My family and I have lived in our new house for two and a half years now, but there are still spaces that have sat mostly unchanged since the day we dumped moving boxes into them. One of these spaces is the under-stairs closet, which has been littered with boxes and bins full of household items like light bulbs and packaging tape. Basically, it’s been a catch-all for utility and cleaning items. And it’s been an absolute disaster — until this weekend.
I sent professional organizer Kim Jones of Lock and Key Home some photos of the space and asked for her advice. I took her suggestions and turned one of the least organized areas in our home into a storage oasis. Here’s what she said to do.
Declutter and sort through items.
Before implementing Jones’ storage solutions, I knew it was important to declutter the entire closet. I used the steps I always do, which Jones echoed in her own instructions: “The first step is to clear the space completely. Pull everything out and place all items into categories. You may find that you have items that don’t belong in this space, which I would use as a dedicated utility space.”
Jones says now is a great time to declutter any multiples of items you find that you haven’t used. I was in fact able to get rid of more than two boxes full of things like dried-out tubes of caulk, plumber’s putty, and more.
“With spaces that are tight and where it’s hard to know where to put anything, everything usually ends up all over the floor,” Jones says. This is exactly what happened. I had a mental block about how to organize such an awkwardly shaped storage area. With a reluctance to sort through my husband’s tools, I neglected the room for months and months, frustrated every time I needed to wade through boxes and sift through piles to get something we needed. I followed Jones’ advice and got stuff up and off the floor, which has such an outsized impact in making a space feel orderly.
Use the walls to hang items.
Jones liked how I used the wall on the left side of the closet to hang mops, brooms, vacuum cleaners, and other tools on a mounted broom holder. She suggested that I use the wall space on the right side of the closet as well. We had an extra slatwall hanger from when we organized the garage, so we hung it here and used it to hold onto a clothes drying rack, a nail gun, and a bag that holds vacuum accessories.
Utilize the back of the door.
“An over-the-door organizer is a great way to create space,” Jones says. Since I had moved the vacuum hose to hang on the wall, I was able to use the back of the door to hang some shelves. I put them facing into the closet so that everything would be contained when the door is closed. I filled it with cleaning supplies, making sure to put more frequently used items in the most accessible spot. Less frequently used items got put on higher shelves. I also moved the ironing board to the laundry room to clear even more space.
“For the back space, a shelving unit would be good to fit tucked under the stairs,” Jones suggested. I bought a three-tiered wire shelving unit and placed it in the previously dead space under the stairs. It was perfect! I added some bins for storing the small items that had previously been mixed up in various boxes and bins. The area was maximized for storage beautifully, using vertical space even without a wall.
I haven’t had a chance to tackle this last step yet, but as Jones says, labeling is the “icing on the cake.” When boxes are labeled, you know exactly where to put items back, which helps you not just toss items back in the room to pile up again. “The labels are a friendly reminder to place the items back where they go,” Jones adds, and they also help others who are less familiar with the space be able to find things and put them away exactly where they go.
With decluttered items, a smart storage system, and the labels to maintain it, our previously chaotic under-stairs closet has become a peaceful and functional space that serves us super well.
