Simple Steps to Organizing Your Closet

Some of my friends think I'm more than a bit obsessive compulsive. Many of them seem to have gathered this opinion of me on learning that I keep my work shirts sorted by color. When it comes to the organization of my closet, that's not the only thing that I do which might be viewed as odd. Pretty much every item of clothing has a designated location in my closet, or at least a designated section. While this may be a little on the obsessive compulsive side, it means that I can pretty much choose an outfit that will match when I'm barely awake, and in a barely lit room. I know my boyfriend is happy that he gets to sleep peacefully, without having to hide from the light, while I get ready for work.

Organizing your closet may take some initial effort, but the results are well worth it. Set aside a bit of time, put on some music that keeps you moving, and get started!

1. Take stock of what you have
The first step in organizing your closet involves getting a sense of what clothes you own. This is a good time to keep a few large boxes or baskets nearby. Designate one container for things to be donated, one for things to be thrown out, and one for things to be repaired. Depending on your wardrobe, you may also set aside a container for things to be sold. Inevitably, as you go through your closet, you will find pieces of clothing that you know will no longer fit, that you no longer like, or that need minor (or major) repairs. These can be moved to the appropriate containers as you work through the contents of your closet. Set the hangers to the side, as you may need them later.

2. Sort your clothes by type
Once you've weeded out the pieces of your wardrobe that are being discarded or fixed, the next step in organizing your closet involves sorting out what you have. At its most simple, the sorting process would involve putting all of the shirts together, all the pants together, etc. If you want to be a bit more organized about it, you can separate the clothing types into further subgroups. For example, I have separate sections for long sleeved T-shirts, short sleeved T-shirts, and work shirts (usually blouses but also some nicer T-shirts). Your own organizational ideas may vary; some people may prefer to sort their clothes based on what goes together as an outfit, and hang those pieces together. Whatever seems most likely to work for your lifestyle is what I would recommend.

You can also take this opportunity to make sure that clothes are on hangers which are appropriate to their structure. This is where those leftover hangers can come in handy. My sundresses with very thin straps always fall straight off of metal hangers, so I try to keep them on plastic hangers with notches for the straps. Heavier weight items, like pants and suit jackets, go on heavier-duty hangers. And I have slightly smaller hangers for my babydoll T-shirts, which get stretched if put on a standard sized hanger.

3. Remove seasonal items
This step is purely optional, as it does require having a bit of extra storage space elsewhere. If you are organizing your closet at the beginning of the winter, you may not need to keep all of your lightweight clothes in the closet. Similarly, if you are organizing your closet at the beginning of the summer, your heavier items might not be necessary. If you have the extra storage space, in the attic, basement, or anywhere else, you can remove some of the off-season clothing, and store it. From experience, I suggest storing off-season items in plastic containers that have lids, rather than in baskets or cardboard boxes. You may also want to look into some of the commercial or homemade methods of keeping your clothes from getting musty while in storage. If you don't have the space to store off-season clothing, don't despair; simply move it to the least accessible part of your closet, so that the clothes you will be needing is easier to reach and see.

4. Put everything back away
While organizing your closet, it might be helpful if you pull a lot of the clothes out, for ease in sorting through them. So the final step in organizing your closet is to put everything back away, in whatever pattern you think will work best. The size of your closet, and other things lurking within, may also affect this step. Because our apartment is so small, we use nearly every square inch of the closet floor for storage of shoes, stackable drawers, and other assorted objects. The heights of these other things mean that in my closet, there is only one place where my long dresses can hang unimpeded, and one place where only my very short skirts can hang comfortably.

Someday, I'll get around to organizing the bottom part of my closet. And maybe the shelves at the top. Well, one step at a time, that's the best way of organizing your closet.