabric bins are perfect for storing craft supplies, books, games, and toys. They also use them for socks, shorts, pajamas, and bathing suits.
Their closets are a decent size, but certainly not big enough to be a walk-in, so we wanted to maximize the space that we did have available while completing our small closet makeover. You don’t need to buy a giant home to meet your basic needs or to make a big impact. You can easily have everything you need in a moderate-sized home with a little creativity.
Once the kids’ bedroom closets were complete, we set our minds on the master bedroom closet. Knowing our storage needs were not going to change much, we looked at small closet makeover ideas online that worked best for storing clothing and accessories such as belts, shoes, purses, and my long dresses.
We decided it would be better in the master bedroom to purchase a closet kit with shelves and drawers. The kit maximized the amount of clothing and accessories we could store after our small closet makeover, and it also looks really nice which will help with our home’s resale value in the future.
We hung the kit high enough so that our hanging clothes would not touch the floor, but low enough that I can still reach the top shelf for additional storage.
My husband was able to hold the closet kit and screw it into the wall by himself, while I was working on a different project, and then I placed 5mm plastic hole buttons into the remaining drilled holes on the shelving system for a nicer, finished look. Using the closet kit was relatively easy and did not require advanced building skills. It was a quick and easy small closet makeover for sure.
We also purchased three 13×13 in fabric bins that we now use to store our accessories and our bathing suits. This keeps them hidden, organized, and easily accessible.
And lastly, we hung metal coat hooks on the wall behind the shelves, so that I could hang my longer dresses back there without them getting bunched up on the floor. And to be even more efficient, we purchased some space-saving hangers so we could hang multiple dresses in a very small amount of space.
I have to admit, I am thrilled with our small closet makeovers. I love to have a tidy, organized house, and I get a lot of satisfaction from completing DIY projects that are frugal yet make a big impact.
Maximize Small Closet Space
Here are 8 tips to maximize small closet space:
- Measure the dimensions of your closet.
- Take an inventory of what items will be stored in your closet.
- Consider how you can utilize any shelving already in your closet.
- Look at small closet makeover photos online for inspiration.
- Decide if it’s best to build custom storage or buy a closet kit to meet your storage needs.
- Purchase any additional organization items that will help you maximize your space like space-saving hangers, drawer dividers, or shoe racks.
- Complete your small closet makeover project.
- Enjoy the fruits of your labor for years to come.
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Are you ready to tackle your own small closet makeover? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Your closet looks so neat and organized. Small spaces can be difficult to organize but these tips are really helpful to make the most out of the tiny spaces so they can be organized and not cluttered.
Thank you so much. We looked at a lot of options and chose the one that best met our storage needs.
What a brilliant post, Brooke! Like you, I’m a BIG fan of a clean, organized home, especially if it’s done frugally. I relate to you 100% on this. 🙂 Even more the reason why I loved what you shared.
Your closets turned out beautifully. Not having to struggle to find something you need or want is a blessing. Few things are more frustrating than reaching for one thing, and having 5 others fall out! (sigh) Love those fabric bins too. They’re perfect for this!
Sending many blessings your way. Thanks for sharing these great tips! ♥
I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed it. You are so right about how stressful it is to have things falling out while you are trying to get something else entirely. And even small spaces can get a storage upgrade.
Your closet looks so neat and organised! I love the idea of space-saving hangers.
Yes! They really helped organize all of my dresses and utilize the space behind my other clothes.
Nice makeover. I wish I owned my own place so I could make over my own space in my own style. Renting sucks
YOu definitely have more control when you own. But you could use storage solutions that could be moved eventually though.
I really need to sort through my wardrobe, it is honestly ridiculous how much I need to clear out, and I only did it recently!
Love, Amie ❤
Sometimes it seems like a never-ending process.
You’ve done a great job and mentioned some really helpful tips too. I really need to sort mine out but I keep putting it off.
It’s okay, I did too. And then I just couldn’t deal with it anymore. You’ll get to it.
That is such a great idea. Utilizing small spaces in a smart way is always such a challenge for me. Seeing what a great job you have done I am now willing to copy you😊. Thank you for sharing
Copy away. I hope it helps.
This is such a great way to get the most from your closet space!
Thanks! I don’t let a small space limit me 🙂
This looks like such a great way to maximize your space! We have an older house with a variety of built-in cupboards, shelves, and drawers. There are 2 small closets but I have been considering trying to do something more with them. I am going to have to dig into my options given the limited space and see what I can come up with!
Nice. I would love all those built-ins. We only had one shelf and one bar in each so we added a ton of storage options. I’m sure you will also come up with some great ideas.
This looks so much fun to do! I have a big wooden 2-door closet in my apartment and I would love to do a DIY make over on it. I just have a lot of clothes and I think it’s time to go minimal, I’m looking forward to use these advice when I get back to my apartment. Thanks for sharing this! 😊
Good! Decluttering will definitely help you get started.
Love this post so much! I’ve been trying to find ways to makeover my sons small closet for more space and organizing so thank you so much for sharing!
Glad to hear that. My kids love having bright colored bins to organize their toys and games.
Ok, now THIS is a tough topic for me 🙂 I have a tiny narrow coset that I absolutely hate, but am waiting for our house to be built to get my perfect dream one. Dealing with a small closet is hard. On the upside, it keeps me pretty minimal. Love these tips. I really need to invest in some extra organization items, to maybe help with it.
It can be really hard to stay organized when you have limited storage. Declutter first and then figure out what organization products will help you organize what you want to keep.
I’ve got a small closer that could use a makeover, so this is timely for me. Thanks for the great tips and links!
–Sue
Perfect. I hope the makeover is as easy and affordable for you as ours was.
I needed to read this today! My closet is a hot mess haha. Thanks for sharing!
Good timing. I hope it inspires you to renovate your own closet.
Great idea! We have a small space for our wardrobe/closet and this would really help — thanks for sharing!
Small spaces can still make a big impact with the right creativity and organization.