Maximizing Small Closet Space

I want to kick myself for not taking a before picture of this closet! In one of our guest bathrooms, we have a small closet behind the door where we like to keep our bath towels, beach towels, sheets and extra bath products/toiletries that we've stocked up on. With little space in a guest bathroom and in an area that we rarely use, it's easy to throw things in the closet or on the shelves, without taking the extra few seconds to neatly place them - and then walking away. Over time, it definitely adds up! Also - with such a small space to begin with, a lack of organization really eats up the space quickly.

I feel like I'm always finding new ways or things to organize and I actually enjoy it! I organized this closet one morning while looking for new shower gel. I was in an organization mood (which has been happening a lot lately actually) and I decided to take the extra 20 minutes to tackle the closet! (And with organizing the closet, I wouldn't be sorting through a million things when looking for a product I need in the future). Now if only we could train our significant others to keep them so clean! ;)

Here are a few recommendations/tips that I have to maximize small spaces:

1. Folding Towels - Rolling towels as seen in the picture, takes up so much less space than before when I had the towels folded regularly into squares. Once we did the same with our beach towels too, it's amazing how much space was freed up! Also - it's so easy to just grab the roll and go!
2. Toiletries/Bottles/Packages - To organize bottles and smaller packages of products, I use smaller tubs to place on the shelves to put the items in. This keeps everything tightly together, and you can stack them easier to maximize the shelf space (our shelving is wire, so this was extremely helpful with the smaller bottles that would typically slide right through the wire shelving). 
3. Travel Size Toiletries - I use to keep a nice glass vase on the bathroom sink full of different toiletries for guests to use if they needed them (shampoos, shower gels, face washes, tooth brushes, etc.) I'd pick them up from hotels we've stayed in, or kept and never used the free sample sized products that come attached to regular sized products. Now, to make things less cluttered in the bathroom, I used a zipper pouch that sheets came in, to place all of the little bottles in there and neatly stack it on the shelf.
4. Consolidate - Do you have half used bottles or packages of certain things? Sunscreen? Cotton balls? Shampoo? Consolidate those items into one bottle/package/bag to avoid the additional room those products are taking up.
5. Location of Items - I placed each of the items on the certain shelves depending on how often we use or need to access them: 

Beach towels are all the way at the top - because those are only used during the summer months. 

Next, sheets and bath towels. I wash and replace all bedding weekly, and shower towels twice/week, so those I use more often than other items in the closet, and I placed those in the easiest place to grab (the middle!). 

Next, are the toiletries - those are on the lower two shelves/sections, as we only really use those items when we're looking to replace something that we've already used up, plus - some of those packages can be larger to store, so the bottom area has the most height to the storage area which is extremely helpful for taller products.

Next up on my organization to-do list is my pantry and the storage area under our master bathroom sinks! :)