Keep your closets neat and comfy with a few quick tips.

Closets and pantries can easily become overrun with piles of clothes, mismatched shoes, outdated boxes of cereal and every other miscellaneous thing that gets stashed out of sight. Here are some easy tips and tricks to keep your closets, pantries and other hiding spaces neat and tidy.

Hanging Storage Bags

DIY Home Sweet Home shows how to free up drawer or shelf space by tacking boxes of freezer bags, sandwich bags, and other small boxes directly to the pantry door or wall.

Organize Storage Container Lids

DIY Home Sweet Home recommends attaching a wire dish rack to a plastic basket with twine or clear fishing line. Use the wire slots to keep your plastic storage container lids upright and separated. You won’t have to dig through piles of lids to find the right sized tops anymore.

Magnets

Superwoman suggests placing a magnetic strip inside your closet door, medicine cabinet or even bathroom drawer. Stick bobby pins, hair clips, nail clippers and tweezers to it for easy access.

Extra Clothes Bar

This tip comes from Alex Haralson. Use rope to hang PVC pipe, a sturdy cardboard tube, or a wooden dowel for an extra bar for clothes in your closet. This is especially handy in kid’s closets so they can reach their clothes. Compression shower rods also work well for this same purpose.

Luggage Tags

Better Homes and Gardens suggests labeling bins in your closet or pantry with luggage tags. This works well for cloth bins with handles. Use a cute and colorful luggage tag to identify the items stored in each bin. Then you can find and put things away quickly and easily.

Over the Door Organizers

Pocket organizers that hang over the door in either pantries or closets are perfect for shoes, socks, tights, kitchen utensils, coupons and any other small odds and ends. Organizers with clear pockets are ideal so you can find what you are looking for right away.

A Step Stool

Place a step stool in your closet or pantry so you can reach the top shelves with ease. It is always wise to place items you don’t use regularly in the hard to reach spaces, but making it easier to get items on and off of top shelves will keep you from wasting space or ignoring useful items.

Simple, small touches can make a world of difference in your hidden places. Once you’ve organized your closets and pantry make a commitment to stick to your new system so you won’t have to organize over and over. Do you have any quick tips for organizing a closet or pantry?

Image: Cat in the Closet by Sam Lavy