How to Create More Usable Closet Space
Maximize Storage in Your Closets
Extra storage is always a plus, whether you are selling your home or staying put, but if you are indeed planning to sell, maximizing your storage space is essential. Extra storage space helps attract home buyers--and lets you stay organized while the home is still yours.
Adding storage can be expensive, so unless you're ready to part with the dollars your first step should be to revamp your existing closets.
You can do it, and for less money than you might think. Let's get started.
First Step: Declutter
Do you really need to keep all that stuff? I'm as guilty as anyone out there of hanging onto things, and paperwork is my downfall, everything from old magazines to fifteen-year-old canceled checks. But I'm trying to get better, taking a hard look at everything I own and trashing things that aren't important.
So before you decide how much storage you need, decide what you can throw away, sell, or donate. And look on the bright side--if you pitch it now you won't have to pack and move it later.
Evaluate Bedroom Closets
Are there single rods running from end to end in each closet, with a single shelf above each rod? That arrangement is typical in the traditional smallish closets we see in extra bedrooms, and sometimes even in walk-in closets.
How about your clothes, are they packed so tightly that you can't find what you're looking for?
Are the top shelves filled with things you haven't seen for years?
Start emptying the closets, one at a time, putting items in three piles:
Every Budget, Every Need
Look at the items that will go back into the closet. Is the pile mostly clothes, or odds and ends? Do you have tons of shoes? Sweaters? Belts and ties? Lots more short items than full-length clothing? There are organizational helpers available for every storage need and every budget:
Other Closets
Inspect every closet in your home as if you are seeing it for the first time. What will a buyer think when she opens the doors? How can you improve your storage potential?
Cleaning out your closets is the perfect pre-sale activity, even if you don't do too much to increase storage space. Just getting rid of unused clothes and other items is sometimes all it takes to make closets appear larger than they truly are. So get started and look at everything with a critical eye. If you haven't used it for two years, do you really need to keep it?