Seeking High-End Scarf or Accessories Organizer

February 10, 2014 11:43 AM

Hot Boyfriend has a lot of scarves and (soft) hats and they invariably end up stuffed into and popping out of drawers. This is no way for a fashionable man to live!

Anyone seen any *nice* scarf or accessories organizers around? Everything I've seen looks poor in construction and material and I refuse to gift something like this to anyone regardless of cost. The only non-offensive one I've seen so far is this one, and it's too far away for me to get my hands on in the near future. Also, I don't lovvve it.

I'm not keen on the tie racks that screw into the wall. And anything that lights up is just awful. Something simple and classic is the idea. Something that Barney's might sell, if Barney's was considerate enough not to sell Hot Boyfriend dozens of scarves and provide no way for him to organize them.

BONUS POINTS: What's your favorite high-end men's closet or clothing/accessory organization-type item? This question is broad, and could include containers, boxes, trays, hangers, or folding gnomes.

Thanks, Mehomies.

posted by letahl to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (15 answers total)

IKEA Komplement
posted by Bentobox Humperdinck at 11:53 AM on February 10, 2014 [2 favorites]

Here's a spiffy idea, those long skinny drawers artists use to store their stuff. You can get a white cabinet from Staples for under $100.

If we're feeling more spendy, there's a Martha Stewart solution for $400 at Home Depot.

If you google Scarf Hangers, you'll see some cutsey hangers with hearts, or leaves or in the shape of a purse, but those aren't really manly.

I'm keeping my scarves in a lingerie chest.

Hats, now that's a whole other thing!
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 11:56 AM on February 10, 2014

Bentobox Humperdinck beat me to it, but the Komplement is the best thing that's ever happened to my scarf collection.
posted by WidgetAlley at 11:57 AM on February 10, 2014 [1 favorite]

If these items are wool or cashmere (and it sounds like they might be), look for something in cedar.
posted by entropicamericana at 11:58 AM on February 10, 2014 [1 favorite]

Are you looking for a closet hanging thing, or a drawer organizing thing?

I loop my scarves around a regular hanger. There are lots of nice ones out there if you want a more high end look than just a plastic hanger. Wooden suit hangers are ideal, in my opinion, because they provide a lot of different scarf-hanging spots.

I buy mine at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. You might also check The Container Store.

Here are some specific scarf hanging products, if you want something purpose-built as opposed to just reusing a ubiquitous multipurpose object.
posted by Sara C. at 12:00 PM on February 10, 2014

Have you seen all of these ideas? Closet storage tends to be functional rather than fabulously elegant, but if you're willing to do wall, the fake antlers are very cool. Etsy is filled with antler options.
posted by DarlingBri at 12:04 PM on February 10, 2014

I have this one which is pretty nice, but a lot of the holes are really sized for thinner/lighter scarves -- if you're talking big wool man-scarves, it may not work.
posted by brainmouse at 12:12 PM on February 10, 2014

Speaking as someone with WAY too many scarves, my absolute all-time favorite scarf hanger is this, which is intended for pants but works gloriously well for scarves, especially thicker/heavier ones, keeping them unwrinkled and all viewable at once. It may not be apparent from the picture, but each rung is attached to a central pivot, so you can easily swing neighboring rungs out of the way to access and remove any individual scarf without messing up any of the others. I can typically get two or three, folded, per rung. It *does* attach to the wall, which I realize isn't what you wanted, but seriously, in every other respect I think it would work really well for your boyfriend. (There is also a smaller, 10-rung version available.)
posted by Kat Allison at 12:24 PM on February 10, 2014

None of these options will work if your boyfriend isn't taking the time to fold and place neatly, and if he's going to fold and place neatly, this wouldn't even be an issue. The best you can hope for is that these organizational tools trigger a desire to organize -- and they may not. If he's not the type to fold or hang his scarves, buying him a scarf hanger (for instance) is unlikely to trigger such a change. Human nature and all that.

With the goal of triggering that desire, don't just select an organizer; also pick up some storage boxes, put away some of the things you don't wear very often, and encourage him/help him do the same. Reducing his (say) seven scarves down to his four favorites, and repeating that process with his other things, will make for less cluttered storage and (hopefully) make him more likely to keep what's he got neater.

The alternative is to find storage space -- any storage space -- that is much larger than he needs. Your drawer problem isn't the messy drawers, after all; you won't open them to check that he's keeping things neat. It's the things sticking up out of drawers that won't close. Keep things hidden and you won't have a problem, in a way that's much easier to make happen than provoking a behavior change.

In short: reduce the amount he needs to keep at hand, and utilize larger storage options that can be closed to hide what's inside.
posted by davejay at 12:30 PM on February 10, 2014 [2 favorites]

Follow-up thought: think of it like a purse. If you're carrying around a huge amount of stuff and it's spilling out of your purse, are you more likely to benefit from carrying a purse with lots of hangers and clips and organizational stuff (that you have to utilize constantly to keep things from spilling out) or are you more likely to benefit from cleaning out your purse once in a while/carrying a bigger purse?
posted by davejay at 12:33 PM on February 10, 2014

Try these.
posted by michellenoel at 1:04 PM on February 10, 2014

I like to hang scarves from a ring or (blunt) hook on the wall; they add color and interest to a room and don't require grubbing through my (tiny) closet. (I do the same with necklaces; I hate that they get tangled when stored and they look prettier on display).

I am a little overexcited by the fake antlers above, I might love something like that for my necklaces.

If he has lots of closet room, then you either should go with the bolted pants-hanger Kat listed above or the skinny drawers. Scarves don't do well on any kind of hanger hanging form closet rods; they get lost among the clothes, or yanked off, or fall to the floor, in my experience.

If he has a bit of wall space in his closet, maybe a ladder-like hanger of some sort would work, as well. It would probably not require any bolts unless it was very heavy.
posted by emjaybee at 1:09 PM on February 10, 2014

Here is a lovely three-compartment hanging organizer from Muji. I don't have this particular one, but I have their bag holder in the same size/material, and I really like it.
posted by payoto at 1:17 PM on February 10, 2014 [1 favorite]

I use an over-the-door organizer to store the little bits and bobs like hats, scarfs, mittens, wallets, etc. Works very well for me.
posted by longdaysjourney at 3:04 PM on February 10, 2014

I own a lot of wraps and scarves - more than anyone possibly needs. I use these.

Admittedly they are not especially refined, but they have 3 features I prize:
- I can sort through my collection quickly and see every item.
- They have enough grip that nothing falls out, but not so much that it pulls the fabric. This is true of slippery and delicate silk items.
- It's a breeze to find a free spot when it's time to put the wrap back in the closet. If he's been stuffing them in a drawer all willy-nilly then it's essential that the scarves be easy to correctly return to their place.

From the reviews, it looks like the belt hooks might be a failure point. I don't use those hooks and can't comment. I've had one break, but at just a few bucks I tossed and replaced it.
posted by 26.2 at 3:07 PM on February 10, 2014