Living with someone else – it’s a great cure for loneliness and often makes financial sense, but it does come with challenges. Whether you share a bedroom with your significant other or an apartment with roommates, it’s important to figure out together how you’ll manage your space. The situation can become especially tricky when making decisions about closets and storage options.

While it may seem “fair” to just divide up space evenly between everyone, that may not be the best way to actually get your place organized.

Here at Modular Closets, we’ve helped so many couples, families, and roommates figure out home organization strategies that work for their unique relationship dynamics, so we’ve learned a thing or two over the years about closet sharing.  

If you’re looking for a better way to share your available closet space so it works well both for your home organization and your relationship, here are 3 tips you can try:

When it comes to sharing a closet, sometimes couples just “take sides.” But that may mean that no one ends up with the storage space they actually need.

A better solution is to put in place a closet system that’s personalized for each person’s needs. For example, if a husband needs space for a lot of ties while a wife needs space for a lot of shoes, a smart strategy would be to incorporate a tie rack and shoe cubbies into the closet space.

By adding shelves, hanging rods, drawers, dividers, and other closet accessories, it’s possible to make use of all the closet space you have available so that each person can both store and organize their unique wardrobe.  

There may no longer be a “His” side and a “Her” side – but instead everyone can get the storage they need to make it easy to get and stay organized.

2. Try a Closet Alternative

Sometimes, there’s just not enough room inside a closet.

While adding shelves, drawers, and cubbies can create more room for organizing and transform even small reach-in closets, sometime there’s still not enough closet space. The good news, it can be easy to create storage options outside of the closet.

For example, you may be able to add shelves or drawers to an otherwise empty wall. Perhaps you can add cubbies in a spare room or attic to create an organizational system for out-of-season wear. That way, you would only have to store clothes you’re currently wearing in your closet, while keeping out-of-season items neatly stowed away in another room.  

If after trying the two previous strategies, you find you’re still dealing with closet overflow, it might be time to purge some of your belongings.

When you’re sharing space with someone else, it’s important to create a joint commitment to streamline, so that everyone is working together to create a more organized home life. Maybe you can establish some rules everybody will follow, like agreeing to get rid of anything that’s stained, ripped, or hasn’t been worn in over two years. 

Working together can help you keep honest with yourself about what your really do use and need. It may even be a fun bonding experience for everybody!

If you’re ready to explore a customized closet system solution to transform your storage, our team at Modular Closets would love to help! We’ll be happy to work with everyone in your home to design a storage approach that will take in everybody’s individualized needs.

To get the process started, just fill out our online form!