Double your closet space!
A whopping 65% of us say we need more room for our stuff! Great news: You can get it easily, thanks to our organizing pros who know exactly how to uncover the hidden real estate in your home! Here’s how to make room in your . . .
1 Kitchen!
Save space with a pegboard!
Got a mess of gadgets filling up your drawers? They’ll be easier to find and use—and you’ll free up those drawers—if you hang them up! “Attach a pegboard to either the wall or your backsplash using screws or an adhesive backing,” says organizing pro Jamie Novak. “Just stick some hooks in the pegs, giving everything its own spot.” French Chef Julia Child famously used this trick. In fact, she outlined her pots and pans with a black marker while they were hanging, so she’d put them back in the same place, easy to find in an instant! Tip: Paint the pegboard to match your kitchen!
Give small items the “shoe treatment”!
The easiest way to make your cabinets more spacious? Corral small items (like drink mixes, jars of spices and cake decorations) in a clear plastic shoe organizer hung on the inside of a cabinet door! Voilá! More space, and you’ll never have to rummage around for them again!
Clear countertops with a magnetic strip!
Low on countertop space? Knife blocks take up lots of valuable room, which you can easily regain by attaching a magnetic strip to your backsplash or to the side of your refrigerator. Find them in housewares stores or on Amazon. com, starting at $9.
2 Bathroom!
Tap unutilized “acreage”!
Walls and the backs of doors offer acres of untapped space! Hang a few extra towel rods on the back of your bathroom door. “Or drape an over-the-door shoe organizer on the back of the bathroom door to create little ‘caddies’ for everything from styling tools to cleaning supplies,” suggests organizer Kathi Lipp.
Hide items!
“I love furniture that does double duty as storage space,” says Lipp. “In our kitchen, for example, we have a bench with hidden storage— you can do the same in the bathroom with, say, a storage step stool. If you have little grandkids, they can use it to reach the sink when brushing their teeth during sleepovers—and use it to stash their bath toys!” One option: Guidecraft Classic Espresso Storage Step-up; $43.99, Jcpenney.com.
Create more “counter” space!
“Try placing a lazy Susan underneath your sink, so you can reach items with one spin!” organizer Dorothy Breininger says. “And consider putting a pretty skirt around your sink, so you can store stuff there. Or slip in an under-sink cabinet.” One option: Lynk Roll-Out Under-sink Double Drawers; $80, Bedbathand Beyond.com.
3 Closet!
Get hanger savvy!
Crunched for closet space? Not if you maximize hanger real estate! String plastic shower curtain rings on the bar of a hanger, then slip light items like tank tops, bras and scarves onto the rings—this way you can fit a ton of stuff on just one hanger! Another trick: Grab a soda tab and slip the hole through one hanger. Then slip another hanger through the smaller hole in the tab. Now you’ve got a double hanger!
Hook it up!
“Moving from left to right in your closet, quickly get rid of drycleaning hangers or hangers that might not be pulling their weight— like a whole hanger for a single belt,” says Breininger. It takes just two minutes to double your closet space. Then simply attach a bathroom towel rod to the inside of the closet door to create more space. Easiest of all: Hang some hooks on the inside of the closet door to free up rod space!
Get creative with bookshelves!
“Maximize shelving space,” urges Lipp. “In my house, we backed a bookshelf right up against the wall behind our couch, and we store blankets and board games there.” Consider doing the same in your bedroom: Instead of using a headboard, use a bookshelf!