If you’re among the home sellers are selling older homes, you probably know firsthand the struggle with finding space in a small closet. This shallow closet challenge is a typical one that we see with houses, especially homes in the many historic areas around the DC area.

While your closets may be small, you must show them at their very best while you are selling your home. Cramped closets are a deal-killer for some buyers. The trick, then, isn’t to actually spend money enlarging your closets; it’s maximizing the space that you do have by trying these small closet hacks.

Tips For Maximizing Closet Space

1 – Rid your closets of excess items

First and foremost, remove everything from your closet. Rid your closet of any clothes, shoes, or accessories that are outdated, ill-fitting, stained, or torn. Donate or discard these items.

Also, if you are listing your home in May, you don’t need your favorite ugly Christmas sweater collection—pack those away altogether while you are selling your home.

2 – Install a closet organizing system

Head off to your local hardware store and spend about $100 or a wire rack organization system. This set-up will enable you to have a double row of racks for blouses and trousers and a longer section for suits and dresses. It will also allow you space for stacking sweaters or shoe boxes.

3 – Use vertical space

Don’t waste any “vertical space.” These areas include the back of the closet door (think shoe racks) or the very top corners of the closet—is there space to add an extra shelf for little-utilized items way up there? Leave no square inch left unused.

4 – Cascading hangers

Choose cascading hangers over the usual hanger. This style of hanger allows you to cascade your shorter clothing (like tops) down in a vertical tier, maximizing hanging space inside your closet. Not only does it save oodles of space, but it also looks beautiful.

5 – Brighten the inside of the closet

While your clothing is out of the closet, give it a fresh coat of white paint. This color makes the interior of even the tiniest closet feel light and airy.

If you still have an old, yellow lightbulb, add a crisp LED bulb to cast a purer light in the space. Finally, give the inside of the closet floor a vacuuming as a final touch.

The overall impact is a closet that appears brighter and more substantial.

6 – Try a shoe rack

If you store your shoes inside boxes, you could be eating up valuable space. Instead, try a shoe rack that sits on the floor or mounts on the inside of the closet door. You’ll make more room on the shelves for other items.

7 – Fold your items neatly

When it’s time to return clothing to the closet, use an old-school shirt board to fold your jeans and sweaters uniformly. This tip gives your wardrobe an elegant appearance and makes it look like you have tons of storage space.

8 – Display the colors

Pro organizers advise clients to display their colors in the same order of the rainbow –remember ROYGBIV? Oh, and gray and black come after the violet shades. This look is dynamic and will impress potential home buyers. Plus, you’ll be able to find the exact shirt you want at any given time with ease.

9 – Use organizer boxe

If you store accessories, ties, or scarves in your closet, invest in simple organizer boxes. Smaller items tend to look messy and easily slip off or hangers. Organizing these will allow you more hanging space and keep these things off of the closet floor.

9– Add hooks to the end walls

Handbags take up tons of space and often end up tossed into a storage bin and shoved to the top closet shelf. They’re hardly accessible, so you forget to use many of them.

Install hooks in the end wall of the closet from the top to the bottom for storing your handbags. They will be accessible by pushing aside the clothing but organized and remain damage-free by hanging neatly.

The Bottom Line

While you may lack the budget to start a remodel project to add valuable closet space, these hacks take very little money. With some creative use of the space that you do have, you can create the illusion of ample closet space rather than revealing your common struggle with your small closets.

Don’t you wish you had tried these closet storage hacks sooner?