At first glance, the challenges of small closet organization seem onerous. Small closets and cupboards seem to be notoriously full of semi-useless junk. We all had a junk drawer growing up. Most of us even called it the junk drawer. It was the kitchen drawer into which much went but little was removed. It contained things such as once used birthday cake candles, washers, conference name tags, pens, batteries, jack knives, toys from cereal boxes and small Kleenex packages.
It is virtually impossible to organize a junk drawer or a junk closet, so do not even try.
What you must do is eliminate the problem at the source. If you want to have organized small closets then you can not afford to have a catch-all closet. You must store a limited number of types of items in each closet. This is the golden rule of small closet organization.
The first step is to purge the garbage from the junk drawer/closet. Even if those birthday candles were only used for one minute you will never use them again. They are cheap. Throw them away.
Once you have purged the true junk you can start to organize. Organize like things with like things. Try to limit the contents of the closet to a maximum of 2-3 categories. If possible, contain each category in its own plastic bin within the closet.
For example, one category could be stationary. You could keep pads of paper, note cards, post-its, pens all together in one spot. Once things are lumped into strict categories, it is easy to keep them organized.
By being organized you know where everything is and you can access whatever you need when you need it. Try to be as strict as possible with what you put into the closet. If an item does not fall within one of the pre-designated categories it should be stored elsewhere. Other possible small closet categories could include batteries, light bulbs, dog accessories like brushes, toys and leashes.