DIY Belt Organization (on a budget!)

Here I go again, sharing my closet with you all.  Since the last time I organized my closet, I inherited my mom's rather large belt collection.  That means tons of belts from the 1980s & 1990s!  Yes!

However, I had to find a place to house all of my new treasures, because my current system was absolutely TERRIBLE!  More on that later.

By the way, after seeing the comments on my last post, I know that I risk lots of comments like, "You have so many belts!"  Still, I just love the system that I finally settled on and I just had to share.


After I decided to revamp my storage, I searched around and found a few cute ways to store belts.  However, they were either expensive, took up tons of drawer space, or were good for only a small belt collection.  Since I didn't want to spend an arm and a leg, I took a trip to the hardware store and I came up with this...

My very own organized belt rack!


To recreate this, you will need:

• Shower rings: 1 for every belt that you own.  Think about your options!
• Plastic or Metal
• S-shaped, pear-shaped, or double-headed!
• Towel bar: long enough to fit all of your shower rings
• Plastic, metal, or wood
• Lots of time and a place to spread out your belts!

Back to the story now.  :)  As I mentioned, my current system was NOT working for me.  I had this U-shaped hanging contraption from my mom, which didn't take up much space and helped me store the belts.  However, it had its limitations.

Once there were more than 10 belts on one side, it was extremely annoying to remove every single one to get to the inner belts.  Secondly, I could only see about 1/3 of the belts at a time because it was squeezed between the wall and my hanging dresses.  Lastly, I hated putting the belts away because it would bury even more belts at the bottom.  I would just end up flinging them over the U, which was even messier.

I didn't realize how bad it was until I removed the whole tangle of belts and found some cute ones that I had NEVER WORN!

Well, where could I store these then?  The perfect space was hiding just behind the door of my closet!  Nothing was hanging there, except a couple of lonely command hooks holding empty scarf rings and a couple of tote bags.

Since I had already organized my scarves (see here), I tucked the tote bags into my car for groceries and put the scarf rings away in my craft supply box.  (I put one hook back on the wall to show you how non-functional they were!)

Next, I installed a towel bar that I bought for about $10.  I assure you that it's straight, but I had to take the picture from a funny angle.  :)

Then, I sorted my belts according to color and then thickness, with crazy patterns towards the end.  I needed some space for this part!

By the way, the wide belt with the navy and cream asymmetrical polka dot pattern is my mom's.  It's so cute and I've gotten compliments right and left since I started wearing it!

The next part is tedious, but it's as easy as opening each shower ring, hooking a belt around it, and putting it on the towel bar.  Each pack of shower rings was less than $2 and I needed about 4 packages.

Then, I admired my work and picked out a cute outfit to go with my new favorite belt!

Here are my favorite parts about this project:

1. It was so easy!  The hardest part was remembering to charge the drill, so I could install the towel bar.

2. I can see all of my belts in one glance.

• That means no more belts that I bought and never wore!
• Also, no more buying duplicate belts!  I swear I found two of the same exact brown braided belt from my mom's collection, so I know that's off of my radar the next time I go shopping.  :)
• Most importantly, there was a time when I needed a belt to wear with my interview suit, and I couldn't find it.  I just gave up and hoped that no one would notice the empty belt loops under my jacket.  Never again!

3. It cost less than $20!  Normally, I like to repurpose and spend nothing on my projects, but this was well worth it.  Now, I'll get my money's worth out of some of those belts that I haven't worn, so let's call it a draw.  :)

4. I utilized an area of unused space behind my closet door and freed up a little bit of room on my hanging rod where the belts used to live.  Win-win!


Now that I finished this project, I can't wait to use the drill again.  It makes me feel like a real DIY-er!

When is the last time you DIY-ed your own organization?

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