Untangling the scarf situation

Even collections can be optimized. Yes, I admit, hoarding scarves might be wildly off-brand for me, but I love (and wear!) them. You know what’s on-brand, though? Designing and building a super-custom, super-functional and super-pretty scarf display!

Iteration 1: Over-the-Door

My scarves used to be stored in an over-the-door clear shoe organizer.

In our previous Cambridgeport apartment.

• Pros. No permanent installation (great for rentals!), easy to take scarves out and put back.
• Cons. Looks messy and is hard to find scarves when pockets are overflowing with 2+ scarves apiece, and installation requires a door far from sunny windows.

Iteration 2: Curtain rod

The only door in our upstairs master bedroom was flooded with light. We also had a super-ugly (but in a dark corner!) furnace access panel right next to the bed.

Since my scarves didn’t work well in our new clothes wardrobe anyway, I put up a curtain rod to hang my scarves on instead.

• Pros. Pretty enough, easy to see all scarves at once, covers the ugly furnace access panel.
• Cons. Hard to put scarves back, and looks messy every time. Accessing the panel also required taking all scarves off…

Here’s the thing. Function » form, always. Since accessing the furnace and accessing scarves was a pain in the , we needed a better solution.

Iteration 3: Custom swivel arms!

I bought a strip of wood from Home Depot , cut it to size (79”), painted it to match the wall , then screwed in 2.5” hinges, spaced ~1.5” apart, and attached 8” stainless steel hooks to each hinge with double-sided, heavy-duty adhesive tape and 3mm Chicago screws/buttons/rivets.

Since I attached the entire contraption to the wall using 18” French cleats, I can lift the organizer off the wall if needed for furnace access!

CHECK IT OUT!

Andddddd I can easily fold over the hooks to access scarves one at a time and put them back without making a mess!

Cost

Totally worth it! And even better, it turned into a fun little afternoon project with my kids. What could be better?

Shilpa Kobren is the Associate Director of Rare Disease Analysis at Harvard Medical School where she focuses on analyzing genomic sequencing data with patient clinical information to derive insights into human diseases. Shilpa lives in an 1890s urban apartment in Cambridge, Massachusetts with her husband and two energetic toddlers. She retains her sense of peace amid the chaos by creating and iteratively improving systems that optimize daily efficiency in her family's constrained living space.