Closet Door Real Estate

Valuable storage space that is often overlooked can be found on the backs of your closet doors. There are better alternatives to those over-the-door organizers which almost never allow a door to close. I am no decorator by any stretch but even I know that the hooks that are visible into the room when the door is closed looks terrible.

These great adjustable shelves can be attached to the inside of a closet door and the items it can store are endless. You can create a much needed pantry out of otherwise wasted real estate behind a closet door in an older home that lacks much needed kitchen storage. I use a couple smaller shelves like these to store my cleaning supplies out of reach of little hands and freeing up closet shelves for other things without taking up kitchen cupboard space. You can find these shelves at Walmart, Home Depot and similar stores but be sure to measure your closet door first so you purchase the correct size.

Hooks, hat holders and so many other organizers can be utilized on the back of a closet door. Nearly any organizer designed with a hanger (like this jewelry hanger), can be hung on a door with a hook and secured at the bottom to prevent it from flopping around. Attaching these organizers to the back of a closet door is better than hanging them inside where things can fall out of the pockets as they get snagged on clothes that you move while looking for the right outfit. If you've ever used one of these hanging organizers on a clothes rod you probably know what I mean. They are also more visible and accessible attached to the back of closet door than hanging with your clothes. If you have hollow doors like I do, don’t discount the closest door real estate, there are screws that can be used to properly anchor screws and hooks, just ask your friendly hardware store employee and they will show you which hardware to buy.

You can get creative with the backs of your doors to really utilize their valuable real estate. Things that I can think of to store behind a closet door include shirt ties, belts, any pantry items, light bulbs, tools, extension cords, cleaning supplies, jewelry, scarves, most any clothing accessory, medicine or linen closet type goods, children's hair accessories, etc. The possibilities are endless.

The only closet doors that do not offer storage real estate are those pesky bi-folds. I value the real estate that the backs of closet doors offer so much so that the bi-fold closet doors in our 1970s home was one of the first things to go when we bought our house 5 years ago. Our coat closet door stores ball caps with a handy organizer and the other closet door holds my kids’ backpacks on hooks. I am so glad we replaced the bi-folds with usable storage real estate. It was well worth it.