Costume Tetris: Storing stuff when you have no storage space
I just cleaned up my cosplay storage space recently and really optimized it down, so I thought I'd share a couple of tips on how I maximize the world's tiniest closet to somehow store most of my costumes, tools and materials.
So disclaimer: despite what I've just said, unfortunately not everything is in the one closet. I've got almost 15 years of cosplay stuff in my teeny tiny home to cram down, so some things end up elsewhere. I try to keep all my crafting materials and tools in this closet, as well as most costumes, with a priority to those currently in rotation for the year to be worn. Some of my tools are in small bins under a desk, and whatever other costumes that don't fit are bagged, folded and squeezed in the corner of another closet where they can occupy otherwise unusable nooks and crannies. My sewing machine is stored with other house tools so I don't risk clobbering myself on the head pulling it off the shelves.
The most important function of this space is easy access to anything I need ASAP, so garments, accessories/props, fabrics, makeup and the majority of my tools are stored inside. Let's take a look!
This closet can be broken down into 5 parts; the top shelf with bags of bulky costumes, the left shelves with compartmentalized bits in boxes and bags, the suspended fabric shelf containing materials and pieces of current craft projects, the garment bags on the right, and the big ol' bins on the bottom. The whole thing is graced by an IKEA LED Bar that I can either plug into an extension cable or just slap my Power Bank on if I'm lazy. (I'm lazy.) Either way, I'm never in there long enough to need a more permanent solution for lighting.
1. Bag Your Bulky Costumes!
This one is my favorite. I have a couple fursuit-type costumes now, and I found that Ikea has some really nice bags that work super well for storing bulkier, weirdly shaped pieces. In my case, each bag contains the equivalent of a mini-partial (Head, Tail, Paws), and they all feature handles that make it easy to grab-n-go the whole thing in one swoop. It keeps them out of dust's way too, which is a huge concern of mine. I'd likely store armor builds in these bags, if I actually still made those, with a bit of silk/gift paper in between the pieces to prevent the painted foam from sticking together. These bags can be stored out of the way, which prevents more fragile costume pieces from being crushed and warped over time. I think many types of bags could work for this purpose, but my favorites are Ikea's Görsnygg and Knalla. As a bonus, they have little spaces where you can put a little picture of the contents!
2. Box your bits!
Not much to say on these, as it's pretty self-explanatory; Sort your stuff into smaller boxes so everything stays together. My tip here is to get creative with the boxes you use; not everything can be solved with a slew of matching plastic bins from the dollar store! To really maximize the space (and my wallet), I also use a lot of repurposed containers, like these old jewelry chests, and takeout containers (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!) Avoid cardboard if possible; they don't do much to protect your items from mold or pests. If that's all you have, it's better than nothing as a temporary storage solution until you find sturdier options.
In this picture, I've got all my electronics in a sturdy old jewelry case, a fragile half-mask and a bunch of print cotton in dollar store bins, and a bunch of ribbons and bias tapes in some old plastic takeout containers. I then jam some bulky crafting materials in the awkward space under the clothes bar since nothing else currently fit into the space.
3. Free Up Your Desk!
So making a cosplay is often a long process. In most cases, it takes more than a day, and if you're anything like me, your lack of space extends to more than just storage. I work on my dining table or my work desk and I need those to eat and work. In my case, my fabric bin (we'll get to that) is harder to access, so I've got a hanging organizer shelf on the clothes bar with a lot of spaces to sort different pieces over. Unless I'm painting something or working on a very large piece, I can just cram everything in there out of the way to pull it back out when I get back to working on the costume. It's super versatile; I also store some spare storage bags and my apron in there, and if it's a convention day I can set everything up to be easily found in the morning as I get ready. It won't work for everyone, obviously, but it helps me keep my space organized so I don't have to sacrifice eating on a table for a month.
4. Garment, Garment on the Wall
These ones are also self-explanatory, to be fair. A Garment bag, for those unfamiliar, is a protective fabric of plastic sleeve you slip over a hanger to protect the garment inside. There's different sizes available, and many of them zip on the front. Some cosplay pieces are just best stored this way, especially if they don't risk stretching the fabric out from gravity while hung up. Whenever possible I try stuffing every fabric piece of a costume in there, using multiple mix-and-matched hangers if needed (On the left bag here, there's a large coat and two undershirts on one hanger, and pants and a sash on a second hanger with integrated clothespins. The entire costume without accessories!) In the picture below, there's an entire Monster Hunter armor in one bag, with the flat armor pieces hanging out at the bottom of the garment bag.
You can get really optimized with this storage option; just be mindful of the total weight of everything you're storing this way, as plastic hangers will bend under too much weight (or, tragically, your bar might give under too many costumes. I've heard some stories)
5. Big Bins for Big Storage
Large plastic bins are the workhorse of my storage. The leftmost one under the shelf contains all my fabric, folded and rolled to take as little space as possible. When you're this limited in fabric space, I recommend buying versatile fabrics that can be easily reused, selling or donating extras you haven't found a use for in years to other cosplayers, and, if you're particularly short on space, planning your next costume in such a way you can make a dent in your leftovers by using them up. The other bin contains pretty much every accessory of prop for every costume I have in the house, even the currently unused ones. After having accidentally lost or crushed one too many item due to improper storage, this is my favorite way to store all those weird costume bits. This is where Cosplay Tetris comes in.
The Bin contains a whole slew of boxed, bagged and free-floating items crammed in as neatly as possible. There's props. There's accessories. There's wigs and hats. There's entire garments in there, too. In a lot of cases it's repurposed shipping bags and takeout containers all over again. The key to avoiding damage is filling up the space between bulkier or fragile pieces with soft items like those wigs or garments. Some examples:
Certain costumes are simple enough that storing them on a hanger in a garment bag would be overkill. Enki Ankarian's robes are easy to iron, so the entire costume is smashed into a shoe bag from Ikea. I also have a ridiculously heavy robe for another costume that would stretch and warp if stored on a hanger, so bagged and binned it is, too.
I have a whole slew of very small props (under 10cm wide) stored in old takeout containers, with silk/gift paper to prevent the more fragile paint jobs from getting scratched up. Little jewelry or weird pieces like Madoka's Soul Gem get further stored in smaller boxes inside to really protect them.
As most of my wigs use little to no hairspray to style them, the majority of my wigs are just stored in bags. I have a box on the shelves dedicated to storing all my wigs, but some of the unstyled ones end up in the accessory bin as padding, saving some space in the wig box for more fragile hairstyles. Here I jammed Ingo's wig and accessories into the hat so that it would keep its shape in the bin while really maximizing the space usage.
Finally, I keep an itemized list of every single item in this bin as a quick reference, that way I can tell where everything is at a glance. The list gets updated whenever something is added to this storage.
6. So, What's Next?
At the end of the day, this is about as optimized as I can get with the space I have. There are some other ways to gain some space, of course (I store a couple of costume pieces in with my regular clothes, like binders or plain shirts or sports underlayers), but as some point you will inevitably run out of space. At this point, the only solution is to empty it out a little.
I gave some tips for making a dent in the fabric stash, and the same can be applied to unused materials like EVA Foam or Worbla or Upholstery Foam, but at some point you're probably going to have to part with some of the older costumes to make space for the new ones. And that's okay! I'll admit it's a bit easier for me when the costume is damaged beyond repair, or I just no longer fit in it. You can, obviously, sell them on secondhand cosplay groups, or donate them. Unfortunately sometimes parts will be so damaged you might have to just throw them away, but that doesn't mean you have to throw the whole costume out with it! Keep whatever's still wearable and either sell/donate those individual parts or repurpose them for another costume, if possible (this is usually easiest with things like wigs or plain garments)
I hope this weird impromptu tour of my cosplay closet can give some storage ideas to those who, like me, don't have a proper dedicated workshop for the hobby! (Lord knows that's probably most of us in this economy)
