How to Work with a Small Closet

Our Master Bedroom has a pretty small closet — it is only 2′ deep and 4.5′ wide. When we moved in, there was a single clothing rod and one shelf. Within a few months we purchased some pieces of Closetmaid from Lowes and installed a double clothing rod system.

This was a HUGE improvement and allowed us to focus on the rest of the room. We’ve struggled with furniture placement in this space. It’s a long, skinny room with 3 windows and 2 doors {plus the closet doors}. Here’s a visual of our current layout:

Besides my husband’s suits and some of my rarely used accessories {like heels — I’m a flats and flip-flops girl}, most of our clothing is now in our bedroom. Though, we did do a lot of sorting and purging as well.

Here’s how we are using the space:

• The double dressers, one for each of us, hold most of our folded items like t-shirts, underwear and shorts.
• The ottoman holds items like pajamas that don’t require careful folding and don’t need to stay wrinkle-free.
• The under-bed storage is all of our off-season items and specialty clothing {like ski clothes and athletic wear}.

The great thing about this solution is that we are able to use items that we already own. It’s cheap! But what if you can’t fit several dressers in your bedroom? Or, even if you can, is there a way to gain more storage with a different type of furniture?

Lonny

I’ve never owned a wardrobe. But the concept is simple right? Less floor space, but more vertical space. The one above is from IKEA, it’s the PAX Wardrobe with Bergsbo doors. Here’s why I like it for a small room, or paired with a small closet.

• It’s just over 93″ tall. In other words, for a standard 8ft ceiling, this piece of furniture nearly spans floor to ceiling.
• The amount of hanging storage in the room is increased. In our case, 2 PAX wardrobes would essentially double our hanging storage without reducing our folded {or drawer} storage.
• The PAX is highly customizable.

Ikea

Now, let’s consider our bedroom with a couple PAX wardrobes instead of two long dressers.

It feels roomier around the bed and it actually is — in this option we could actually move up to a king bed eventually if we’d like. Our current layout would not allow for a king bed.

So, we are definitely contemplating this wardrobe idea that offers more floor space, more hanging space and equivalent folded space — plus we keep our hidden storage under the bed and in the ottoman.

Do any of you have a small closet in your Master Bedroom? What solutions have you come up with? Are you a dresser person or a wardrobe person? I’d love to hear your thoughts!