making the most of your closet space

I have a #firstworldproblems confession.  My closet is too small!  It's a walk-in, but there is barely four feet of hanger space, total.  I have to share this with my husband, which means I get about two-and-a-half feet to myself (he is surprisingly protective of his hanger space!).  I have purged three times in the last year.  I still have more shirts than I wear, but the number one thing that eats up my closet space is my massive maxi dress collection!

During the summer, I wear max dresses at least twice a week.  Last summer, when I was pregnant with little bear, I wore them almost every day.  Combine my  love of the freedom of skirts and dresses with my tall figure and voila!  I give you my incredible selection of maxi dresses.  This photo was taking two years ago when we moved, and only includes 3/4 of what the collection was THEN (minus maxi skirts!).  So, ya, lots of dresses.

If they each hung on their own hanger, it would take up ALL my closet space, easy.  But I learned a trick back when I was in college, sharing an even smaller closet with another girl.  

Pants hangers!  Duh!  How easy is that?  I use bar hangers for my maxi dresses.   I found these particular hangers at Target, but they only have them in stock once in a while.  They are on amazon here.  You can get smaller versions (with only three bars) at Walmart.  I love these because the bars unhook and swing out, so I can hang one skirt at a time without having to lay the whole hanger flat.

I use the clippy pants hangers for my skirts!  I also got these at Target and have occasionally seen them at Walmart.

I love how I can pull out a hanger and see all my skirts and dresses easily.

I have four dress hangers, and five skirt hangers.  It takes up less than a foot of my precious hanging space!  The bulk of the skirts makes these take up more space in the bottom half of my closet, which balances out nicely with all my shirts that take up the of the top half.  Plus, it makes me feel super organized every time I look at them. 

I still need to get my shirts under control... how to you keep your shirts organized?