How to Organize a Clothing Closet

A clothing closet can be a nightmare for anyone. You need to go in there everyday to get dressed, often times reaching over clutter that doesn't belong while searching frantically for the outfit you know you want to wear. With a little time invested to get your clothing closet in shape and then some daily maintenance, organizing your clothing closet can become a time and energy saving investment.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Boxes
• Plastic or wooden hangers

Steps for Deconstructing the Current Closet

1. Reserve time for this project. You do not want to be in the middle of a closet organizing and find that you are running late for another appointment.

2. Take everything out of your closet. If it is not a permanent fixture, take it out!

3. Box all clothes that do not fit perfectly into two piles. One pile is for clothes that do not currently fit well, but that you hope will fit better after a little diet and exercise. The other pile is for clothes that do not fit and would require a fair amount of effort to ever fit again.

4. Find a storage location for the box of clothes that does not fit perfectly. In six months go through this box again and consider donating items that still do not fit perfectly.

5. Separate out clothes and shoes that are no longer in fashion or that you simply do not wear anymore.

6. Decide if the second box of clothes that do not fit at all and the clothes you no longer wear should be donated to a church or shelter or if you would be interested in contacting a consignment store to earn a little extra money.

7. Pile all items that are not clothes, shoes, or accessories. Clothing closets often seem like a good place to stash gifts or keep mementoes; however these items just contribute to the clutter and need to find a new home.

Steps for Putting the Closet Back Together

8. Separate the remaining clothes into work clothes, special occasion clothes and everyday clothes.

9. Divide these piles into more specific piles. From the work clothes pile, separate out skirts, pants, blazers, etc. Repeat this as needed until every remaining item is in a specific pile.

10. Start with your special occasion wardrobe. Make sure that all clasps, zippers and seams are intact. Set aside to be fixed, if you find anything wrong with the item.

11. Hang on a plastic or wooden hanger. Do not use metal hangers they warp allowing clothes to fall off and can snag material.

12. Place all special occasion clothes on the clothing rod near a wall. You are working towards the middle so that the clothes you wear most often are in the center of your closet.

13. Repeat Steps 3, 4 and 5 with out-of-season clothes placed along the opposite wall of the closet, followed by everyday clothes and work clothes towards the center of your closet.

14. Use a shoe rack or the floor to place your shoes. Again put shoes which are special occasion or out-of-season towards the back of the closet and shoes that are worn everyday towards the front.

Tips & Warnings

• Sweaters will keep their shape and take up less space if they are folded and stacked instead of hung.
• You can take the sorting further and place items according to color as well. An example would be black work pants, followed by dark brown work pants, followed by grey work pants, followed by beige work pants.
• Closet organizers can become pricy and may not solve the problem of a cluttered closet. Be cautious when investing in these.
• Create an organizational system that you can use daily. Do not make your closet so complex that you can't find your items or that you are stressed when it comes time to put clothes away.