nomad, that's good to know, however, I'm not sure I want to seal the containers quite like that, I'd prefer to have the storage containers (and their contents) easy to access when needed

teacher, the best I've been able to negotiate for space in closets so far is the bottom area of the linen closet, i may be able to find some space in our bedroom closet, but unfortunately it's a mess right now, and DW doesn't seem to want to deal with it right now. There's just not much space available in the house anywhere right now, our home has become too cluttered with junk, we need to do a thorough cleaning and purging, and neither of us really has the time or energy to expend on it right now.

Eugene, I'm looking for places to put up some shelves, unfortunately, a meager budget and the need to purchase materials for shelving has prevented me from doing anything to move forward with that project right now. I'm hoping things will come together soon, budget-wise, energy and time wise, etc and we'll be able to get the garage cleaned up, storage totes purchased, and shelving materials too and get our home organized again.

Thanks for the info everyone, some great tips and ideas here.

I modified the closets here with the same wire shelving, it bought a lot of space, doubling the shelving in some and doubling the hangar space in others. Lots of wasted space in the old closets.

Clear the junk and life becomes much more simple and organised. Having too much stuff means, too much time spend on maintenance, looking for things and organizing. Have a look at 'minimalism' for inspiration.

If a full clean up takes too much time, take baby steps. Just tell yourself to bin/donate a X amount of things you have not used in X years every day/week.

One more tip from an avid junkie - document/catalogise your gear often! When I've stated to take images of the stuff I'm binning for future projects, along with placing some notes over the images (I have Note 3 smartphone with a pen - perfect for that) it became much more manageable not only to find the tucked away stuff real fast, but also to rotate the free space efficiently, quickly figuring what could go to the trash from the collection in order to find proper place for the new stuff.

The wire shelving is one of the most inexpensive types.

I disagree. It costs almost nothing (gas for driving?) to search for some leftover plywood or particle board in the trash near construction sites or at the curb in suburbs (it could be harvested from old dumped furniture as well). A bit of sawing and sanding and the shelf is ready. Instead of the wall mountings, one can just stack these makeshift shelves, using cardboard boxes from the gear (opening facing to the user) for sidewalls. Secure a proper sized piece of plywood inside the box to make it even sturdier.

In one of my closets I have a 1/2" particle board cut to the perimeter of the closet and freely sitting on top of the old computer desk at the center, which is just 1/3 of the closet's width and 3/4 of its depth - perfect shelf for $0. The additional bonus - you are not restricted with standard shelves sizes. I've easily made an opening on the side of that PB shelf for the vacuum cleaner handle, as it's higher than the table, but used to be stored in that closet before the "upgrade" (my DW insisted it'll stay there) - no problem.

By the way, in clothes closet it is often possible to simply sort long dresses/pants and short shirts/jackets by the length, you will be amazed how much space can be found below. One of the hanger tricks to save space in such a closet even more is to hang some of them over the lower bar of another hanger. I have hungers with the special eyelet exactly for that, as well as special vertical hangers accepting up to 6 regular hangers on top of each other - they work very well and I'm sure one can just jig saw one out of a piece of wood for free.

If one needs quick access to the contents of a duct taped trash can, simply slit the tape around the rim at the gap between the lid and the bottom. One quick swipe around and the lid can easily be removed. Probably takes a whole 3 seconds after you have done it once or twice. But until you cut the tape, the container is sealed so well that I have never had anything get in (or out) of the can.

Just walked by a display today. $19 for a very large trash can. Hard to beat that.

working on it slowly but surely tjin, just seems hard for us right now, both work full time, then come home, by the time we make dinner, get DS's homework situation lined out and then to bed we hardly have the energy left for anything else, we just have some bad habits we need to work on breaking, and i think getting things cleaned, purged, and organized will be a big help.