15+ Clothes Storage & Closet Organization Ideas

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Fitting all of the clothes we need into the closet of a camper or motorhome can be tricky.  Here are some RV organization ideas for different styles of closets to help maximize interior storage space.

How I organize clothes and save closet space in my RV

First, I'll start by showing you how I store my own clothes.  I have a pretty good sized closet for an RV; it's the type with sliding mirrored doors.  But we live in our RV full time in a four-season climate, and I still have to have professional clothes as well as everyday clothes and athletic clothes, so I have quite a bit to store.

Space Saving Hangers

Cascading Hangers

One way I save space in our closet is by using these cascading hangers for sweaters and blouses, which allows them to take up much less horizontal space.  After I had already bought mine, I found a DIY way to make them.

I also invested in some non-slip hangers with wire hooks.  They stay on the cascading hangers better, take up less space than fatter plastic hangers, and clothes are less likely to fall off them when you're squishing them into a tight space (especially slinky shirts with a wider neck).

Belt and Tie Racks Used for Multiple Purposes

I have also found belt/tie racks really useful, not only for hanging belts, but also for hanging bags, cardigans, bras, and all my tank tops and camisoles.  I got these belt rack hangers at Walmart.  You can get them on Amazon, too, but they cost more.

Multi-Level Hangers

Another Walmart find was these multi-level clip hangers, which I use for skirts and shorts.  They are on Amazon, too, for a fairly reasonable price.

Pants Hangers

Also at Walmart I picked up a few of these multi-pant hangers for slacks.  Here's this kind on Amazon.

Tie & Scarf Hangers

I ordered this tie hanger for my husband online, but I'll be honest – he normally just stuffs his ties onto his end of the closet shelf after he takes them off.  😂 (I posed these for the picture.)

These hangers would probably work well for lightweight scarves, too, if you're a scarf-wearing sort of person.  That reminds me….I also picked up an actual scarf hanger exactly like these at Dollar Tree recently.  It was summer when I bought it, and instead of hanging it up I ended up putting it in the storage area under the bed where I forgot about it.

Over-Door Storage Bins

These aren't in my closet, but they are an important part of my clothes organization strategy.  In them I keep gloves, hats, yoga pants, swimsuits and my “unmentionables.”  They are quite inexpensive on Amazon and come in a few different colors. Update: There have been some improvements on this product since I originally wrote this article, and I now prefer this version because it has pockets on the sides and holds its shape better.

Dirty Laundry Hamper

Last, since it's related to clothing, I thought I would share a photo of my laundry hamper.  I like it because it's made from heavy-duty canvas, the metal frame is quite sturdy, and the bag can be removed from the frame and closed with a drawstring for carrying to a laundromat if needed.  The hook it's hanging from is screwed into the wall, put there by our RV's previous owners.  (I do have a plastic laundry hamper as well, visible in some of the photos above, but I use it for storage, not for laundry.)

Saving Space in Drawers

If your RV has drawers for clothing storage, one way to make better use of the space is to add dividers which allow the drawers to be filled to the top without becoming too messy.

Drawer Dividers

You can do this by adding drawer dividers.  Pictured below is a drawer I organized using bamboo drawer dividers, but you can buy plastic ones more inexpensively, or make your own out of wood or cardboard if you're crafty.

If you buy them, be sure to measure your drawer before ordering; I made the mistake of assuming any adjustable drawer dividers would work and ended up having to return a set of dividers that were too long.  You'll also want to make sure they are tall enough to allow you to fill the drawer as full as you want; some are shorter to fit in kitchen drawers.

RV drawer organization idea - RVinspiration
Drawer with bamboo divider

Box or Container Inside a Drawer

Another way to achieve the same thing is to put a container inside a drawer, as Australian RVers Allan and Emma suggest in their article about clothes storage ideas.  Here's a set of drawer organizer containers that have smaller sections to help you be super organized, but you could also just use a cardboard box.

Drawer organization by MyRigAdventures
Container added to a drawer for organization

Clothing storage and organization ideas from other RVers

Shoe Organizers Used for Clothing

In the pictures below you can see how shoe organizers can be used to organize not only shoes but also clothes. Do you have a lot of pairs of leggings or other workout clothes? A hanging shoe organizer would be perfect for organizing those!

by Sarah Heming of Two Wheel Ramblin

The owner of this RV put storage bins inside a shoe organizer to act as drawers.

by Jessi Wilkerson Hester

You can also purchase hanging organizers with drawers already built in.

Drawers Added to Closets

One RV owner found that this cube organizer fit perfectly in her closet.

The wire drawers used in this RV closet were purchased at Ikea.  Don't live near an Ikea?  The Home Depot carries a similar product.

by Angela Andrews Foldi

Plastic drawers can be used to organize the floor space underneath hanging clothes.

by Pat Knoer of the RV Exterior/Interior Ideas Facebook group

Shelves Added to Closets

This RV's owner found some wire shelves that were exactly the right dimensions to fit inside her deep, narrow closets.

by Karen Ebling

Here is the same style of shelf used in another RV.

The owner of this RV installed wire closet shelves by hanging them with Command hooks.  I would be a little worried about the sturdiness of the hooks, but these people haven't had any problems.  Still, if I tried this I might use extra heavy duty adhesive hooks like these.

by Tiffany Lynn

An expandable tension shelf would be another easy way to add a shelf to a cabinet or closet. There are many styles and widths available on Amazon.

Expandable tension shelf – See it on Amazon

Bins Hung with Tension Rods

This RV owner found a way to work with the angled back wall of her closet by hanging a plastic tub using tension rods.  She says it has stayed put so far.  A shower caddy mounted on the closet door adds extra storage for smaller items.

Kathy Lazarz

Ideas for RVers whose closets aren't big enough

No matter how organized you are, if your closets are too small, you may simply need to add more hanging clothes storage.

One way some RVers have done this is by turning their shower into a closet by hanging clothes from a shower rod spanning the top of the shower and using campground facilities for showering.

If you have enough floor space, an adjustable-height garment rack like the one below could be a good way to add additional clothing storage.

Adjustable Height Garment Rack – See it Here

Utilizing Closet Doors for Storage

Shoe organizers can be cut to fit on the back of a closet door.

by Chelsea Vogt

Using Wall Space for Hanging Clothes

If you are short on floor space but have plenty of wall space, you could mount a clothes rack like this one. (You'll just want to make sure to use several screws with wall anchors to help prevent the screws from coming out of the paneling and causing the whole thing to fall down.)

Wall mounted clothing rack – See it Here

What if you don't have a closet in your RV?

Full-time RVer Carly didn't have a closet in her camper, so she removed the bunks and turned the space into a DIY closet!  You can read all about her DIY RV closet project here!

Adding a DIY Closet to an RV

For more ideas for organizing and storing things in a camper or motorhome, check out my RV organization resource page!

Clothing storage and closet organization ideas for your camper

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29 Comments

  1. Thanks for the tips! You should see how unorganized ours gets after two weeks of roadtripping with the kids. We will have try some of these.

  2. i dont live in an RV but these tips were wonderful! i need to apply them to my own closet.. and maybe help my boyfriend out too haha.

  3. Your organizational skills are goals! I think what you did can be emplemented anywhere really!

    1. Thank you so much! I agree – living in an RV forces me to be organized, but organization is a good thing no matter where one lives!

  4. My husband and I have lived in our RV fulltime for almost 10 years, and we each have a short double closet. The hardest part for me is mildew… we get condensation on the inside of the closet walls so the clothes get damp. Because of that, I can’t pack the closet too tightly in order to allow for air flow. I also hang Damprid hanging packets at each end of the rods, but still… it’s a constant battle. I can’t use any of the canvas or cloth organizers (or cardboard) because they’d be unusable before the end of one winter. (I mention this for those who are new to this lifestyle and might not be aware of condensation issues.) Lots of other great ideas will work for me though. Thanks!

    1. That sounds frustrating; thanks for the heads up for people who battle moisture in their RVs to avoid fabric organizers!

    2. Try damp rid hanging dehumidifier items. I use them all over our parked trailer to help with mustiness and mildew. They work.

      1. Thank you for this suggestion! Believe it or not I have never had a problem with dampness in my RV, but I know that lots of people who do have this problem recommend these for the closet, and you can buy ones that hang from a closet rod.

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