5 Simple Tips for Small Hall Closet Organization

by Jen @ RamblingRenovators - 7:00 AM

Is there anything more pleasing to the eye than an organized small hall closet? I'm not sure there is!

We've been struggling to get our front hall closet organized for a while now and I'm sure you can relate. No matter how big or small your house is, there's bound to be a coat closet that you're wrangling to get under control. I've got just the tips to get that closet organized once and for all.

Hall Closet Organization

A hall closet can be a catch-all for a variety of items, from a place to store coats and shoes to cleaning supplies and sports equipment. Without proper organization, it can quickly become cluttered and overwhelming.

However, with a little effort and some creative organization ideas, you can transform your hall closet into one of those functional small spaces that makes your daily routine more efficient, easier, and quicker. In this blog post, we'll share some tips and tricks for hall closet organization that will help you maximize your storage space and keep everything in its place.

The rest of our entryway has been refreshed - we had the main floor repainted in just one day, added lighting and accessories, and gave the front door a new coat of paint and new smart lock - but this small front hall closet has largely been ignored.

The closet has never quite fit in with this entry and it was time that we optimized space and get this prime real estate working properly for our family. The louvered bifold door style didn't really fit in with the more traditional mouldings and door trims. And I'm not quite sure why, but one by one, all of the bifold closet doors in this house have been falling off their tracks, including this one!

Maybe this has something to do with it:

Can we say disorganized? This front hallway closet has a whole host of problems:

too many coats
an empty, wasted shelf at the top
lack of storage containers
too many shoes on the shoe rack and on the floor
dingy walls and a muddy floor

Granted, this photo was taken in March in Canada which is the peak of coat closet disorganization with all of the winter coats and snow boats and gloves and hats and scarves and and and! But with spring finally here, it was time to get this drop zone ready for the season.

Here's 5 Tips For Organizing a Small Hall Closet:

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1. Install a quality door

Goodbye louvers, hello classic panel door. My belief is that when you have nice things you want to keep them looking nice... therefore, by having a nicer looking door, you're more apt to keep the door closed properly, keep it clean, and keep what's behind the door just as neat.

SHOP THESE DOORS:

Our home's lack of space in this entry meant that we had to stick with a bifold door. We installed the Masonite Classics™ Two Panel Smooth Moulded Panel Door provided by our friends at Metrie. Not only does it function so much better, but it creates a cohesive look with the wall trim, and adjacent pocket doors. The doors and trim all speak the same language which is important if you want your home's interior design to feel well thought out and complete.

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To be honest, installing doors is something we never DIY'd! Doors can be finicky and trying to get them square and hanging level is just something we always left to the pros. Until now! The instructions with the bifold door seemed pretty clear and easy so we finally attempted it ourselves - and it was easy! I guess there will be more door hanging in our future ;)

If you have more space, consider using a single passage door instead of a bifold door. We had one in our previous home, and used the back of the door for additional storage. You can use the extra space for a hanging shoe organizer, or for hooks to hold things like purses, pet leashes, or umbrellas.

2. Use proper storage containers

When deciding on which storage containers, closet organizers, wire baskets, or bins to use, consider two things:

Form - How a container looks
Function - What a container will hold

Essentially, you'll want storage containers that are neither too large (and waste space) or too small (and easily overflow). You want your containers to provide quick and easy access to small items that need to be in the entry closet.

SHOP STORAGE CONTAINERS:

Selecting Storage Containers

Before you select your organizers, it's a good idea to undertake a quick exercise:

Take everything out of the closet and see what needs to be stored in a bin versus being stored on a clothing rod
Look at the size and quantity of what you need to store. How many storage boxes do you need? Should things be organized by type, or should family members each have their own box? What makes sense for the way you live?
Style wise, what fits your decor? Do you want neutral woven baskets, uniform baskets, or baskets in bright colors? Should you use clear containers so that you can easily see what is stored on the shelves?
Does open storage or closed storage with a lid make sense?

In our Before photo, you'll notice that there was both wasted storage space and we didn't have enough storage containers. I replaced the flimsy containers with the more substantial BRANKIS baskets and small bins from Ikea to create a multipurpose storage zone.

I like that the closet organizers have closed sides and a painted white finish which makes them look clean and ensures less visual clutter. I tried to find a similar white basket for the middle but had to settle for the STORSTABE basket in blue floral. This long and narrow basket holds our umbrellas.

The taller baskets on the top shelf hold off-season accessories, sports equipment, and bulky items. The shorter baskets keep gear for the current spring and summer season such as baseball caps, hats, and lighter scarves within easy reach.

With just a few simple investments and organizational techniques, you can transform your hall closet into an efficient, organized space that will make both storage and retrieval of items a breeze.

3. Edit Your Belongings

What do you store in a small front closet? The best way to answer this is to start with a clean slate and take everything out of the closet and assess your current storage space.

Start with the necessities: coats, the most used pairs of shoes for each person in the family, a few seasonal accessories like hats or gloves, and umbrellas.

It's easier said than done, though! In Canada, it's not unusual to have 3-4 coats per season. The same goes for boots and shoes; there's one for every kind of weather condition. Try to fit all of that in one closet and you have a recipe for disaster.

SHOP ORGANIZERS:

But realistically, there's probably only one or two coats you use most every day. When space is at a premium, consider storing your less-often used garments elsewhere. This is easily done with shoes too.

To streamline this entryway closet storage solution, we've kept one pair of everyday boots and shoes on the shoe shelves plus some rain boots just through these early spring months. Everything else is kept in either a bedroom closet or put in shoe bins in the basement until next season.

4. Paint and Make It Pretty

One way to make your coat closet feel instantly more luxurious is to paint it! I used leftover front door paint to paint the inside of the front hall closet. Using the same paint colour throughout the space makes the entryway feel cohesive.

Peel and Stick Paint Samples:

Picking just the right paint can be tricky so before you embark on this project - or any paint project - I highly suggest that you invest in peel and stick paint samples. These are really a revolutionary and useful product!

Samplize (US company, carries Benjamin Moore, Farrow and Ball, Sherwin Williams, and PPG brands) and Hello Paint (Canadian company, carries Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams) are two sites that sell large format peel and stick paint samples. These samples are reusable and repositionable. See HERE for a quick video on how I used them in my office project.

In our closet, the dark hue is an unexpected surprise and makes the inside of the closet and containers stand out. An unexpected bonus: any dirt marks and scrapes on the wall from muddy shoes are less visible with the darker paint colour.

Aside from uniform storage containers, consider using uniform wooden hangers as well. It's more pleasing to the eye when the hangers are all the same. And don't forget to have few extra hangers in the closet for when guests pop by!

A final small touch we made was to switch the brass handle for one in matte black. Again, this ties in with the other black accents in the area such as the lighting and stair rail hardware.

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5. Hang Shelving at the Right Height

Are you on the shorter side (like me!)? Do have young kids in your home? You want to maximize use of the vertical space but also consider placing your shelving and hanging rods at an optimal height for everyone in the household.

Before, the rod was too high for our 10 year old daughter and she had a hard time. As a result, she tended to dump her coat on top of the shoes instead of putting it on a hanger and hanging it. Now that we've lowered the shelves and rod and made this a kid-friendly space, she can put her coat in the proper place. Plus, it's easier for us to access the accessories stored in the baskets and keep everything organized.

With these changes, this closet is functioning better and we've been able to keep it organized.

Hall closets can often feel forgotten and disorganized, but with the right organization strategies, it can become the most efficient room in the house and provide an invaluable amount of extra storage. I'm happy to say I'm not embarrassed anymore when a guest drops by and I hang their coat in this closet!

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Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Metrie. Thank you for supporting the brands whose quality products I use in my home and recommend on this blog.

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