Master Closet Organization Ideas (2024)

Last summer, I set off to revamp my wardrobe, which then kicked off a bigger re-organization of our Master Closet. I’d love to say this closet was a quick weekend makeover project; but in reality, it’s been a several-month endeavor of purging clothes, installing some renter-friendly systems, and even identifying (through LOTS of trial-and-error) the best storage solutions for our particular wardrobes. I am so excited to (finally!) give you the tour of our finished closet, and share some of my favorite master closet organization ideas with you!

Can you believe I’ve been blogging about our 8 homes for almost 10 years and this is the VERY first “Master Closet Reveal”?

Truth be told, the master closet is usually one of the final spaces I get to…if I ever get to it at all. And since Greg and I aren’t typically on the same page about how to organize our shared closet, I’ve never had a finished product to show you. This time around, my wardrobe overhaul inspired Greg to purge through his clothes too, and we worked together to come up with some great master closet organization ideas that work for both of us!

Below is a snapshot of where we started. Although we had a few systems in place, most weren’t working well. Additionally, the closet was overstuffed, the floor was packed, and we weren’t taking advantage of the vertical height of the closet walls.

But here is how the closet looks today!

Getting rid of most of our clothing certainly helped, but so did adding some really affordable and smart storage solutions. Let me give you a tour of everything we have in here!

Taking Advantage of the Walls

I’m continually amazed at how much wasted space there is in “builder basic” closets. Although a single shelf above the clothing rod provides some storage, our “before” photo clearly demonstrates that it’s pretty hard to use that space without additional systems in place.

After seeing how well an additional shelf worked in our front hall closet, Iknew it was the answer for maximizing the storage capacity of our master closet too.

These shelves are nothing fancy; you can get them at most hardware store in a variety of sizes (brackets and shelves). You can buy as many brackets as you need and cut the board to any length, making them a really affordable solution for pretty much any spot in the home.

We opted to hang shelving halfway between the existing shelf and the ceiling. We put one long shelf across the back and a shorter shelf along the left side.

In a “forever home,” we would have worked harder to come up with a more seamless solution for the corner. However, hanging the two shelves at the same height and perpendicular to each other works quite well!

We chose not to hang a shelf on the right-side wall because my shoe collection fits so comfortably without a shelf. However, we did hang another storage system on the wall below the clothing rod.

Here, “drawers” slide into a box, which hooks into rails secured to the wall. Not only is this system pretty flexible and easy to expand, but it is no more difficult to install than a standard shelf. This off-the-shelf option is a really great way to add some “built in” storage to a closet without demo, custom systems, or tons of holes in the wall.

Since I have more folded clothes than hanging clothes, this was the perfect way to accommodate a majority of my wardrobe within the footprint of our master closet.

You can see how I made the “faux” drawer fronts HERE.

Smart Clothing Storage Solutions

In addition to adding more storage surfaces, we also worked hard to find just the rightsolutions for our various wardrobe elements (e.g., shoes, uniforms, etc). Let me break down a few more of the master closet organization ideas seen in this space!

Storing Shoes

Greg didn’t want to fuss with boxes or racks for his shoes, so we made space for him to simply place them on the open shelving.

I use clear stacking shoe boxes for my collection, and I honestly couldn’t love this solution more!

The boxes are super simple to stack, as well to get up-and-down from the shelf. The picture labels help me know which shoes are where and also hold me accountable to actually put my shoes back everyday.

You can see how I made the shoebox labels HERE.

The single right-side shelf holds the collection of 16 boxes plus my rain boots, hiking boots, and ice skates perfectly!

Hanging Clothes

Another big switch we made was swapping all of our mismatched plastic hangers for identical non-slip versions. I had read these velvet hangers allow you to store more in a closet. I’m not entirely sure they help us fit more, but I can’t overstate how much cleaner the whole closet looks because of them. And the fact that clothes don’t fall off them at all definitely keeps our floors clothing free!

You can see my entire Capsule Wardrobe HERE.

Closet Storage Boxes

Although the open shelving gave us more surface area, I knew they would quickly fall into disarray if we didn’t use bins or boxes to coral smaller, non-stackable items. I searched forever (even returning several sets) to find bins that were sizable, sturdy, and of course…cute! I am seriously obsessed with these pin-striped versions from Storageworks.

After identifying 1) what types of items we needed to store on our shelves, and 2) how much space we actually had, I determined 3 of the lidded boxes and 3 of the trapezoid bins would be ideal.

The large lidded boxes are nice and roomy and don’t warp very easily. We are using them to store chunky sweaters, memorabilia, and other rarely-used items.

See how I made the labels with my Cricut machine HERE.

The trapezoid bins are great for holding random items or things too large for a lidded box. We have one to store all Greg’s covers (uniform hats), his uniform “extras,” and my bags and purses.

My only complaint with these darling bins is that the trapezoid versions don’t have label holders like the boxes. So I flipped them around (you can still pull them down by the handles on the sides) and placed a label in my favorite label holders.

These bins use up the available shelf space perfectly and are a great way to contain collections that would otherwise topple or be hard to keep tidy.

Hanging Bags

The final storage solution I’m using are these hanging clothespin bags. I have my scarves in one and my bathing suits in the other. Not only are these infrequently-used items all together and easy to find; but by hanging them on a rod, I free up precious drawer space in my nightstand!

You can see how I labeled these hanging bags HERE.

Shop Our Master Closet

All together, these smart and affordable systems have truly transformed our master closet!

1 – StorageWorks Lidded Boxes | 2 – StorageWorks Tapered Boxes | 3 – Silver Bin Clips | 4 – Canvas Hanging Bags | 5 – Velvet Hangers | 6 – White Metal Shelf Brackets | 7 – Hangable Drawer Unit | 8 – Wire Basket Drawers | 9 – White Laminate Shelves

I hope this post gives you some great master closet organization ideas! Like other organizational overhauls we’ve completed around the house, we’ve been amazed how much having a tidy closet positively impacts our day-to-day lives. Finding clothes, getting dressed, and even putting away laundry is so much easier; and I definitely didn’t realize how much easier it would be to vacuum with the floor completely empty!

I’m so glad I didn’t leave this spot until the very last minute like usual!

See You Soon!
Megan