How To Organize Your Closet To Benefit Your Wardrobe In 3 Major Ways
Save time, money, and wear and tear on your clothes.
Maridav/Shutterstock Whether you have a large walk-in closet or a small reach-in closet, it’s important to keep it organized. And learning how to organize your closet benefits you in many ways.
The most obvious is that you can find the item of clothing or accessory easily.
You also save money because you know what you have so you don’t go out and buy duplicates or triplicates. And, because you're keeping your clothes tidy, they last longer.
When your clothes are organized, you're not hunting through piles of mismatched shoes or a jumbled pile of clothes on a chair in the corner of your room, so you save a lot of time.
And, of course, if you regularly hang up or fold clothes neatly, you avoid some of the wear and tear and your clothes last longer.
If these benefits to your wardrobe appeal to you, here are 5 tips on how to organize your closet.
1. Remove wire hangers.
Wire hangers just take up space. You may think that because they're slim, they're are the best to use in your closet.
They are not. Clothes don’t stay put on a wire hanger and tend to fall off.
Sure, wire hangers linger in your closet because clothes come back from the cleaners on them.
So, when you go to wear that item of clothing, remove the hanger from the closet. Have a bag in your closet or near the closet to hold the wire hangers.
Then, when you take clothes to the cleaners, bring the bag along to return the wire hangers.
Instead, invest in slim hangers that either have grips on the ends or a cloth covering. The Container Store has many good options for hangers.
2. Create a short hanging space.
Add a second hanging bar if you need more short hanging space. The fashions now are much more casual than they have been in recent decades.
People don't need as much long hanging space as they have in the past. It’s easy to keep the short hanging clothes more organized in your closet when you create more hanging space.
Then, if you want, you can group the short hanging clothes by sleeve length or color. When you do this, you’ll be able to see at a glance how many shirts you have that are a certain color or sleeve length.
This makes coordinating outfits and getting ready a snap!
3. Clear the floor.
Keep the floor of your closet as clear as possible. Have a donate bag or box in your closet so that if something doesn’t fit, doesn’t look right, or you don’t like it anymore, it can go straight into the bag.
The next step is to make a date with yourself to take it to the donation site of your choice when it's full.
Gather your shoes and pair them up. Put shoes that are too worn to donate in the trash. Donate any that are still wearable that you don’t want anymore. They can go into the donate bag, as well.
Then, decide if you want a shoe rack that sits on the floor or a shoe holder that can go on your closet door.
Another option is to get some shoe boxes and put shoes that you only wear on special occasions in boxes on an upper shelf in your closet. You can also get clear boxes, but you can use any box that your shoes will fit into.
Take a picture of one of the shoes to put on the outside of the box to remind you of what's inside.
4. Use stackable drawers or bins.
If you have a lot of athletic wear (honestly, doesn't everyone have plenty of that now?), sort them into tops and bottoms and then put them into stackable drawers or bins.
They will be easy to grab when you’re ready to get dressed in the morning.
You can also use these bins for things like socks or even face masks.
5. Decide on whether to fold or hang.
This is an age-old question. When organizing closets, many people ask what should be folded or what should be hung.
Some things are easier to fold and keep tidy. These include — but are not limited to — bulky sweaters, sweatshirts, and sweatpants. But it’s also a matter of personal preference.
Some people like to hang their clothes. If they have space, why not? Then there are others who prefer to fold their clothes. It’s truly up to the individual and the space available in the closet.
As you go about organizing your closet, start small.
Do one section at a time. Take everything in that section out. Clean that section and only put back the clothes that fit and that you want to wear.
Understand that just because something fits doesn’t mean that you want to wear it. You may even want to try some clothes on to be sure you still like them.
Why organize your closet?
Remember the reason you're organizing your closet.
Are you tackling this project because you want to be able to decide which clothes to keep or get rid of, find your clothes easily, save time, save money, or all of the above?
Organize your closet first and then decide if you want or need any of the organizing accessories and items mentioned above. It’s a mistake to buy before organizing. Know what you need before you shop.
Diane N. Quintana is a Certified Professional Organizer® owner of DNQ Solutions, LLC, and co-owner of Release, Repurpose, Reorganize in Atlanta, Georgia. Diane specializes in residential and home-office organizing and working with people affected by ADD, hoarding challenges, and chronic disorganization. Please contact Diane for a free 30-minute phone consultation.