1) Reuse containers that your food comes in if you are able to wash it. Butter tubs can be used for craft supplies, two liter soda bottles can be used for dispensing yarn, oatmeal canisters can be used for toys. The possibilities are endless and you can make space by organizing all of those little things that can make an area turn into a heap of junk.

2) Make space under the bed and furniture. Risers are readily available and are so useful when it comes to making space. Risers are plastic stands that go under the legs and feet of your beds, couches, end tables and more. You can raise up an end table, cover it with a table cloth or sheet, and have instant living room storage underneath. By raising up your couch, you can store things under it. You can store toys, large shallow containers filled with winter coats, art supplies, or even your broom. You can do the same thing with your beds, making instant space for storing out of season clothes, books, files, shoes, or anything else.

3) Installing small shelves in the kitchen can double your pantry space. Start by cutting and staining boards that are 6” wide. Install them about 8” apart on a side wall of your kitchen. These are perfect for storing all of your canned goods, freeing up cabinet space. You can install doors on the front, a sheer curtain, or just leave it open to give your kitchen that charming country feel.

4) Use bags that you can suck the air out of with your vacuum for storing bulky clothes and linens. These space saving bags can save up to 80% of the little space that you have available. You can stack thick comforters, sweaters, sheets and more in a fraction of the space that they took up in the linen closet. Another benefit of this is that they come out smelling as nice as when you put them in!

5) Get rid of whatever junk you can. We tend to hoard things that we think we can use later. Donate extra office supplies to your local school or church. Clothing can be donated to help clear out space in your closet. Once you get it cleared out, you can still save more closet space by using space saving hangers, like velvet hangers to maximize the space that you have left.

About the Author: Rick Miller is on the staff of Only Slimline Hangers, a leading online resource for velvet hangers which are space saving hangers, non slip hangers and slim line hangers. For more information, please visit http://www.onlyslimlinehangers.com.

Prepping your home for Thanksgiving starts with getting organized. You need to get things in order to keep it running smoothly when the visitors start to pour in. Start with your everyday problem areas. The entryway to your home, your countertops, and your closets are usually the biggest challenges. After you get these things under control, you can decorate and get your house ready for company.

Entryway: Keep the entrance to the home welcoming and clear. When people come in, they will need somewhere to hang their coats. If your coat closet is already stuffed, consider clearing it out a little. You can hang coats that aren’t used as often in a spare bedroom or on a rolling garment rack. This combined with using space saving hangers in the closet will give you a lot more space. If you don’t have room in the coat closet, you can use a stand-alone coat rack by the door. Or, you can install a wall mounted coat hanger bar. You can stock it with slim velvet hangers that won’t cause your guests’ coats to end up on the floor.

Countertops: Keeping the kitchen and bathroom countertops clear can be challenging for sure. These areas often become the catch-all spot for little things that people don’t feel like putting away. If you’re cooking Thanksgiving dinner at your house, you will definitely need to do something about clutter before you need that space. See if you can find areas for appliances that aren’t constantly used. You will need a lot of counter space to prepare and serve all of those dishes. An organizing charging station on the kitchen counter can solve a lot of your problems. Small wall shelves or cleaning out your junk drawer can give you more room, too.

Closets: Closets are notoriously messy. They are rarely seen by others, so they are constantly pushed down the list of cleaning priorities. Give your closets a quick makeover by giving away as much as possible to charity. Hang your clothes on space saving hangers, like velvet hangers, to find new space that you didn’t know you had. You will be amazed how much time you save when your closets are usable and decluttered.

About the Author: Rick Miller is on the staff of Only Slimline Hangers, a leading online resource for velvet hangers which are space saving hangers, non slip hangers and slim line hangers. For more information, please visit http://www.onlyslimlinehangers.com.

One big convenience of the reach-in closet is the wide open doorway. This gives you access to a lot of square footage that would have ended up hidden in a standard or walk in closet. You can utilize the space underneath your clothes by installing drawers, bins, shelves and shoe racks.

Your goal should be to determine how much square footage you can free up. It doesn’t really matter if it is a big walk-in or a regular closet, because square footage is square footage. See what happens if you hang all of your shortest garments on one end. Does it create more space below? What if you moved the top shelf and bar up? Does that help to use some of that ceiling space that normally goes to waste? What if you move the bar back closet to the back wall? Do you now have more room in the front corners? Be creative and think outside of the box when you are trying to make space.

Another tip is to think about more than what will look nice. If you’re thinking in numbers, then you are more likely to think of a way to make more room. For example, if you do all of the things listed above, move the top shelf up and move the bar up and back, then did you just make room for a second hanging bar below? What about on one side? If you started out with an eight foot bar, then couldn’t you divide it into two four foot bars and condense them to one side of the closet? If so, then you still have the same number of feet of hanging space, but you just emptied literally half of your closet for additional storage.

On the empty side, you can slide in a dresser, add a closet system or simply add shelves. You may be able to extend your top shelf out to the front wall on each side of the door. Then you may have room to build or assemble book shelves down each side of the closet near the front. You can use this space for storing just about anything that will fit.

The main lesson here is to throw your normal closet thinking out the window and really use your creativity to come up with a useful plan. If you still feel like clothes are crowded, use space saving hangers like slimlinehangers to create even more space. When you are done, you could have the custom closet that you’ve always wanted without having to buy a new house!

About the Author: Rick Miller is on the staff of Only Slimline Hangers, a leading online resource for slimlinehangers which are space saving hangers, non slip hangers and slim line hangers. For more information, please visit http://www.onlyslimlinehangers.com.