Top Shelf Closet Organization: How to Maximize The Space

There’s tons of tips and ideas out there about closet organization, but what about top shelf closet organization specifically? How do you best maximize this space? I’ve often used the top shelf of my closet as a catch-all for all kinds of random stuff, just sort of precariously stacking things on top of each other, so it’s no surprise when I’ve tried to grab something in the past and things fall down on me!

I follow the Clean Mama cleaning routine and her monthly focus this month was closets, so I figured I’d spend a little time trying to improve my closet organization, and specifically the top shelf of my closet. As I did so, I followed the simple steps below and found they really helped me get that top shelf organized and to maximize what had previously been a lot of dead space.

Declutter

Decluttering truly does make the rest of the job so much easier. I feel like we spend so much time focusing on the right organizational containers that will help us fit more into our closets, but it’s so much easier to organize everything if we pare down what we actually have in there. Take 15 minutes and go through the stuff you pull off your top shelf, decluttering anything you don’t need. Not only will emptying your closet shelf create a clean slate to work with, but you’ll feel lighter and less overwhelmed once you put things back up there.

Create Additional Shelving

This is the key to top shelf closet organization. If you can create more shelving, you will make everything more visible and accessible, and you’ll avoid the dreaded stacks I always used to fight on my closet shelf. To create this in my space, I picked up a two-shelf shoe organizer from Target. These are super cheap (less than $20). I actually opted not to attach the bottom shelf, so I had more room to slide containers underneath. It worked perfectly.

Group Like Items

I next grouped together like items from what I needed to store up on the shelf. I talked about this quite a bit when I decluttered our bathroom vanity, but making sure like items are grouped together so you can easily find them and easily see what you have will make your life SO much easier.

Add Containers

Now it’s time to break out the cute containers! Mine actually weren’t that cute this time. I just used these trusty Dollar Tree bins, but whatever you have available can work great! You can label or not. Since I didn’t have many, I decided I didn’t need labels, but I could definitely see them coming in handy for a kids room or a space where you’re dealing with a lot of different categories.

Conclusion

So, that’s it! If you’re looking to do some top shelf closet organization, just these few simple steps will get you headed in the right direction. Remember that more than anything, creating additional shelving will go a long way towards giving you the space and visibility you need to make the top shelf of your closet super functional. Enjoy!

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