When you open up your clothes closet, do your belongings tumble to the ground? Is the floor of your closet so full of shoes and other “stuff” that the doors won’t slide freely open? If so, now is the time to get organized and take back your storage space.
Step One: Take Everything Out of Your Closet
Taking everything out of your closet lets you see how much space you really have to work with. At this point you might feel a little overwhelmed as you see exactly how much “stuff” you really have as it is strewn about your bedroom. Fret not. Lay your hanging clothes on your bed, and place any other items out of the way of your walking path.
Start your project fresh and clean by wiping off any shelving or storage areas, and by vacuuming the floor of the closet.
Step Two: Sort Your Clothing
Do you wear all of the items that are hanging in your closet? Organization experts suggest giving away any clothing items which have not been worn for over a year. Do you really want all of those oldies anyway? Resist the urge to hang onto items just because you think you might wear them one day.
Place all items which you are ready to give away into one pile. Any items that you feel belong in the garbage should be put into a trash bag.
Step Three: Re-hang Your Clothing
Plastic hangers can be purchased for a very small amount of money. Purchasing the hangers all in the same color will look more aesthetically appealing. Wire hangers can tangle and don’t keep your clothing in the best shape possible. If money isn’t an issue, wooden hangers will make your closet look great while keeping your garments in great shape.
Like items should be hung together. Create separate sections for pants, shirts, dresses, skirts, etc. Within these sections, why not organize your clothing by color? It will be easier to find the perfect pair of black pants if they are all hanging together neatly. Leave an adequate amount of space between each hanger to let your clothing hang freely.
Step Four: Organize Your Shoes
Sort through your shoes and other items the same way that you did your clothing.
Now, look at your closet and decide where you want your shoes to be. Shoe organizers come in many different styles. You may choose to place them on a shoe rack organizer on the floor of your closet. Some may prefer a shoe organizer which is meant to hang on the back of a door. Analyze what would work best for the space you are working with. Just make sure that your shoes are visible and easily accessible to avoid the temptation to lay them in other places, such as laying them loose on your closet floor. The exception to this would be if you only have a few pairs which will not take up a lot of floor space.
Step Five: Organize Folded Clothing
Your closet may contain clothing which is better kept folded, such as sweaters or delicate items. If your clothing drawers do not have any more space, and you need these items to be easily accessible, they can be organized in your closet effectively by utilizing shelving.
Complete closet organizing systems can run from fairly cheap, to very expensive. If you have one of these in your closet, you will be able to utilize the empty space more effectively. If you don’t have one, most closets contain at the very least, a rack above your hanging clothes.
Stack folded clothing neatly on your closet shelves. The items which you wear most should be near the top of the stack so that they are easier to get to. Like items should be stacked together, such as sweaters with sweaters, etc. Make sure that you are able to reach the items with little effort. Stacking clothing up to the ceiling on the top shelf of your closet would be ineffective because if you need to get to an item in the middle of the stack, the clothes stacked above it are likely to fall on you at some point.
Step Six: Purses, Belts and Other Stuff
You may have purses that you want to display. These can be lined up on the top shelf, or you may find your own way to effectively showcase them if your closet contains a pre-made closet organizer as mentioned above.
Belts can be placed on a hanging organizer, or you may want to roll them and place them neatly in a basket, which can easily be accessed.
Now, look at any leftover items which you had in your closet before. After sorting through them and deciding what to keep, look at your closet and the space that you have left. You may choose to fill in any empty spaces with other stuff, or you might find somewhere else to put it. However, when you want to maintain an organized closet, having a little empty space can be okay too. You will need it when you decide to purchase new items that need a home.
