Making space

Closets are funny things...there's never enough space in there, but there's always wasted or empty space.  Whether above or below, I bet there's square footage (or at least inches) in your closet that can be put to better use. 

Over the years, I've found a few ways to put dead space to use for storage in various closets.

My favorite solution is to add a dresser:

The above dressers are in my closet.  I did this for BabyGirl's closet as well:

It's not the perfect size, nor is it very good-looking, but it does get the job done.  I use it to store clothes that she doesn't yet wear, but will tomorrow morning when she grows two inches over the course of the night, as babies often do. Dressers in closets take advantage of all the usable space below the clothes racks.

Another solution is to just add another rack:

We went this route when we readied the Little Guy's "big boy" room.  A clothes rack was added to the bottom half of the closet.  You can see that this is where all of his shirts go.  They are well within reach for our 3-year-old, which makes the morning routine so much easier.

Use a sweater hanger (is that what this is called?) for something other than sweaters:

It's meant for sweaters, but this thingy is in the Little Guy's closet to store extra blankets, sheet sets, mattress pads and afghans.  Not everything is a perfect fit, but it's all easy to reach whenever we need it.

Finally, try a rolling cart for added storage:

This is my new solution to a pesky problem:  the guest room closet is filled with sewing projects that I swear I will get to one day.  My plan is to store my sewing machine and supplies on this rolling cart so I can wheel it out whenever the sewing urge strikes.  Which it occasionally does.  And when it does, I'd like to be ready.

How do you get more storage out of your closets?