15+ Clothes Storage & RV Closet Organization Ideas
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Ashley Mann spent three years living full time in a 38-foot, 5th-wheel RV with her husband Josiah and their cat, Kitty. Her favorite thing about RV life is the challenge of finding the perfect way to organize a space, and she loves seeing all the creative and clever ways people come up with to customize their RVs.
Fitting all of the clothes we need into the closet of a camper or motorhome can be tricky. There may not even be a closet in your RV! (Don't worry, we can show how you how to make one!) RV closet organization is a necessity if you're living or traveling in your RV.
Here are some RV closet organization ideas for every style of closet to help maximize your 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 good-sized closet for an RV—the type with sliding mirrored doors. But we live in our RV full-time in a four-season climate. Plus I wear professional clothes, everyday clothes, and athletic clothes… I have a lot to store!
Let's start with the most basic RV organization tip: space-saving hangers.
Space Saving Hangers
1. 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 buying 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 in a moving vehicle!).
- Durable Closet Organizer - Made of strong and durable stainless steel that will last for years. Ideal dimensions at: 10.5" wide and 1" thickness. Every hanger organizer can hold 12 garments (up to 15 lbs) horizontally and hold 6 pieces (up to 30 lbs) vertically. It's great for hanging your heavy coat, suit, jacket, sweater, shirt, pants, jeans, dress, purse or accessories.
2. 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.
- FUNCTIONAL ACCESSORY HANGER: Hanging closet organizer hanger features 7 straight hooks and 7 curved hooks perfect for hanging belts, ties, jewelry, shawls, pashminas, handbags, socks, delicates, outerwear, and more! Great for bedroom closet, hall closet, bathroom, and garage storage. Organizer hangs from one top hook on your closet rod
3. Multi-Level Hangers
For shorts and skirts, I found these multi-level clip hangers at Walmart. They are on Amazon, too, for a fairly reasonable price.
If you have the closet space, this is a much more efficient way to organize your skirts and shorts compared to folding them in a drawer.
- 【4 Tier Skirt Hanger】- Dipping plastic protection is used on the head of clips. With the two non-slip coated clips keep your pants and skirts gently on the hanger. Adjustable clips are suitable for kinds of clothes.
4. Pants Hangers
I picked up a few of these multi-pant hangers for slacks and pants.
- 👖【Sturdy Structure】These pants hangers are made of top-quality high manganese steel with high hardness to ensure firm structure and rust resistance, built to last that can be reused for years to come. Heavy-duty material with good load-bearing capacity.
5. 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. 😂
These hangers would probably work well for lightweight scarves, too, if you're a scarf-wearing sort of person.
6. Over-Door Storage Bins
I keep gloves, hats, yoga pants, swimsuits, and my “unmentionables” in bins that hang over the door. They are quite inexpensive on Amazon and come in a few different colors.
7. Dirty Laundry Hamper
Just as important as where you store the clean stuff, is where you toss the dirty! I hang my laundry hamper.
I like this one 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. Plus since it's hanging, it stays out of the way.
The hook it's hanging from is screwed into the wall and can hold a full bag of clothes. (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. These will allow the drawers to be filled to the top without becoming too messy.
8. 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.
My friend cut up an Amazon box instead of recycling it to make free dividers for her husband's socks and underwear.
If you buy them instead of making 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.
- Drawer dividers are the perfect solution for organizing open-space drawers
9. 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.
Clothing storage and organization ideas from other RVers
10. 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!
Of course, you could use it for shoes too!
The owner of this RV put storage bins inside a shoe organizer to act as drawers.
11. Drawers Added to Closets
One RV owner found that a cube organizer fits 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.
Plastic drawers can be used to organize the floor space underneath hanging clothes.
12. 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.
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.
- ✅ GLUIT - Sticky adhesive hooks are crafted for walls in your office, garage, or workshop. AVOID USING ON PAINTED walls. Their transparent design makes them nearly invisible on surfaces, making them ideal for tool organization, indoor and outdoor use, office supplies, and clothing. These hooks are versatile and suitable for a range of surfaces
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.
- EASY TO INSTALL: No tools needed, no damage to your decorative wall, adjustment to the length you need within the expandable range, then extend the suitable length, next tighten the screw, finally adjust fine-tuning feet, shake the product and confirm that it is fixed, just select strong sides ,such as tiles, walls, wardrobes, etc.
13. 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.
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 width, provides extra Hanging space
14. Turn Your Closet Doors into Storage
Shoe organizers can be cut to fit on the back of a closet door.
15. 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.)
- [Additional Accessories] 3pcs S-shaped hooks for hanging bags and other accessories. All hardware required is included. Just make sure to screw parts tight then mount the garment rack to the wall studs for support.
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!
Or maybe you have a closet, but it's a bit of eyesore.
I hated my mirrored closet doors and opted to make them over to turn my master bedroom into a more tranquil space.
For more ideas for organizing and storing things in a camper or motorhome, check out my RV organization resource page!
I have seriously always wondered how they do this. I guess it’s mainly just making do with the space you have!
Yep! And yet I can always seem to manage to find room for one more shirt….
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.
Hope they help! 🙂
These are really great ideas that I can use in my duplex as well.
Awesome! Happy organizing! 🙂
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.
Glad you found them useful! 🙂
Your organizational skills are goals! I think what you did can be emplemented anywhere really!
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!
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!
That sounds frustrating; thanks for the heads up for people who battle moisture in their RVs to avoid fabric organizers!
Try damp rid hanging dehumidifier items. I use them all over our parked trailer to help with mustiness and mildew. They work.
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.