As far as closets go, I’ve seen it all. We once owned a home with one closet in the entire house. Just one! It stretched across a wall in the bedroom. There were no other closets to be found – no linen closet, hall closet, or anything like that.
And my husband and I had to share it! Any gal out there who has shared a closet with her husband knows what I’m talking about. Here’s some easy ways to make a His and Her closet feel like- well, His and Hers.
Toss it Out
My husband and I had to get serious when we only had one closet in the house. It was prime space and anything that went in there had to be useful. So our wardrobe was carefully scrutinized. If we hadn’t worn something in the past year, the item was either passed on to a family member or friend, donated to a charitable thrift store, or even cut into rags. It was not put into our closet.
Split It Up
Forget about trying to hang all the shirts together in one place. Nobody wants to have guy shirts all jumbled in with girlie blouses-ick. Your closet will just never give you any peace that way. You’ve got to feel that you have total claim to some of the space. So go ahead and divide it up – after a quick little fight about who gets six inches more on the rack.
Double Your Space
Hang one single additional rod on each side. The simplest designs are a breeze to install – a second rod hangs by two hooks from the top rod, and voila! Now you have a zone on top for Her Blouses, and His Shirts, and each of you have your own zone for pants and skirts on the bottom. (or vice versa) Whee.
Since she probably won the little fight for six extra inches – that space in the middle might be utilized for dresses rarely worn. The longer dresses hanging in the middle add to the feeling of a visible boundary between His Side and Her Side. At least dresses rarely worn are good for something.
Streamline the Floor space
Cleaning closet floors is gross. Spiders and dust balls love to gather under mountains of shoes shoved in a closet. So consider keeping your everyday shoes in another location – like a breezeway, or mudroom. If you don’t have designated space like that, create one with a rug by the front and back door. Then put your off-season shoes and seldom worn shoes in spider-free shoe boxes.
Label Everything
Be sure to label those shoe boxes when you put them on your closet shelf. Remember, each of you get one half of that shelf.
So there you have it…a simply functional His and Hers Closet!