@Karin L: The closet is near/on the side that my bedroom door opens, so if the wall was to be torn down, a sliding or accordion door would be much better than the standard door. Even though with the space constraints, I would just pick a sliding door since it'll be easier. I'm able to get 16inch hangers in but at an angle so everything is not flat against each other (if that makes sense). What I did try the first time I organized was to put winter coats on the left side (side with the door) and store summer stuff on the right side, then switch it up to the opposite way during the summer. This has worked but I'm the type of person who likes to see what I have, not have stuff hidden. But, I understand that we can't always get what we want -_- I do like the idea of the mobile hanging/shelf units, but I rather make it myself then looking forever for something that is 15 inches wide. Thanks for the idea! :D @LuAnn: I grew up sharing a room with an older sister and even though our closet was tall and deep, she took up everything with crap. Our floor to the closet was filled with a pile/mountain of just her shoes. So when I got my own room and closet I was just happy to get something that I could claim as my own. I did notice that the closet would be a problem but I figured I would just make it work. Also, the walls and bare wood floor (the owners never took care of the nice wood floor so it was like it just got cut from a tree and placed on the floor...splinter city) needed more of my attention, so I focused on those more. @Graywings: You do have a point and I have considered that, which is another reason why I'm hesitant to go through tearing down a wall. But, it really would have made sense to have the door in the middle or a more open space when the space is only 15 inches width.

I agree, the space is too small to try to store off-season coats, etc. Try to keep them elsewhere until you've proven they'll fit. Otherwise, you'll simply set yourself up for failure. It's a kind of deep space, and the stuff that's in the "deep" area will be hard to access. That *might* let you stash out=of-season stuff there, but again, I'd suggest you wait to see. I agree w/ Frankie that the responsitionability of the Command hooks is really useful. But I also find that they aren't that sturdy for heavy coats. I'm a fan of pegboard for places like this--fill the wall with it, up and down. Then you can put some strong pegs anywhere you want, and move them around. You can have lots of hooks of various sizes, and you can put bins, even small shelves, etc. I find, actually, that shoes store better higher up. Otherwise, you're bending over,a nd bending over. I stored my shoes at about hip level, back when I had a "mudroom cabinet," and I found it was really useful. It's counterintuitive, but follow me: You kick off your shoes, and you need to then put them somewhere, which means you need to bend over and pick them up. Then you move to the storage space, and bend over and put them in the floor storage. (bending twice) Now you go to put them on. you bend over to pick them up, then you bend over again to put them on. Store them at hip level or just below, and you have them out of the prime storage space (hip to chest), but you aren't bending over twice. Backpacks (esp. heavy ones) went on the floor--that saved us having to lift them up. Swing them off your shoulder, and put them down. Consider stapling fabric shoe pockets to the left wall for shoes; or, consider not having this be a shoes-storage place. Just outdoors stuff only (boots, etc.). Shoes should go somewhere else. Are you a shoes-off household? If not, then this should be the place where only the shoes you wear outdoors go. If you are, then consider having shoes go somewhere else anyway, just to save space there. As for sitting down--don't do a permanent bench. Get a Kik-Step stool to shove in under the coats. Then you can hook it out with your feet, and sit down to put shoes on if necessary. I don't think you have enough room for a bench, anyway. For the side of the washer, consider getting magnetic organizers to hold small stuff. There are magnetic storage bins sold for laundry organizing that could hold little-kid shoes, umbrellas, hats, mittens. and for office supplies Even school lockers. or hooks to hold stuff like umbrellas, mittens, hats. If you got a strong enough hook, you could even hang shoes or boots off them,a ctually. Here is a link that might be useful: Kik-Step stool--the world's greatest invention

BostonOak, I built and "shelved" a similar closet; mine is a bit wider, but not much. I used the Closet Maid shelf system because I needed "adjustable" for all the various items I wanted to store there, one of the most important being the vacuum. Just as important, I needed sturdy, flat storage for two dining table leaves. So the top 22" of the closet has two wooden shelves with 1x2 brackets supporting them. The wire shelving is attached just below the lower shelf. In most of the photo you can see only the lower wood shelf, but the top shelf and that table leaf is easily accessed and taken down. I do have to use a step stool for it, but I seldom need the second leaf. Here's a link to the posting I made about the closet. Maybe you can glean some ideas from my trials and errors. It's long and wordy, and describes the process from the mess we "inherited" when we bought the house, to it's near completion now. The closet is complete; I'm still tweaking the tiny breakfast area. I am thankful, grateful, and tickled pink every time I open my "broom" closet! I like all my closets to be white; a good strong, "kitchen and cabinet" glossy white. But then, all my closets are shallow, with no lights. http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/3537075/talley-sue-nyc-inspired-my-coat-boom-etc-closet?n=24 A long process.

It sounds like you don't really need it right now so I'd put a door on it until its need really presents itself. In the meantime, you could consider adding the door and baseboard trim inside the closet. Also, is it HVAC in the ceiling? If yes, you may want to address/mask it so it's not something you see when you use the closet. Unless......... What's on the opposite side of the wall? Could you use the closet or floor space there?