My master bedroom closet is definitely not a Pinterest dream closet; for starters, it’s only 3 feet wide, which is smaller than what most pre-fab closet systems are designed for.  I had a standard clothing bar and a single shelf.  On top of that, the door swings out in such a way that the ceiling light in the middle of the room is blocked by the open door.  Together, this makes for a tiny black hole that clothes get lost in.  What to do?!

I knew I would need to do something to make my clothes more readily accessible.  I wanted to actually see what was inside.  With a few supplies from the hardware store, I was able to add some lighting to my tiny closet – no electrician required!

How to Add Brightness to a Dark, Tiny Closet

How to Add Brightness to a Dark Tiny Closet

Supplies Required:

  • Rope Light
  • Basic Screw-in Cup Hooks
  • Remote Switch
  • Thumbtack
  • Scrapbook Paper

I added rope loads to the inside my closet, lining the perimeter of the interior trim of the door.  You can’t see the lighting from the outside of the closet, but it casts a strong white glow.  I used cup hooks to hold the rope lighting in place.  At first, I had to plug and unplug the rope lights with every use, and with the plug at the base of my closet just outside the door, this was a hassle to do on a daily basis.

I found an inexpensive remote switch at Factory Direct which was perfect for my needs.  I plugged the base into the output, then used just the remote to turn the lighting on and off as required.  I didn’t want to lose my remote, but I didn’t want to attach it permanently to the wall, so I made a little sleeve out of scrapbook paper to and thumbtacked that to the trim.  It’s a great tool!

Craftcore Light and Bright Closet Makeover | rope lights & remote lighting
Remote living in a paper sleeve caddy keeps the remote from getting lost. The rope lights are attached with ordinary cup hooks. Also pictured: I used those some cup hooks to add some additional hanging storage.

Additional Storage

As I mentioned, my closet is too small to fit a pre-fab storage solution, so I am stuck with the standard shelf + closet bar combo.  These were the methods I used to make this teeny closet hold more.

Soft Shoe Rack, For Anything Other Than Shoes

I have one of those soft shoe racks hanging from the closet bar, but I don’t use it for shoes.  I store all sorts of things, like little baskets of nail polish, fashion accessories, tote bags, etc.

Cup Hooks

I added cup hooks to the sides of my closet to hang up belts and scarves.

Craftcore Light & Bright Closet Reveal | Bottom of Closet Ideas

Over the Door Storage

I added over-the-door hooks on both the inside and outside of my closet door.  I store lightweight sweaters and outerwear that I want to wear again on the outside of my closet, and house coats and robes on the inside of the closet.  That may or may not be a Jedi Snuggie hanging in the picture below.

Cube Shelf

I added a cube shelf unit along the right hand wall of my closet.  I use it to store my extra purses and other bulky items that I don’t use often but need to keep accessible.

Laundry and Hanger Baskets

I keep two baskets in the base of my closet, one for my hand-wash only laundry that needs to be cleaned (don’t want it to get mixed up with my regular laundry and have a disaster!), and one for my unused hangers.  Every time I take an item of clothing off the bar, I immediately drop the hangers into the basket.  This way, the hangers don’t take up excess space on the bar leaving more room to shift items around, plus the bonus of being able to pull out the basket when doing laundry so all my hangers are ready to go.

Catch-All Baskets

I added some plastic dollar store bins to the top of my closet to corral the items that were previously haphazardly thrown in.  Now it’s easy to pull out a basket and look through it without everything sliding down.

Craftcore Light & Bright Closet Reveal | Top Shelf Ideas
I’ve been living with this closet for a few months and I’m loving the change.  The 3 foot wide closet is still 3 feet wide, so it’s not like I can magically store more clothes.  I donated a lot of my unneeded items to make room for the clothes I really love.  For everything that was left, I turned my hangers around so that they would be backwards.  As I wear and wash items, I put them away with the hangers the correct orientation.  By the end of the year, I’ll be able to see what things I haven’t touched and whether I want to donate those ones as well.

Hanger Trick

Sneak Peek of My Nursery Closet

While I don’t love how my master bedroom closet looks, it gets the job done.  Adding the lighting was the most impactful difference for usability!

On a semi-related note, I’m working on the nursery for my son who is due to be born this September.  Shockingly, his tiny bedroom actually has a large closet compared to the master bedroom!  I’m having much more fun decorating his closet, so I wanted to share a sneak peek of his closet.  Similar to my own closet, I added baskets to the top shelf, so that I can organize all those baby odds and ends that need to stay out of reach.  I have size organizers to divide up the clothing; I can’t wait to go through all the remaining clothing and get it all organized in here.  For the bottom of the closet, I set up one of those cube shelf organizers with some toys.  A lot of these toys are actually my toddler nephew’s for when he comes over, but it gives you an idea of what the closet will look like.

For a dash of whimsy in this grey room, my friends painted it bright mint for me.  I love it!

Craftcore Light & Bright Closet Reveal | Baby Nursery Closet Sneak Peek.  Pop of colour in the closet to brighten up a grey infant room.

I hope you like my closets and that they give you some ideas of what you can do even in the smallest of spaces.  Happy organizing!

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