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How to Organize a Small Entryway Coat Closet

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Is your coat closet bursting at the seams? Mine was! See how I organized my closet and get inspired with some coat closet organization ideas!

coat hangers hanging on rod.

My entry coat closet was a mess!

Messy entryway closet before organizating.

Get more home organization ideas here.

Please tell me I’m not the only one that allows things to get out of control in the home!

But thankfully, this little project was a fast and simple way to add a little sanity to our lives.

I already had a loose organizational system in place, but we were just failing to use it.

Let’s just dive in and get started with small coat closet storage solutions.

If overwhelm has you paralyzed, you might need to start with 9 Reasons Why You Are Failing At House Cleaning.

How to organize your coat closet

1. Pull everything out of the closet and take inventory

Taking items out of entryway coat closet to organize.

As with any organization project, it’s really important to visualize what you are dealing with.

This really does mean pulling every last item out of the closet.

I completed this task one Sunday while the family was watching football on TV.

As much as I love hanging out with the family, this was a task I could do and still be somewhat involved with their conversations.

Find a time when you have a couple of hours and dive in!

2. Make piles: Keep, Donate, Purge

It’s amazing how much junk can be shoved into such a small space. I completed this project in August but we managed to have a Halloween candy stash left over from LAST October.

Hiding Halloween candy in closet.

This brings me to the best thing you can do for your space.

TRASH what is no longer usable.

In my case, old Halloween candy;-)

Get your piles going…KEEP, DONATE, and PURGE.

Make things as handy for yourself as possible.

  • Get a trash bag for all of the trash. As with any organization project, you must be ruthless. If you know it’s lived a full life and it no longer serves a purpose, let it go…to the trash.
  • If you keep itemized donation lists for your taxes, grab a pen and paper to start listing give-away items as you sort. Keep a bag ready for your donation items. If you need a printable for charitable tax donation items, I’ve got you covered!
  • Be prepared to schedule a donation pickup or run the donation items to your favorite donation place ASAP! Don’t let this bag linger in your home for days, weeks, or months!

3. Sort the items you want to keep into categories

Think about how your family functions.

Does it make sense to have a space for each family member? OR will it work better to have like-items sorted together?

Coat closet sorting like items together for easy access.

To be honest, I do a mix of both.

I started with hats, gloves, and scarves.

The hats and scarves each had their own storage basket. The gloves went into individual compartments in an over-the-door shoe organizer.

4. Make labels for baskets or storage bins

Labeled storage bins for closet organization.

Once you have all of your items sorted. Be sure to label the baskets or storage bins so you’ll know exactly where to find something when the time comes.

This does NOT need to be fancy! Just making sure the entire family knows where things belong is a big piece of organization.

Grab some reasonably priced storage baskets here!

Washi tape is a favorite in our home! It works great to help label bins and baskets. See how I labeled items in our linen closet with washi tape.

How to Maximize Storage: My Coat Closet Space

As I mentioned before, I use an over-the-door shoe organizer to add some organization / storage space in our small hall closet.

Get creative! Use the back of the door for more storage

over the door shoe organizer to sort gloves and hats.

I actually have these over-the-door organizers in several locations in my home: coat closet, master closet, and laundry room.

My favorite are the CLEAR pocket over the door shoe organizers. Then you can see what is inside!

They are great for storing small items for easy access. I don’t actually use them for shoes!

For this particular project, the over the door shoe organizer works great for organizing hats and gloves.

Use small, but sturdy shelving for shoes

If you keep some shoes in your entryway closet, a sturdy shelf or shelves is a must!

Shelves for shoes in closet.

I must caution, this is NOT the place for all the shoes for each family member.

Keep a pair or two of your most frequently worn shoes here and store the rest in a mudroom or bedroom closet.

Keep only in-season items in the closet

If you are anything like our family, you have coats, jackets, and sweatshirts for ALL types of weather in your entryway coat closet.

This just doesn’t work if you have several family members all trying to use this space.

Try your best to narrow it down to a couple of seasonal items (coat or jacket) for each family member.

Then, you might actually have room for guests to hang a coat;-)

Once again, no judgement from me!

These are all things I had to face when I completed my project.

Coat Storage Closet Organization Complete

Project complete!

Entryway coat closet organization project.

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you are inspired to get your coat closet organized.

Need more closet organization solutions?

Several months back, I posted Real Life Closet Organization Ideas. This might just give you the extra boost you need to dive in to your project!

Don’t forget to PIN THIS to your favorite Pinterest board for later!

How to organize your coat closet
Small coat closet organization

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