Your hall closet often gets dumped on. You may have taken the time to organize it when you first moved in but it has probably just continued to accumulate more and more stuff ever since. Do yourself a favor and make your hall closet an organized oasis. When everything you need is at your fingertips and everything you don’t is out of your way, you’ll have time to do the things you want instead of the things you have to. These tips to organize your hall closet will help guide you step-by-step to accomplish this.

Affiliate links may be used in this post. Ordering a product through these links may result in a commission. Read the full disclosure here.

 

 

[bctt tweet=”Do yourself a favor and make your hall closet an organized oasis with these tips! #organizing” username=”diyadulation”]

 

Define Purpose

Before you even begin organizing your hall closet you have to define what it will be used to store. When we living in a small, two bedroom apartment we didn’t have a pantry. We did, however, have a hall closet that I totally converted into a pantry. That was what we needed storage for at the time. Our house on the other hand has two hall closets. The smaller on the 2 is a linen closet and the larger one houses coats, hats, and outdoor toys like bubbles. Each of these closets was organized differently based on what they are storing. That is why you need to define your hall closet’s purpose before organizing it.

 

Choose Storage Options

You can absolutely spring for new items to organize your closet. If you would rather organize it on a budget, you can save money by using items you already own. If you are creative you can make storage options out of almost anything.

• Small Dresser: If you have a small, shallow dresser available to use it is perfect for storing hats, gloves, and even sandals. This is an easy organization piece to put in your closet.
• Cube Organizer: You already know that I am a HUGE fan of cube organizers (which are heavily featured in the craft room). They are simply so versatile. The hall closet is no exception. Throw one of these babies in your closet and have instant storage shelves.
• Hanging Organizer: These are obviously great for clothes but they are also perfect for creating a removable pantry if you rent. You can store boxes on their sides for easy reach and maximum space utilization. You can also store pantry items such as rice, beans, and similar. (Little bonus tip: maximize your storage with a hanging organizer that has mesh pockets on the sides as well as the regular cubbies.)
• Over-The-Door Shoe Organizer: These are another extremely versatile piece of storage. We use one that I cut in half on the door to our linen closet because it isn’t a standard size door. This has made finding Band-Aids (like the ones on our monkeys), deodorant, and sunblock for the zoo a breeze!

 

Organize It

Now that you know what your hall closet is going to store and how it’s going to store it, it is time to actually organize it. There are four basic steps to an organized closet:

1. Empty – Take everything out of your closet. Decide what you want to keep and what you want to get rid of. A super easy rule to help you decide what to keep is that anything you haven’t pulled out in a year (or worse, that you didn’t even remember you owned) goes.
2. Clean – Chances are you have never taken the time to really clean your hall closet. Take this opportunity to clean it now. Sweep/vacuum the floor, wipe down the walls, and wipe down any built-in shelves. Give your stuff a freshly cleaned place to live.
3. Storage – Add your storage piece to your closet.
4. Put Away – Now, put all of the items you are keeping back into the closet. Remember to keep like items together and place items used less frequently in the hardest to reach areas. This leaves the areas at arm’s reach for the things you will need to get to on a daily or weekly basis.

 

Now you will have a hall closet that is not only storing all of your stuff but organized for easy access too. This will make finding the items you need when you need them super easy, freeing up your time to do the things you want (or possibly need) to do. Don’t forget to take your time and really think about what you need storage for. Your family might need a place to store coats and shoes but if you have a coat rack, maybe you would be better served organizing all of the board games in there for family game night. Make your storage work for you. If you’re looking for more ways to get organized, check out Organizing A-Z.

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Thrift stores are the inspirational playgrounds of creatives. You go into these stores and it is like finding a cavern of pirate treasure. The bargain items transform in your mind. You aren’t seeing that kitschy little frame everyone else sees. You see a beautiful new jewelry organizer for your wall or an awesome new tray for your coffee table. That is why I am so excited to partner up with 19 other bloggers to make the Thrift Store Blog Hop a monthly feature! Each month we will create a new home decor piece from an item(s) we’ve found at a thrift store, yard sale, resale shop etc. There is no budget or specific theme so we are free to let our creativity run wild! This month, get organized with this easy bathroom organizer.

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Meet the Hosts

Amanda | The Kolb Corner      Chelc| Inside the Fox Den     
Erlene | My Pinterventures     Kim | Made in a Day     Sara | Twelve on Main    
Debra | Shoppe No. 5      Shirley | Intelligent Domestications    
Marie | DIY Adulation     Lindsay | Crazy Organized   Michelle | Our Crafty Mom    
Julie | Live From Julie’s House     Dru | Polka Dot Poplars    
Maureen | Red Cottage Chronicles     Pili | Sweet Things     Channell | Hobnail House     
Colleen | Life on Kaydeross Creek     Ann | Duct Tape and Denim      
Paula | Virginia Sweet Pea     Sherry | Savvy Apron     Stacy | Anastasia Vintage 

You can also follow our board on Pinterest for more upcycled decor inspiration!

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[bctt tweet=”Get organized with this upcycled thrift store bathroom organizer + a Blog Hop! #thrift #upcycled” username=”diyadulation”]

 

Materials

• Thrift Store Wall Rack
• Blue Painters Tape
• Sand Paper
• Spray Paint
• Flat Latex Paint
• Wood Glue
• Screw Driver
• Drill

 

Step 1

Remove all of the hooks from your rack.

 

Step 2

Remove the dowel holding the rack on. Next, pull apart the rest of the rack.

Tip:

• The dowels may be glued together on one side. If that is the case, gently twist the dowels to loosen the glue before pulling out.

 

Step 3

Cover the threads of your screws with blue painters tape. This will keep them protected while you paint them.

 

 

Step 4

Place the taped screws and hooks on some newspaper (or other paint-safe surface) in a well-ventilated area. Next, spray paint them.

 

Step 5

While the spray paint is drying, sand all of the wooden pieces. Once you are done sanding, wipe down with a damp cloth to remove all of the residual dust.

 

Step 6

Flip you hooks and rotate your screws on the newspaper. Hit them with another coat of spray paint.

 

Step 7

Next, place your wooden pieces on some newspaper as well. Paint the pieces with your latex paint. Allow the first coat to dry.

Step 8

Cover your wooden pieces with a second coat of latex paint. Again, allow it to dry.

 

Step 9

Reassemble the dowel piece of your thrift store rack. To do this, place a dab of wood glue in each hole and insert the dowels. Be sure to press firmly together. Allow your wood glue to dry.

 

Step 10

Remove the painters tape from your screws.

 

Step 11

Reattach your hooks to your wooden base.

Step 12

Finish putting your thrift store rack back together.

 

Step 13

Hang your rack with your drill and enjoy!

 

Now you have some awesome new storage for your bathroom. Store your towels on it or place some baskets on it for other items. You can add even more storage by hanging some additional cute baskets from the hooks. Throw extra toilet paper, hand towels, or other important items in them. Now you’ll have all of your necessities at your fingertips. Before you go, check out the other awesome thrift store projects from my friends below!

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See where I’m linking up!

You have a ton of options when it comes to organizing your gifts and wrapping. Some lucky ladies have the space for an entire gift wrap station! If you are anything like me, you simply don’t have that kind of space available to you. Don’t let that keep you from keeping your gifts and wrapping organized. There are plenty of space-saving products you can buy or DIY’s you can make that will help you. Stay on top of organizing gifts and wrapping to make last minute gifts for birthdays, holidays, and hostesses.

Affiliate links may be used in this post. Ordering a product through these links may result in a commission. Read the full disclosure here.

 

[bctt tweet=”Organizing gifts and wrapping is one of the best organizing features for saving money! #organize #savemoney #gifts” username=”diyadulation”]

 

Wrapping

We save gift bags in our house because, frankly, the idea of getting rid of something used so briefly seems wasteful to me. The caveat is to make sure you use them. Don’t let them take up precious storage space if you are still going to go out and buy new each time you need one. Only you know yourself well enough to make this decision but if you don’t keep them, consider donating them to a store like Goodwill instead of trashing them.

Wrapping is a trickier one. Unless you buy enough gifts for every occasion to use an entire roll of wrapping paper, you will need to create a system for storing the leftovers. Having an organizational system in place also saves you money by allowing you to stock up when gift wrap is on sale (like the paper used to cover these storage boxes). There are a lot of options for this so I’m only going to share my favorite store-bought options and the system that we use.

• Over-the-Door Organizer (Fabric or Wire) – These are a great way to keep your stock in check because while convenient for storage, these take up limited space. With a smaller containment area, you know when you start accumulating too much and you can donate excess.
• Free-Standing Organizer (Fabric or Plastic) – These allow you to choose a larger size that will still fit within the space you have designated for storage. These are also good if you want to have 2 separate storage containers (typically one for Christmas and one for other occasions).
• DIY – If it’s not in the budget to buy new organizers, there are a ton of options to make you own. You can also find a free drawer in your craft room or entertainment center if you have ones large enough.

I have personally used, or have family that uses, the above organizers for gift wrap. However, currently we use the closet side of an antique armoire my Papa gave us. This allows everything to be stored without fear of damage and also as the one-stop party supplies station. This will be shared in a later post.

 

Supplies

When creating a space for organizing gift wrap, don’t forget to have an area for supplies as well. A hanging organizer is great for this if you are going the DIY route for your wrapping. Another option is to place supplies in a Ziplock bag and poke a metal hanger through the top for easy hanging. Supplies to remember to include with your gift wrap is:

• Tape
• Bows
• Ribbon
• Scissors
• Twist Ties (if you make your own bows)
• Gift Tags

 

Gifts

This is an organizational area that many people don’t consider. However, if you are looking to save money, I highly recommend having a system for storing gift deals you find all year long. We use a large plastic storage container for this (the lid broke but I didn’t want to throw out the container since it was still usable). You can start saving money on your gifts by following these three easy steps:

1. Find an area safe from the prying fingers and eyes of your family (namely, the tiny humans that live with you).
2. Throughout the year, as you find incredible deals on gifts and toys, you can purchase them and store them for later.
3. Pull these out if you need a gift for an unexpected birthday party, a hostess gift, or knock out Christmas gifts early to decrease the monetary burden around the holidays.

Not only will this system save you time, it will also save you money. If you choose to use your gift organizing system for Christmas gifts, make sure you keep a list that allows you to keep track of what you have bought and for whom.

Organizing gifts and wrapping is one of the best organizing features for saving money. You will see a huge savings if you are able to set up a system for organizing gifts throughout the year. Once you are done with this area, be sure to come back and get ideas for organizing your life from A to Z.

See where I’m linking up!