How To Organize Your Closet – (Easy & Budget Friendly)

Last week, I finally took a day to organize my closet. It was in desperate need, and I just kept putting it off. Today, I want to share how to organize your closet – (easy & budget friendly)!!

First of all, you might be wondering what these doors have to do with closet organization. These are actually the doors to my closet. I purchased these antique doors at Round Top Antiques Show several years ago when we were building the farmhouse. Supposedly, they are from a church in Mexico, and I love the vintage feel they add to my bathroom.

Do you like to have a really organized closet?

Yeah, me too! The problem comes when the season begins to change. I live in Texas and for a while we will begin to have cooler mornings, and evenings, but it warms up during the day.

So, what happens, is that I start pulling out cooler weather cloths for the mornings and evenings, but still have to keep the warmer weather things out too. I end up with clothes everywhere each time the season changes.

pile of clothes and shoes in messy clothescloset

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This is what my closet looked like when I started! I can’t believe I let it get this bad!

First things first!

empty closet shelves and a bottle of Mrs. Meyers cleaning spray and a roll of paper towels

To begin, I took everything out of the shelves and wiped them down with my favorite cleaning spray. It makes the closet smell fresh and clean and removes the dust that has collected on the shelves since the last clean out.

easy shoe solutions

9 neutral pair of shoes on shelves in closet

I organized all of my shoes by type and color, then put them back. I keep shoes for the current season down low, and put out of season and shoes that I may not wear as often up high.

neatly organized shoe closet organized by color

You can see that my dressier shoes, that I don’t wear often, and my winter boots are on the higher shelves for now.

shoes stacked neatly on shoe shelves in closet

tip #1 (shoe organization)

One tip is to place shoes with one facing the opposite direction rather than side by side.

dress shoes facing opposite directions to allow more shoes to fit on the shelf

Surpisingly, this saves some space and allows more shoes to fit on a shelf. Sometimes, I also stack flat shoes (sandals and slides) on top of each other to save space.

tip #2 (easy & budget friendly boot storage)

pool noodle inside of a cowboy boot to keep them standing up straight
3 pair of cowboy boots on closet shelf with pool noodles inside to keep them standing straight

I buy pool noodles and cut them to put inside all of my boots to keep them standing straight. This is a very inexpensive solution for a boot shaper. And it works especially well with really tall boots that won’t stand up on their own.

tip #3 (purse organization)

small clutch purses lined up and divided with a clear acrylic shelf divider
clear acrylic shelf dividers on closet shelf to keep clutch purses organized

I like to use these clear acrylic shelf dividers to keep my small clutch purses divided.

(you can find sources for the things I use for closet organization at the bottom of this post)

tip #4 (handbag organizing solution)

black handbag hanging on a wall hook for a storage solution in closet

I have some wasted space between some shelves in my closet. To maximize my storage, I hung metal wall hooks and hang my larger handbags on them.

black metal hook hanging inside closet to hang handbags on

I have three of them, hanging one over the other, to store all of my handbags on.

tip #5 (hat storage solution)

hats hanging on wall hooks inside closet for storage solution

Similar to my handbag storage solution, I hang my hats on wall hooks inside my closet. I also have a few of my favorites hanging on the wall in my bedroom for decor. You can see a photo of that here.

tip #6 (bin storage organization)

bin cube storage for closet organization

I use inexpensive cube bins to store things like tights, and flip flops. They are labeled with bin clips to keep it easy to remember what is in each bin.

cube storage for closet organization labeled with bin clips for easy identification

They are also great for scarves, winter hats and gloves.

tip #7 (how to organize your clothes)

clothes hanging in color coded order inside clothes closet

I hang my shirts in color order and by sleeve length. For example, my tanks are hung on the far left, then short sleeve then long sleeve. I also catagorize them by weight/season. So, my long sleeve tshirts and silk blouses hang in front of sweater type tops.

My dresses are organized the same way, and pants are hung in color order.

I like to use the same color felt hangers for all of my clothes. It makes for a much neater and more unified look.

neutral sweaters folded and stacked on a closet shelf

The sweaters are folded and stacked on a closet shelf, in color order too.

tip #8 (how to organize your jewelry – easy & budget friendly)

small white dresser with a white garden trellis mounted on the wall above.  The wall trellis holds necklaces and the dresser hold bracelets and other miscellaneous jewelry

I have a small chest inside my closet that I use for jewelry storage and miscellaneous items.

a white vintage garden trellis hanging on the wall inside a clothes closet to hang necklaces on

A vintage garden trellis hangs on the wall to hold necklaces. I put nailhead tacks on the trellis to hang some of the necklaces from.

a black iron paper towel holder stands on a small dresser inside the closet for hold bracelets

I use a metal paper towel holder to hold my bracelets.

3 tiered plate stand with white plates hold bracelets and watches

A 3-tiered plate stand holds other bracelets, and watches.

vintage divided jewelry organizer stands on a small dresser inside the closet to hold rings

A divided vintage jewely organizer holds my rings. And yes, I have a LOT of rings!

divided jewelry divider placed inside the drawer of the small chest inside a closet holds earrings

I have a divider tray inside the drawer of the dresser to keep earrings separated. These are stackable, so I plan to add another one to divide the earrings even more.

just for fun

a vintage turkish rug on the floor inside the closet with a stool sitting on top of it in the center of the closet

Just to make it pretty, I added a vintage turkish rug inside my closet.

And did you see the vintage stool I did a makeover on? I used that in the closet for a place to sit and put on shoes.

a vintage chandelier hanging inside a clothes closet

And my very favorite part, is this vintage chandelier!!


I hope you found inspiration and have gotten a few useful tips for your own closet organization from this “How to Organize Your Closet – Easy and Budget Friendly” post. If you have tips for organizing, let me know in the comments. I love to hear from you!

blessings and happy organizing,
michele

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11 Comments

  1. Laura Podina says:

    Wow how creative you are… never thought of using a pool noodle for my boots and a paper towel holder for my bracelets, can’t wait to do this! You have the coolest ideas and always so economical and easy to implement.
    Thanks Michelle :+)

    1. Oh, thanks so much Laura! I’m so glad you found this useful!

  2. Great tips. I can’t get the link to work for shop this post.

    1. Oh no! Thanks for letting me know. I will check on it.

      If there is something in particular you were looking for, I will be happy to send you the link.

  3. Loved some of your closet tips. You must only have to do laundry once a month, if that! I’m always amazed when I see how much clothing and shoes some women have. I must be a minimalist without knowing it! Thank you for sharing all your ideas!
    P.S. I loved your daughter’s wedding and reception. Thanks for sharing that also.

    1. Thanks so much for the kind words about the closet and my daughter’s wedding!

      I do have a lot of clothes and shoes, but just know they have been accumulated over many years. I keep way to many clothes from years past.

    1. Thanks so much Renae! It had definitely gotten out of hand, but it’s so great to have it cleaned out and organized now!

    1. Thanks Rachel! It wasn’t fun, but I am so glad it’s done. Feels really good!

  4. I moved last year and for the first time in my life am keeping all seasons in one closet. That means using every inch!! You have way too much “dead head space” on your shoe shelves. Either install more shelves Or even better, buy coated wire racks and just place them in the shelves and. You will double your space and probably free up a shelf or two for bags, etc

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