I did:
> Large basket on the floor to contain the boots
> Hanging shoe strange from the bar to hold scarves, hats, gloves, etc.
> Few hooks on the sides for umbrellas, swifter, and other misc things.

My winter project is to put Elfa in ours. It is crammed full right now. I think the advantage of Elfa is that I'll be able to make use of the space above the current one shelf/bar. I'm planning to have the hanging bars at different heights to make more storage above. I tend to be overly optimistic about these things though, so I'll see how much space I actually have when they do the plan. This will be my third Elfa closet. I love them. I'm trying to convert all our closets but I only get to about one per year. Oh, and I just bought a folding step stool that I keep in my bedroom closet. I love it. It's so handy for reaching top shelves, changing light bulbs, etc., without having to drag something upstairs to stand on. You could get a tiny one and store in that closet.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We did Elba for our closets and love it. Container store has 30% off right now! Someone helped us design all of our closets and we maximized space.

OP here. I went to Container Store and did an elfa design. Not too many options with such a small space, but we can put a track on the back of the door to hold baskets for gloves etc and they can lower the bar to put two shelves above it. I'm not 100% convinced it will help much more, especially since the designer said that the baskets may squish the coats and it might not close but we can always try I guess. And it will finally get me to get rid of some coats in there we rarely wear.

I put an over-the-door organizer (like for shoes) on the back of our main coat closet. Pockets hold gloves, hats, scarves, etc., in winter and sunglasses, sunscreen, sunhats, etc., in summer. Makes it easy for my preschooler to grab her stuff and put it away.

Like this one:
https://www.amazon.com/Pro-Mart-42-Pocket-Over-Door-Organizer/dp/B002V9195S/

We each have a basket above the shelf for each member of our family. Gloves and hats go in there. We each get 3 coats/jackets hanging in the closet. The rest need weeded out. On the bottom we do store boots, but the majority of shoes live in our garage. Coat hooks on the door are great too.

Brooms and such can't fit in our closet because of the shoe rack at the bottom. They're messy. Those go in our walk in panty and hung on a rack there.

We hung a low hook on the inside of the door so our daughter can hang up her coats herself, which also saves room in the closet.

Anonymous wrote:We did Elba for our closets and love it. Container store has 30% off right now! Someone helped us design all of our closets and we maximized space.

OP here. I went to Container Store and did an elfa design. Not too many options with such a small space, but we can put a track on the back of the door to hold baskets for gloves etc and they can lower the bar to put two shelves above it. I'm not 100% convinced it will help much more, especially since the designer said that the baskets may squish the coats and it might not close but we can always try I guess. And it will finally get me to get rid of some coats in there we rarely wear.

A couple of thoughts: keep only the everyday coats in the closet and store special, less-often used coats upstairs in your bedroom closets. Does your closet have a light bulb in it? I find it easier to find things in well-lit closets.

Pp here. *elfa

We did Elba for our closets and love it. Container store has 30% off right now! Someone helped us design all of our closets and we maximized space.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How deep is it? 48" wide is nice. Olenth of space to do one bar for coats about 30" wide and do the rest in a shelving sustem. You can also put hanging bins/shelves on the inside of the door for gloves and hats. I have a wide but really shallow closed to do had to do books.

It's 24" deep. I like the idea of using the inside of the door as space for gloves and hats. And we do need to consolidate our costs but need the length as some of our coats are on the longer side. -OP

^^ sorry, meant consolidate "coats"

Our coat closet is much smaller - maybe 30-36 inches across. We only have stuff in there (within reach) that we use all the time. Each kid has a double hook - one for backpack, one for jacket (often also has a sweatshirt hung there). We have a shoe rack in there for mostly grown up shoes - only the seasonal ones. The kids have a basket that goes on top for shoes - only 2-3 pairs in there. We hang rain coats and 1-2 adult coats each on hangers. There are 2-3 brooms stuffed on a side.

We have a small bench with baskets under it for seasonal hats and mittens and whatever. Also has some space for shoes if needed. Kind of like this, but ours has 3 smaller baskets instead. http://www.houzz.com/photos/56446970/Safavieh-Freddy-Wicker-Storage-Bench-Distressed-White-accent-and-storage-benches

On the top shelf of the closet we keep a bag of balls and picnic stuff. Some exercise gear that's rarely used. We probably need to organize that, ha!

Anonymous wrote:How deep is it? 48" wide is nice. Olenth of space to do one bar for coats about 30" wide and do the rest in a shelving sustem. You can also put hanging bins/shelves on the inside of the door for gloves and hats. I have a wide but really shallow closed to do had to do books.

It's 24" deep. I like the idea of using the inside of the door as space for gloves and hats. And we do need to consolidate our costs but need the length as some of our coats are on the longer side. -OP

How deep is it? 48" wide is nice. Olenth of space to do one bar for coats about 30" wide and do the rest in a shelving sustem. You can also put hanging bins/shelves on the inside of the door for gloves and hats. I have a wide but really shallow closed to do had to do books.

I can sympathize with you PP. We didn't even think about the fact that our hall closet was the only closet on the main level of the home when we built. It's a hot mess. We have coats crammed into the closet with a few boxes along the top shelf that I can barely reach to hold hats and gloves. The floor is littered with the central vac's powerhead, floor brush pole, and the Dyson stick vac's pole. I had three closets on the main floor of my parents' house growing up and the hall closet was solely reserved for coats. Wonder what these new builders were thinking?

It's a typical coat closet--about 48" wide with a bar and a wire shelf above the bar. It is hard to keep organized and I can't find anything when I need it. I'm thinking about doing Elfa but I'm not sure what I could do to improve it with the limited space. I would like to be able to keep winter accessories and boots in it, as well as our broom and a few other things. The priority is being able to see and reach what I need (I'm short). I've looked online and haven't found much.

Ideas?