The smartest storage lessons don't have an expiry date, as Martha Stewart reminds us, time and time again.
While it may be a Martha Stewart summer, we (on the celebrity style desk) are just as obsessed with archival Martha clips, particularly from the early 2000s, when she shared a host of home care advice that rings just as true in 2025. In our most recent find, Martha addressed her top clothes storage ideas with Kevin Sharkey, the Executive Vice President and Executive Director of Design for the Martha Stewart brand.
'Kevin's must-haves will make any closet more manageable,' Martha says before sharing the storage essential she says everyone should have somewhere in their home: A collapsible clothes rack (like this one on Amazon).
'We start here with the collapsible coat hanger that I got at the Container Store, which everybody should have. I lived off these for a couple of years,' Kevin says. 'I live off of these,' Martha responds.
'They're great. It folds up so I can put it in the closet, which is really convenient. If we have a party or something similar, and I don't want to throw coats on the bed, I can use it instead. It's a great option for drying things on,' Kevin adds. To which Martha says: 'Everybody should have one of these somewhere in their home.'
It appears that Kevin's model from The Container Store is no longer in stock, but this model from Amazon is an almost perfect match.
An (almost) identical match to the rack loved by Martha and Kevin. This foldable rack is so smart and multifunctional, serving as extra closet space, a place for guests' coats, and space to hang wet clothes. It's clever, collapsible design folds in half for compact storage when it's not needed.
'[The rack] is useful, and then you can put things across the bottom like bins, which is what I did with the bins,' Kevin adds.
Next, Martha and Kevin address the clothing items you should always hang up and the specific hangers you should use for each piece.
'No matter what kind of closet you have, having the right hanger for the right piece of clothing is really important,' Kevin starts with an angled suit hanger, like these on Amazon. 'It’s angled to hold a suit or a shirt, but it's for a suit. This has a [rod] over it, and I put my jeans over that one, so I don’t really use it for suits,' he says.
These wood hangers are crafted from durable solid wood with unique natural wood grains, sturdy enough to hold heavy suits and shirts for an extended period. They feature contoured shoulders and a sleek appearance, designed to keep your clothes wrinkle-free and in good shape while adding to your space.
'Then here we have another suit hanger that's angled, and it has this bar, which is really good. It's a locking bar, so when you put the pants in it, it locks in so they don't slip out,' Kevin explains. We love the locking bar, which is perfect for ensuring that no part of your suit will slip and get creased or dirty before it's worn.
Expensive, well-made suits need to be hung correctly to keep them looking their best, and these luxury wooden hangers are a great solution. These feature the locking bar that Kevin mentions in the clip with Martha: A timeless storage solution.
Over a decade later, and Martha and Kevin's advice is just as useful. Plus, at under $28, there's no risk in following suit.
