How To Achieve The Trending Everything Closet And Tidy Up Your Life

If it feels like your home has more clutter than can fit into your kitchen's junk drawer, it might be time to try out a new trend on the home organizing scene: the everything closet. And when it says everything, it means it. This multifunctional space can be mixed, matched, and customized to keep your daily essentials and extra items on hand in one easy-to-find spot. The everything closet is especially great for homes tight on space because it helps you maximize storage in small spaces, allowing you to store things that would normally be stored separately — like linens and extra bath towels alongside your cleaning backstock — in one place.

Creating a specific space for them in the everything closet prevents extra clutter in your home and makes it easy to find what you need. Want to get started? There are a few things to do first, primarily finding a home for your new everything closet. The beauty of this system is it can fit anywhere, including your current front hall coat closet, the closet crammed by your garage, and the linen closet at the end of the hall.

After you finalize the location for your new everything closet, empty the space. Remove everything inside, give it a good clean, then measure it. This is an important step because having the measurements handy will make selecting a closet storage system easier; one quick look at the system's dimensions will easily narrow down your options. Or, if you decide to DIY your closet storage system, knowing how much space you have to work with will help you identify how much wood, fasteners, and other materials you'll need to get started.

Next, decide what you want to store in your closet. This is where the everything closet's flexibility truly shines. You can store things you use every day, like your kids' backpacks and your work laptop, and even those bulky holiday baking pans that don't fit in the kitchen. Or maybe to make the nightly closing duties that keep your kitchen clean and functional easier, you want to move your broom and duster into the everything closet. Narrowing down what you want to keep here will help you know how to configure your storage system before you set it up. Organizers — like baskets, caddies, and bins for shelf storage, and hooks and pegboards to take advantage of vertical storage — are a great way to keep items organized and easy to find.

Once you've selected the best way to lay out your everything closet storage system, it's time to install it. Once the system is in place, start moving items in. 

It's no secret that it's hard to keep closets tidy. So, wouldn't it be harder with so many different items stored in your everything closet? Not really. Since you've already determined what should live where, it's easier to keep items neatly organized. 

The key to making sure your everything closet stays tidy is simple: Leave a little room for everyday life. This could mean leaving an empty bin on the shelf, a few spare hangers on the rack, or an open hook on the pegboard. This way, you've always got room to store those few extra bottles of your favorite cleaning products from Costco, guests' coats, Amazon packages, or those holiday gifts your kids are searching for.

Next, label as much as you can. If you're using acrylic or plastic storage bins and caddies in your everything closet, try chalkboard markers like Chalkola White Chalk Markers to write the names of the bin's contents on the outside. Have a mix of storage bins or prefer a label? A label maker like the Brother P-Touch Handy Label Maker will create neat labels to show where things go. 

Finally, add a quick wipe down of your everything closet to your regular cleaning schedule. This helps keep everything clean and gives you a chance to declutter and organize as needed.