8 Ingenious Storage Ideas for Clothes, Shoes and More

Sometimes living in an apartment is great, but can leave you a little short on space. This can lead to a major purge and the first things to go are some of your old clothes. Then you replace old clothes with new clothes. And you're back at square one. But what if there was a way to keep all the clothes you love and still buy new threads? Here are some ingenious storage ideas to make the most of your small space and easily store all those new and vintage fashions.

Shoes

Shoes are clunky and awkwardly shaped. Throwing them under your bed or at the bottom of the closet is one way to deal with them, but why not add some organization?

• An old wine box: The dividers in the box let you sort them neatly. Cover the wine box with a cool wrapping paper or fabric to make them look a little nicer.
• A pallet: Lean a pallet against the closet wall, and it'll act like shelves you can store your shoes on.
• Hangers: Use child-size hangers or bend some cheap wire hangers, and you can hang your shoes with the rest of your clothes. If you don’t know how you can read a tutorial here.

Scarves

For such a small part of an outfit, scarves take up a surprising amount of space. For some reason, it is incredibly hard to find the right place to store them. This idea uses clear shoe holders, which allow you to keep your scarves out of the way while still being able to see them all at once. Another alternative is to use a tie rack to hang your scarves.

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Jewelry

Jewelry can become a huge mess when you don’t know what to do with it. Try hanging it on the wall using thumbtacks. Better yet, to prevent holes in the wall, use a bulletin board. Cover the board with wallpaper or wrapping paper first to give it a nicer look.

Using unusual furniture

You probably already have furniture that you could make good use of. Who says you have to use only the furniture people normally use for storing clothes?

• Shelves: They fit just as many clothes as dressers, but are easier to put together, cheaper, and much easier to move. You see clothes stored in shops this way all the time, so why not in your apartment?
• Desk drawers: How much do you really keep in desk drawers?  There's no reason why you can’t use them to store clothes, undergarments or spare bedding that just won’t fit anywhere else.
• Suitcases: They're made to carry clothes, but we only tend to use them when we travel. Put it next to the bed as a nightstand, and you get two things at once: a cool nightstand and more space to store your clothes.

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How do you store clothes and shoes in your small apartment?