DIY Ally: Modernizing Your Closet

Closets have a reputation for being dark, dingy areas of your home where items are stored and then never found again. At least, for a lot of us, that is the case.

If you just found yourself nodding along with that first sentence, then you definitely belong in that camp. Luckily, there is a quick fix to bringing new life to your closet. After all, a cluttered closet is a cluttered mind, while a clean closet is a clean mind. 

So, if you want to spruce up your closet, follow this easy, inexpensive trick to brighten up your closet. 

For our example, we’re looking at a hall closet that is going to be turned into a pantry. This in itself is a great idea because you’ll be forced to get rid of whatever unnecessary stuff you have in the closet to make room for food. In addition, this will also help keep your kitchen counter and cabinets tidy. 

One of the cool things about this closet is that when you open the door, the closet’s lights turn on automatically without any switch. 

No, it’s not magic, but there is actually a little magnetic sensor in the doorway which has wires in it that run up to the light at the top of the closet. What causes the light to turn off is actually another magnet that is on top of the door itself. So when the door swings shut, the two magnets touch and the light turns off. Once the door is open, and the magnets disconnect, the light turns back on. 

For anyone who has some basic handyman skills and has worked with wiring before, this is definitely doable. Although it will involve cutting into your drywall or plaster as well in order to have the wires align with the sensor and the light. Give Treasured Spaces a call if you’d like some assistance with this home remodeling project! 

This is just one of the many different ways you can improve the aesthetic and overall functionality of your closet.

Other tips include:

• Adding shelves
  • Bringing in some backup by adding additional shelves can help keep your closet clean. This way, you can avoid just throwing things on the ground or using large storage bins that take up all the room and minimize the size of your closet.

• Throwing away clutter
  • Don’t even try and convince yourself that you don’t have extra clutter that can be tossed. When we find something laying around the house and aren’t sure what to do with it, it usually just ends up in a closet. Go through your closets and try and find items that don’t belong or that you don’t need. 

• Love, Maybe, Donate, Trash, and the hanger trick
  • This is a great exercise to go through for your clothing closets. Take everything out. Yes, everything. Then, organize your clothes into four groups. Love – clothes you wear a lot and like. Maybe – clothes that you like but don’t wear a lot and most of them should turn into ‘donate’ by the end of the exercise. Donate – clothes you don’t wear and are in good condition. Trash – clothes that have seen better days and can be tossed. A cool little trick you can try is turning all your hangers a certain way and every time you wear an item of clothing and place it back into your closet, turn the hanger the other way. After three months, donate the items that still have the hanger facing the original way. 

• Use clear storage bins
  • If you do use any storage bins in your closet, then make sure that they are clear and see-through. That way, you won’t have to dig through every bin to find what you are looking for and create a mess in the process.

• Think tall with vertical storage crates
  • Storing your items vertically is a great way to save space and keep your closet looking modern and aesthetically pleasing.