How to Organize a Small Closet: A Measured Plan, Rod by Rod
Short answer
Measure the closet, then hang clothes by length. Shirts, jackets and folded pants hang about 38 to 42 inches long (This Old House), so two rods, at 81¾″ and 40½″ (Bob Vila), hold twice as many of them in the same width. Give dresses and coats a single rod at 66″, keep a shelf at least 2″ above the top rod for bins, and use the back of the door and the floor last.
81¾ + 40½″
double rods for shirts
66″
one rod for long clothes
24″
standard closet depth
Contents
Start by measuring the closet
Four numbers decide what fits: the width inside, wall to wall; the depth, from the back wall to the door; the height to the ceiling; and the door opening. A standard closet is 24 inches deep, and 20 is the tight minimum for hangers (Dimensions.com). Remodel Fit’s standard closet depth guide has the reasons.
The depth comes from the hanger. An adult hanger is 17 inches wide (The Container Store), and the rod has to be at least 12 inches from the back wall (Bob Vila), so the clothes reach from 3½ to 20½ inches out.
Then look at what you hang. Put everything on the rod, measure how much rod it takes, and count how many hangers fit in a foot. That tells you how many feet of rod the new layout has to give back, and the next step is where most of it comes from.
Hang clothes by length
Clothes come in three lengths, and each wants its own kind of rod. These are the lengths Ginny Scott of California Closets gave This Old House:
| Clothes | Hanging length | Where they go |
|---|---|---|
| Shirts, jackets, blazers, folded pants | 38–42″ | Double rods, one above the other |
| Dresses, trousers hung by the cuff | 48–56″ | A single rod at 66″ |
| Long gowns, overcoats, bathrobes | 64″ or more | A single rod at 66″ |
Under a single rod, a shirt leaves 3 or 4 feet of empty wall below it (This Old House). A second rod uses that space: Bob Vila puts the top rod at 81¾ inches and the lower one at 40½, and a child’s lower rod at 30. If you own only a few long things, a section a foot or two wide is enough for them, and the rest of the closet can be double rods.
Thin hangers leave more rod for clothes: a wooden IKEA BUMERANG hanger is 9/16″ thick and a plastic TRYSSE ½″, before the clothes on them.
Use the shelf above the rod
- Height: at least 2 inches between the top of the rod and the shelf (Bob Vila). This Old House puts the top shelf about a foot below the ceiling, for things you get down once a season.
- Depth: 12 inches holds shoes and smaller clothes (Dimensions.com); wire closet shelves come 12 and 16 inches deep (ClosetMaid).
- Stacks: no more than three or four sweaters, or five or six shirts (This Old House). If you can’t pull out the bottom one without toppling the pile, it’s too tall.
- Bins: a set of three IKEA SKUBB boxes is 7¾×15×4¾″ each and fits a 16″ shelf; a SKUBB shoe box is 8¾×13½×6¼″, which overhangs a 12″ shelf by 1½″.
Add hanging shelves or drawers
A hanging organizer turns a stretch of rod into shelves for folded clothes. Check its height against the rod it hangs from:
- IKEA SKUBB, 6 compartments: 13¾×17¾×49¼″. It takes 13¾″ of rod and is too tall to fit above a lower rod at 40½″, so it belongs on a single rod.
- IKEA RASSLA, 5 compartments: 9¾×15¾×38½″. Hung from a top rod at 81¾″, it ends at about 43¼″, above a lower rod at 40½.
Drawers for folded clothes need to be at least 18 inches deep (Dimensions.com), which a 24-inch closet takes. A chest of drawers inside the closet uses the space of a hanging section, so put it under a shelf, not under hanging clothes: a 29½″ STORKLINTA 3-drawer chest is taller than the 24 to 28 inches that 38–42″ shirts leave under a rod at 66. The drawers also need floor in front to open; our dresser dimensions guide has the clearance.
Use the door and the floor
- The door: over-the-door racks hook over the top of a hinged door. IKEA’s, from the 21¾″ KOMPISHÄNG to the ENUDDEN hanger, fit doors up to 1½ inches thick, and interior doors are 1⅜ (Remodel Fit’s standard door sizes).
- Shoes: for a dozen pairs or fewer, Mary Danowski of Poliform suggests a rack below the clothes; for many more, cubbies or sliding shelves that hold shoes two deep (This Old House).
- Under which clothes: a 30¾×12⅝×15¾″ MACKAPÄR shoe rack fits under shirts on a 66″ rod, whose hems stop 24 to 28 inches up, but not under 56″ dresses, which stop at 10.
Free tool
Not enough closet? Measure an empty wall and the Storage Finder shows which clothing rail, sliding wardrobe or chest of drawers fits it, with the floor to use it.
Questions people ask
How do you organize a small closet with lots of clothes?
Double the rods for everything 42 inches long or shorter (81¾″ and 40½″, Bob Vila), keep one short section at 66″ for long pieces, move out-of-season clothes into bins on the top shelf, and put shoes and accessories on the floor and the back of the door.
How high should closet rods be?
One rod: 66 inches from the floor. Two rods: 81¾ and 40½ inches, or 30 inches for the lower rod in a child’s closet (Bob Vila). Leave at least 2 inches above the top rod for a shelf.
How deep does a closet need to be for hangers?
24 inches is standard and 20 inches is the tight minimum (Dimensions.com). An adult hanger is 17 inches wide, on a rod at least 12 inches from the back wall.
How do you store shoes in a small closet?
On a rack under shirts or other short clothes, where the floor stays clear; in shoe boxes on the shelf; or on the back of a hinged door. A SKUBB shoe box is 13½ inches deep, so it needs a shelf deeper than 12.
Can you put a dresser in a closet?
Yes, under a shelf rather than under hanging clothes, and with room in front of the closet to pull the drawers out. Drawers for folded clothes should be at least 18 inches deep (Dimensions.com).
Sources
- Solved! This Is the Perfect Height for a Closet Rod (Manasa Reddigari and Bob Vila, updated October 2024): a single rod at 66″; double rods at 81¾″ and 40½″, a child’s lower rod at 30″; at least 2″ from shelf to rod; the rod at least 12″ from the back wall; closets average 24″ deep
- Closet Control (Curtis Rist, This Old House): hanging lengths from Ginny Scott of California Closets (38–42″, 48–56″, 64″ or more), the 3 or 4 feet wasted under a shirt, stacks of three or four sweaters and five or six shirts, the top shelf a foot below the ceiling; shoe storage from Mary Danowski of Poliform
- Reach-In Closets (Dimensions.com): 24″ standard depth, 20″ narrower, 12″ shelves for shoes and smaller clothes, drawers at least 18″ deep
- Our Ultimate Guide to Clothes Hangers (The Container Store): adult hangers 17″ wide
- How-to guides (ClosetMaid): wire shelves 12″ and 16″ deep
- Closet organizers (IKEA US): product pages for the SKUBB boxes, shoe box and 6-compartment organizer, RASSLA organizer, BUMERANG and TRYSSE hangers, KOMPISHÄNG and ENUDDEN door hangers (doors up to 1½″), MACKAPÄR shoe rack and STORKLINTA 3-drawer chest