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Monday, October 28, 2013

Double Your Closet Space: DIY Cascading Hangers

For those of you who read my previous entry, you know that I have moved! I now have a roomie, which is great cost-wise when it comes to saving money and making new friends, but the downside is that I had to condense my life from a full apartment on my own to a room and shared storage space with someone else. 

One of the biggest adjustments is that I had a bunch of closet space and two bureaus (I used two separate closets for clothes - though, in my defense, they were not very large closets, and all together the bureaus really only had 6 drawers), so - as you might imagine - I had to put my thinking cap on and figure out how to maximize my space. Luckily for me, my librarian tendencies make me hyper-organized, so I decided I needed a cascading hanger, like this:




The downside was that they would not fit over the dowel in my closet and they cost a little more money than I wanted to spend. Then I read a tip on Amazon from someone who mentioned using S-hooks and some chain to make a DIY version. Well, quite frankly, S-hooks are too small for the dowel in my closet, as well, so my boyfriend and I went to Home Depot and put our heads together for a solution.

So this is what I did for four cascading hangers that fit my closet that only cost a total of about $12, including taxes! If your dowel comes out of the wall (mine is actually non-removable, so it cost me a little extra), you really only need the little clamps that I bought for this project. 

You need:
  • Four metal loops that will fit around your dowel/closet rod (about $2.98 for a pack of two, I think); this is optional if you fit them over your hangers, as I did upon realizing my dowel was not removable, so you can potentially save even MORE money!




  • Little clamps for your chain (mine were $0.98 each)


  • 4 foot-long lengths of chain that will fit your hangers (I chose a sturdy chain that was $1.12 per foot)



Simply hook the clamp through the metal ring, like so, and then slip the chain through the clamp. Alternatively, if you bypassed the metal rings, you can just slip the clamp through the chain and around a supporting hanger (I recommend one with a metal handle):


Then you hang in your closet, cascade your hangers as you would with a store-bought set, and voila! You have your own DIY cascading hangers! And, if you forgo the metal rings, your project will get you four cascading hangers for $8.40 or less!

They work a treat. :) Forgive the mess - haven't fully finished unpacking! 


3 comments:

  1. Very good idea I wish there were more
    Hanger factory that can help with this

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  2. This excellent post was right on time! Having stumbled upon it nanoseconds after dropping $78 to order 5 metal cascading hangers from Amazon to use for a closet purging-and-reorganization project, I canceled the order and scheduled a trip to my local hardware store instead. Since my closet dowel is small enough to take an S-hook directly, I could make each cascade out of an S-ring and 1-foot length of chain alone (no additional rings or hangers needed). Result? An even thinner profile than the Amazon cascades would have provided -- and for less than half the cost! Thanks so much for your super-helpful post. You rule! With Gratitude, Marginally-Cute Assistant Professor of History (Madison, WI)

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