I've written several blogs on organizing your clothing, which I'll list below if you're in the market for that topic. However, I came across some clever closet organizing ideas in a CNN article, and thought I'd share a few.
- If you can't decide whether to keep an item or not, turn the hanger around backward or "flag" it. If you wear the item, turn the hanger around correctly or remove the flag. It's easy to see which items you haven't worn, and you can donate them or sell them at a consignment shop.
- "Once you have whittled down your wardrobe, you need to assess the layout of your closet. Measure the space you have, making sure to utilize backs of doors, floor space, and all interior walls. When you go to shop for boxes, bins, and other necessary space-savers, make sure you have your closet measurements in hand.
- Use every square inch of your closet. Hang shoe racks on the back of your closet door. Classic belt hangers with multiple hooks are also a good solution for hanging camisoles, bras, or scarves.
- Invest in the right kind of hanger for the type of clothing you are hanging. Use padded hangers for items made from delicate fabrics, plastic hangers for button-down shirts, and sturdy wood hangers for suit jackets as they help retain the shape of the items. Remove all wire hangers (they don't properly support your clothes) and plastic dry-cleaner bags (they don't allow fabrics to breathe, keeping the chemicals used in dry cleaning in your clothes).
- Sort sweaters, T-shirts, and other folded clothing by color as well. Always remove sweaters from hangers and fold them. Hangers will ruin the shape of sweaters over time. Store sweaters on shelves in manageable-sized stacks using sweater dividers to keep them from turning into leaning towers of Pisa. Even better, store them in sweater boxes with well marked labels.
- Keep items you use frequently at eye level or below and items you rarely use higher up. Labeled boxes are good for storing things like bathing suits or turtlenecks because you can rotate them higher or lower in your closet depending on the season.
- Move any snow boots, rain boots, or other "outdoor" gear to your front hall closet (or mudroom if you are lucky enough to have one); restrict what goes in your clothes closet to dress shoes only.
- It's possible that no matter how much you try to edit and organize, you just have too much stuff to fit in your closet. If that's the case, then you need to resort to a seasonal system by rotating your fall/winter clothes with your spring/summer clothes. Covered clothing racks can be filled with out-of-season clothes and kept in your attic or basement or under your bed. Flat storage boxes can serve a similar purpose."
What closet organizing tricks do you use?
More on organizing your clothing: Get Organized Month - Organize Your Shoes, Get Organized Month - Decluttering Your Tops/Blouses/Shirts, Get Organized Month - Declutter Your Pants, Get Organized Month - Decluttering Your Suits/Coordinated Outfits and Jackets
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