My bedroom closet was wide, tall, and impossible to use.

Like most closets, it came with a shelf spanning its full length. To reach this shelf, I stood on my tippy-toes, outstretched my arms, did a little hop, and got poked in the throat by clothes hangers.

The closet rod, circa 1973, was square with a big support bracket in the center, perfect for preventing you from sliding your clothes in either direction.

So much wasted space! What you see in the picture above was all I could access without contorting myself . My husband couldn’t even use it – his clothes were all rolled up in a chest of drawers collecting wrinkles.

After struggling to reach a jacket one morning, I had a wild idea: turn the ends into mini walk-in closets. One for me and one for my hubby. The closet is very tall and rather deep. It could work!

I bought tension rods for hanging clothes, a little shelf for each of us, command hooks, “space-saving” hangers, and vertical hangers.

The tension rods work great! I’d like to replace them with permanent ones, now I know the concept works. I’m waiting for them to lose tension and fall on me.

However, the shelves I bought won’t fit without obstructing our ability to reach the clothes, which ruins the whole point of this experiment. They will be re-purposed in another room – either my sewing closet or the kitchen. I have tons of books that need a shelf!

The drag is, that shelf was meant to hold my vulnerable sweaters (the ones that will stretch if left on a hanger). They now reside in a bin under the bed, which is still accessible but not ideal.

I bought a pack of command hooks for belts, scarves, outfits, and whatever else comes along.

Although it didn’t turn out exactly how I wanted, I adore my “step-in” closet. I can see and access all my clothes. My husband’s shirts now have a place to hang, saving them from the Wrinkle Monster.

It’s a bit of a thrill to step through the sheer curtain and stand inside my closet with all my lovelies. It’s like a tiny personal dressing room.

The next steps are hanging some more art on the wall, getting a battery operated light (it gets dark in there!), and tracking down permanent replacements for the tension rods.

If your closet is inaccessible like mine was, I 100% recommend giving this a try!

Thanks for reading <3