SFGate

houssaon Why are there books in the closet? Unused hangers take up room.

I see alot of folded clothes. How about chests of drawers out of the closet for these items?

How about shoe racks for shoes.

Do you store seasonal clothes somewhere else? Now that it is winter, all spring and summer shoes, handbags, and clothes can go in storage bins under the bed. You can store under your side of the bed and he can store under his side. This will make a huge difference.

It is hard to share a closet. Can one of you go to another room for clothes? If not divide the space in half and keep all of your things on one side.

In my life, I've had messy closets and neat closets. I now keep sesonal clothes in containers. I keep my pants together and by type, i.e. dressy then casual and jeans. I keep tops together, but separate from jackets and sweaters. I also go from light to dark. It looks neater and it stays that way. This is just a visual, but see how this little girls closet is arranged: Olivia's Closet All the dresses are together, all the tops are together, and all the skirts are together. It makes finding things so much easier.

All things are hung in my closet, so folded clothes go in a dresser. Handbags are hung in a closet rack (on something like this: Green 10-Section Hanging Shoe Bag) and shoes are on racks and one the back of one door (like this: Buff Over the Door Shoe Bag).

Manon Floreat Great recommendations, Housson. Can't add much, but will share what I think is a good purse storage idea that can also be fun decor:

Marie Hebson's interiorsBYDESIGN Inc. Measure your closet, width, length, floor to ceiling height, depth of every angle, crook and cranny. Then head down to Ikea and have them help you design a new closet. You'll have to install it, but it great bang for your organization buck!

kathleen MK I share your problems even with my own walk in (crawl in really) closet that I should be cleaning while hubby is hunting:-) How many pairs of shoes would fit in a gun safe???
Looks like you have room for double hung rack. You can get a bar with chains and hooks to hang on the existing rod.
Decorative boxes or baskets could be come out of the closet and store purses, etc. on a shelf near the ceiling. I wallpapered girl scout cookie boxes and had them above my closet door in my old house. Using the brackets upside down they hid behind the boxes and the white laminate blended into the trim work.

Sigrid Your first step is to inventory what's in your closet and see how much stuff can go elsewhere. For starters, I'd get two dressers to put a lot of foldable t-shirts into.

Brooke Olson If you love clothing (as do I ... And so does my daughter) we took all her lovely and very $$$ items and put them on display "so-to-speak" in her room by adding this wall of shelving/closet. I got so tired of seeing all her nice stuff jammed and wrinkled in her closet, and thought it was beautiful...why not use it in the design of her room.

I know it's different, but we recently sold this home. And EVERY person who came through LOVED the idea and thought it was beautiful. Just a thought. ;-)