Can you never find anything to wear even though your closet's stuffed with clothes? Have you purchased an item of clothing that you have never seen again after it was put into your closet? Organizing your closet will enable you to find your clothes, accessories, and shoes whenever you need them, and will force you to get rid of all the unworn items that are crowding the clothes you actually wear. Here are some tips to organizing your closet so you can put together outfits in a hurry.
If you want your closet to be totally organized, set aside a whole day or weekend to work on the task. You could do some small tasks regularly over a longer period of time, but even though it might seem overwhelming at first, getting the whole job done in one day will make a much greater impact on your closet. After you have set a date for organizing, decide just what you’re going to do to your closet. Write down a plan and shop for the supplies that you will need. Make sure everything is ready before you actually start on the closet.
One of the decisions you will have to make before organizing your closet is whether you need new poles and shelves. If you have the basic closet system that came with your house or apartment, you may want to invest in a system that can more fully maximize your space. If you are handy, you can find closet-in-a-box systems at discount or home improvement stores; if you’re all thumbs, you can get a professional to install a system for you. Having a double row of poles on which to hang clothes means you can have twice as many shirts, pants, and skirts on hangers, and extra shelves, shoe racks, and other organizational tools can make the best use of the space you have in your closet. If you don’t want to invest in a closet system, or can’t alter a rented space, you can purchase organizational systems for shoes, purses, and folded clothes that hang from your existing poles. Browse in the housewares aisles of your favorite stores and check out all the choices available for closet organization.
Begin the task by taking everything out of your closet. This may sound like a tremendous job at first, but this is really the best way to get your closet in good shape. While you have everything out of the closet, inspect the walls; you may want to do a quick painting job if you have time. If you have decided to put in a closet system, install it while the closet is bare; otherwise, start the sorting process. You probably have lots of clothes that you don’t wear; they could be the wrong size, out of style, never looked good on you, or have missing buttons or tears. Most people wear about 25% of their clothes all the time; the other 75% are worn occasionally or not at all. You know which clothes you wear a lot; put those aside and go through all the rest. Sort the remaining clothes into three piles: those to be saved and stored elsewhere, those to be donated or sold at a yard sale, and those to be thrown away.
Save only clothes that have sentimental value or that you have reason to believe you’ll wear at a later date. For instance, you may want to save your Girl Scout outfit or letterman’s jacket from high school, but you probably aren’t wearing these everyday. If you have maternity clothes and think you might need them again, put them in a labeled box, but do not store them in your closet. If you’ve been saving clothes that are the wrong size, hoping you’ll be a size 8 again later, put those in the donation box. You may want to try on clothes you aren’t sure of, and sometimes seeing yourself wearing items may make you realize why you don’t wear even costly mistakes. Clothes that are hopeless should go in the wastebasket; smelly athletic shoes, socks with holes, stained clothing, and dry cleanables that went into the washer-dryer by mistake are some examples of things you should throw away.
After you have finished sorting your clothes, you will need to decide how you want them to be organized. There are many ways to do this, and you should choose the way that will work best for you. I like to organize my clothes by colors, since it’s easy to put together outfits this way. Another way to organize is to hang clothing in outfits; put a pair of slacks, a blouse, belt, and scarf all on the same hanger. You can also organize by the purpose of your clothing; you can have a section for work clothes, another for leisure wear, another for social occasions, etc. You can also group your clothes into sections of shirts, sweaters, pants, skirts, dresses, suits, etc. Think about your needs; if you’re constantly running short on time in the morning, you may want to organize by outfits, or if you buy another pair of black slacks every time you go shopping, you may want to group your clothes by color, making it easier to see what colors you already have.
Shoes are often a problem area in a closet; if not organized they tend to get in a tangle or become mismatched, and they can be damaged if they are not stored properly. There are many different types of organizers for shoes. Some closet organizer systems have built-in shoe racks, and you can purchase over-the-door wire or plastic organizers, wooden cabinet-style racks, cardboard organizers with dividers, or plastic or cloth organizers that hang from the closet pole. You can also store shoes by stacking them on a shelf in clear plastic shoeboxes, or in the original shoebox with a picture of the shoes on the outside of the box; use your digital or Polaroid camera to photograph all your shoes. You can group the shoes by color, purpose, or outfit; use the same system you chose for your clothes.
Sweaters, tee shirts, pajamas, and other clothes you don’t want to hang can be folded neatly and stacked on shelves. If you have a large amount of stacked clothing, you may want to install vertical dividers to keep the stacks in good order, or put the clothing in clear plastic boxes. Items such as belts, scarves, purses, robes, necklaces, or other accessories can be hung on hooks, and socks, slippers, hats, gloves, etc. can be put into lined baskets. Special hangers are also available for neckties, belts, and slacks that enable you to hang many different items on one hanger.
Organizing your closet can make a big difference in your life. After you organize your clothing closet, you may want to move on to the other closets in your home; you can use some of the same ideas to organize the linen closet, coat closet, pantry, and even your garage. Having your clothes in good order will make it easier to get dressed in the morning, saving you time and energy, and will enable you to become a more efficient shopper, as you will know what you actually have in your closet. Seeing your totally organized clothes each morning will make you feel great, and it's certainly worth giving up one day of your time to have a perfect closet.
