This is the blog where we talk about Garment Racks

cedar closet hang ups

I have noticed that, even with clean clothes hanging up in the closet, the closet still gets that musky, stale, unpleasant smell.  Especially in the kids’ closets, which are full of dirty shoes and permanently stained sports gear.  And my husband’s closet has the same problem!  I thought about using air fresheners that automatically release scents, but ran into a few problems with those kinds of air fresheners.  They tend to have an overpowering smell, and a lot of them are too fruity or flowery and just end up making a worse smell!  And of course, you cannot burn candles in a closet - that would just be dangerous.

I just wanted to open up a closet and not encounter that musky closet smell.  It does not have to smell like an English rose garden, just not so stuffy.  I was also a little weary about the toxins and chemicals used in those artificial air fresheners.  What were we being exposed to?  I try to take a natural and organic approach with most household products, so using those just seemed to contradict that.

I found the solution to my problem with these amazing cedar hang ups!  Installing cedar wood panels into the bedroom closets was not within our budget, and it seemed like an extreme measure to take, given that we have five closets.  I had heard in the past about how cedar wood is a wonderful and natural way to keep clothes odor free.  My sister tried something similar, by using sachets filled with cedar wood chips.  And she said it worked really well!

So the hanging cedar panels, which come in a set of eight, are now my favorite way to eliminate odors.  I hung two in each of my kids’ closets, as well as two in my husband’s closet.  They not only keep the clothes smelling fresh, and cover up that musky closet smell, but also add a natural, woodsy aroma that I love!

Stylish or functional, from the hotel room to the guestroom, luggage stands are a must have when expecting visitors! A convenience guests will love, a luggage rack allows guests to access all their clothes without having to completely unpack perfect for a long stay or a short one. When guests are gone luggage stands fold flat so they can easily be stored in the closet or under the bed.

luggage stands

When it comes to outfitting a hotel room look for durable construction with a versatile design. A metal frame can stand up to daily use since the legs won’t easily scratch or break. A simple metal frame also looks great with any décor. Light, portable design allows guests to decide where they want to unpack. If they don’t want to use it guests can simply fold it up and put it away.

Bring a classic hotel touch to your guestroom by adding a luggage rack with a stylish look. From basic straight legs to a curving decorative design, there’s a wide range of options to fit your décor. Choosing a wood rack with a dark finish is an easy way to bring some warmth to a room. Bring in some color or a pattern by choosing a rack with decorative straps. Make guests feel right at home while enjoying the comforts of a fine hotel.

Buy one for your own use! A luggage rack can be great for using at home. After a long trip you can use a luggage rack to set your bag on while you unpack. Setting your luggage at a comfortable height, unpacking is easy since you don’t have to bend over and sort through your clothes on the floor. Luggage racks really are an accessory that every traveler must have to travel in comfort and style! Get yours for a great price at Stacks and Stacks!

Some laundry rooms are very tight on open space, with washers and driers and their many accessories taking up all the room.  When I want to air dry my delicate clothing, I run into an issue every single time. Either I end up having to carry a bunch of dripping wet clothes up the stairs to my closet where they can hang dry, or I have to try to find space in my cramped laundry room.  Both options are far from desirable, and I always end up with a wet floor!

Arrow Instahanger - Folding Clothes Hanger

Enter the arrow instahanger folding clothes hanger, which provides excellent clothes drying space but folds down when I am not using it.  By being able to hang all my wet clothes in one convenient space, I avoid getting water drips all over my washing room.  I can place a pan under this folding hanger and make sure my laundry room is nice and dry.
There are many more uses for this nifty wall rack hanger!  It also makes a really convenient additional storage space in the guest room, so that when you have guests there is always a place for them to hang their clothes and keep them wrinkle free.
Another very convenient place to use this folding clothes hanger is in the bathroom.  I hate it when I come home from the gym, the beach or the pool and I do not have a good place to put my wet clothes.  They always end up hanging near the shower, where they inevitably get wet again when someone carelessly turns on the shower without looking.  Or I hang them next to my towels, getting sweat, pool water or salt water all over them.  Simply attach this hanger to the door of your bathroom, and voila, instant hanging storage.
I was able to find this incredible, folding clothes hanger at Stacks and Stacks.

If you are anything like me, your closet probably resembles a battlefield and you are not winning that battle. Dress shirts hang next to cocktail dresses next to coats next to Halloween costumes, and so on. Unless your closet was designed by an obsessive-compulsive control freak, it probably has but a garment rod and couple of shelves on top, making it difficult to stay clutter-free.

There is light at the end of the tunnel: nowadays, a wide variety of organizing solutions are available for the ones who are not willing to take it from haphazard architects. My all-time favorites are hanging canvas dress bags, which make it easy to sort a vast frock collection by occasion, season or color.

Hanging Canvas Dress Bag

Great for storing special event attire, putting your summer dresses away for the winter or winter coats away for the summer, these closet organizers keep your important apparel isolated from odors, dust and pests for as long as your heart desires. This feature is especially important for pet owners, for as you may know, dog and particularly cat hair has this amazing ability to get onto anything not locked away in a top security government vault, easily ruining first impressions and smudging your reputation with the in-laws.

And if you ever owned a wool or fur coat, you are probably aware of how fast it can be chewed up by pesky moths, leaving you in utter despair. Still, there’s no reason to wear exclusively nylon and poly, for you have dignity and you have options. My pick is this hanging canvas dress bag. Made of breathable cotton and featuring a clear front, it takes guesswork out of finding the one right outfit in however great an amassment of garbs - get yours at Stacksandstacks! Now if only they came up with a cure for procrastination, we would live in a perfect world.

Living in an old home has its ups and its downs.  On the one hand, you get lots of old charm and character, unique details and features that aren’t found in modern design.  On the other hand, you tend to end up with small rooms and very small closets.  This is the bane of my existence.

My apartment’s bedroom has a closet the size of a shoebox.  The biggest challenge this has presented is, “what to do with my jackets?” I have a lot of jackets; it’s a bit of an obsession.  While the closet is just big enough for clothing alone, there is definitely no room for the coats and heavy sweaters.  And there isn’t even a spare closet to fall back on.

Wall Mounted Laundry Valet

I wasn’t keen on the idea of adding a modular closet or large garment rack – I just don’t have the space for those either.  And keeping my jackets stored under the bed in boxes just wasn’t a convenient option either.  I decided to go with a wall mounted laundry valet.  Technically, it’s designed for hanging laundry to dry, but I found it perfectly suitable to my needs for jacket hanging space.
The thing I like most about this wall mounted hanger is its collapsible design.  It measures a wonderful 11 inches long, so it perfectly holds a number of coats, but I don’t necessarily want it sticking out all the time.  As I mentioned before, I need all the space efficiency I can get.  So, when I don’t actually need to select a coat, I can keep the garment rack folded down and the coats hang nicely tiered.  I’m actually using two of these racks.  Each has six holes and you can fit about two hangers in each hole, but as I also said before, I have an expansive jacket collection.
I’ll probably keep using these laundry valets from Stacks and Stacks when I do have more closet space, just because they make selection so nice and easy!

Frameless Suit Bag

Finding more storage space in your home can seem like an impossible task, especially when it comes to seasonal clothing. Bulky winter coats, sweaters and boots can be especially difficult to store. Often it’s more of a challenge to find the extra room than it is to figure out how to store it. When every possible inch of closet space is full it’s time to get creative!

Sweaters bags are a must for storing your favorite knits. Easily stretched out by hangers, sweaters are best stored folded flat. Make sure they have been properly clean before packing them up so no moth damage occurs. Storage bags are also a useful when traveling, you can pack all your shirts together or use them to keep outfits organized, then towards the end of the trip you can use them to store dirty clothes.

Garment racks are an easy way to gain clothes storage when closets are full. Ideal for using in bedrooms when you live in an older home without closets or want to create additional storage in an extra room or garage. To keep clothes in good condition add a Frameless Suit Bag that creates a portable, mini closet. A frameless zippered suit bag from Stacks and Stacks is easy to transport and doesn’t take up as much room as a dresser or wardrobe. Clear vinyl design makes it easy to find what you’re looking for.

Under bed storage bins are a great way to make the most of unused space. Slide out bins with lift tops are an easy way to store items you don’t need everyday. Add risers underneath your bed frame and you can gain a few more inches of storage for larger bins. Platform bed frames with built in drawers are an even more convenient form of under bed storage. Easy to open drawers make it good storage for items you need more regularly, like sweaters or shoes.

Proper clothes storage prolongs the life of your clothes, saving them for years to come. Whether it’s a wedding dress or tailor made suit, it’s easy to find just the right garment bag for your clothes and your closet. There are a few basic storage rules that are important to follow and help you get the storage you need.

Prevent fading and damage from sunlight by storing clothes away from direct light. Keeping clothes away from sunlight is easy in a standard closet, but for a walk in closet with a window or skylight make sure to store nicer clothes that are only worn occasionally in a garment bag made of solid material that blocks out the light. For closets that are free from natural light consider a clear vinyl design that makes it easy to see where all your clothes are.

Jumbo Clothes Bag

Mold and Mildew love crowded spaces, keep them at bay by giving your clothes plenty of air flow and room to breath. A Jumbo Clothes Bag from Stacks and Stacks is a great clothes storage solution, providing plenty of room to spread out hangers. A jumbo clear vinyl dress bag keeps dust from gathering on top of the clothes you want to preserve but don’t often have an occasion to wear. Great for suits or dresses, a clothes bag will keep them straight from the dry cleaner fresh.

As opposed to garment bags that slip over the hanger, a bag with an interior hanger rod makes hanging and sorting through clothes easy. Ideal for storing seasonal clothes, heavy wool coats or rain jackets, an extra large clothes bag gives you enough room to store puffy down jackets. Used in a hall or guest room closet, garment bags are also a good way to keep clothes organized and out of the way. Follow these simple steps and you can keep your favorite pieces looking like new!

Whether you live in a studio apartment or a mansion, the problem of efficient and handy storage is all too familiar, especially if you have twenty aunties giving you twenty reindeer sweaters any given Christmas.

Of course, you don’t want to hurt their feelings by donating these treasures to the community scarecrow clothing drive; you may also want to keep those on hand for that Antarctic expedition where you were planning to attire underprivileged penguins. At the same time, you may have indulged more than a few times by getting some fancy cashmere cardigans, and now mold, dust and moths take whimsically ominous shapes in your increasingly frequent nightmares.

Clear Vinyl Sweater Bag

Fortunately, containing hideous knitwear and protecting your cherished designer garbs is equally convenient with the help of zippered garment bags.  They come in all shapes and sizes, offering a simple yet effective answer to an otherwise frustrating task. Come to think of it, those baby blankets, onesies, small stuffed toys and other infant items that are waiting to be handed down to a worthy successor can also use a safe and easy storage solution.

My personal pick is this set of 6 clear vinyl sweater bags from Stacks and Stacks. Transparent design lets you quickly tell the difference between your all-time favorite apparel and the stuff you picture maybe using one day down the road. Heavy duty vinyl makes sure that no matter how heavily armed the dust mites may be, they’re not getting through. Self-correcting zippers forgive an occasional lapse in judgment, like trying to fit a cruise ship into a garment bag.

If you let your imagination run rampant, you may find a gazillion other uses for these storage champions. I, for one, inflate a myriad of little balloons and trap them in these bags in colorful arrangements. That serves no purpose whatsoever, but a girl needs a hobby.

As we all tighten our budgets, we are looking for ways to save money in every area of our lives.  We find ourselves asking questions like:  How can I make my car last longer?  How can I stretch my grocery dollar?  And how can I shop for clothing less?  Fortunately, the last question has an easy answer.  To spend less on money on clothes, you’ve got to use what you have better.  With clothes, that means you will want to take better care of them to make them last longer.  There are many ways to do this, and one of the easiest and cheapest methods is to use vinyl hanging shoulder covers.

Vinyl Shoulder Covers

These nifty clothes saving inventions couldn’t be easier to use.  Simply hang your clothes up as you normally would on a hanger, gather a few of those hangers together and then slip one of these plastic clothes storage bags over the top of the hanger.  This helps with everything from dust and water stains to damage from moths and other insects.  And since they are crystal clear, you can still see everything that you have in your closet.

Here are some additional ways to make your clothes last longer:
1.     Cedar - Cedar is a natural insect repellent and smells heavenly, doing double duty in the closet and helping to extend the life of your clothing.  Look for cedar hangers, sachets and other products.
2.    Washing Carefully - Don’t be lazy with your laundry.  Following the manufacturer’s instructions on washing and drying can save wear and tear, extending the life of your garments substantially.  Example:  If it says wash in cold water, then do so.  Not HOT water, not WARM water, just cold.
3.    Out of Season Clothes Storage - store clothes that are out of season properly, taking careful care to keep them free from moisture damage.  Sealed plastic boxes and garment bags are two simple ways to do this.

Get your Vinyl Shoulder Covers at Stacks and Stacks!

Natural Canvas Cotton 6 Shelf Sweater Bag with Bamboo Inserts

Some people are really good at organizing their homes with meticulous diligence and making do with whatever little resources are at hand. Unfortunately, I am not one of them. I need lots and lots of help.

While my friend Maria’s closet always shines with stacked, categorized and color-coded perfection, mine, until recently, looked more like the aftermath of an F5 degree tornado.

I made peace with the fact that I will never match the organization skills of detective Monk or Ms. Monica Geller, but the situation doesn’t have to be completely hopeless. The trick, as I found out just recently, is to divide the overwhelmingly chaotic space into smaller, more manageable structures.

For me, designating storage spaces for particular items creates a few tiny, contained messes that all of a sudden don’t look so atrocious. Hanging closet organizers prove to be one of the most efficient and cost-effective storage solutions.  From cascading skirt hangers to revolving tie racks, from over-the-door shoe keepers to hanging garment bags - the possibilities for creating an orderly and easy to maintain closet are endless.

My personal favorite is the Natural Canvas Cotton 6 Shelf Sweater Bag with Bamboo Inserts. Sweaters, hats, gloves and scarves are notorious for undermining your attempts at stacking them in a neat, tidy manner, having a tendency to give in to gravity and just fall over when you are not looking. Curb that sabotage by trapping such items in cozy compartments where they have nowhere to go.

Life’s challenges and complications are abundant, and you have more important battles to fight than the ones with your closet. Simplify. Give yourself room to breathe. A well organized space provides a peace of mind and helps you rid your thoughts of clutter. Making your home a safe haven is easier than you might think. You can get yours at Stacks and Stacks!