How do I organize the clothes in my closet?

Question

I have a walk in closet with two rows of hanging space on one side (one on top of the other). I dont know the best way to organize my shirts, shorts, pants, dresses, etc.

Answer 1

Organize Your Clothes Closet

Before you do anything, take a look at a home store and through books or magazines to get an idea of what's out there to help you make better use of your closet. That way as you are doing the purge and you see what you're keeping you will have ideas about the changes you might want to make.

Take everything out of the closet and begin to sort. This is going to be a time commitment so expect to work on this for three to four hours to even a whole day. Clearing everything out reveals just how much space you have in your closet.

As you take out the clothes, you should separate them by type such as dresses, skirts, t-shirts, underwear (figure A), etc.

Go through each pile to see if you have double or even triple of the same items and determine what items to give away and what to keep.

Separate what you are keeping by season.

A general rule of thumb is that if you haven't worn it for a year or two, it might be time to get rid of it. Exceptions to the rule are items like formal wear or timeless items that you know you will be happy to wear when the opportunity arises. Keep the clothes that make you feel energized and motivated and give away the ones that make you feel guilty and miserable.

If you have any of the cleaner plastic bags over your clothes (figure B) , remove the bag. That bag is for protection in getting your clothes home, but you need to remove it when you put it in your closet because it is not for permanent protection when you bring it home.

Things that are out of fashion or are a bad color on you have to go. Try things on and let the mirror or a good, but honest friend be your guide.

If you are really conflicted, store the "not sure" clothes in the garage, basement or attic. Mark the calendar for three months from now and take the out again. If they have lost their appeal, out they go, but if you found you "missed" them, they can come back.

Another trick is to start every season by hanging all of your clothes on a hanger hooked backwards onto the rod. Once you have worn it, hang it up the regular way. At the end of the season, if you have certain items that are still hung backwards, it might be time to get rid of them.

No wire hangers. Wire hangers are bad for your clothes. Really improve the look and function with plastic hangers that are all the same color.. Quality wood hangers have really come down in price (figure C). They are worth the investment because they will keep your clothes hanging evenly and in good shape.

There are a lot of clever solutions on the market to make the most of your space. For sweaters, you can hang the six shelf canvas bags in your closet. They are available at most household stores.

An over the door shoe bag is great for many uses (figure D)--not just shoes! You can place belts, socks, scarves, accessories etc. in the pockets. These bags are also great to hang in your hall closet and assign each family member pockets for storing their gloves, knitted hats, etc.

Add drawer space. Try moving a small chest of drawers in if the "built-in's" are too costly. They are also a great place to store t-shirts, underwear, socks, etc. Or, purchase the plastic drawers (figure E) which are great because you can see what you have stored in them, and you can label the drawers.

Take advantage of the extreme reaches of your closet for out of season clothes stored in clear plastic bins on the floor or top shelf.

Improve the use of your shelves by subdividing them with shelf dividers to create neat boundaries for stacks of folded items like sweaters and sweatshirts (figure F). If you have your purses on a shelf, then use your biggest bag to store your smaller purses in. Make it even easier by creating one unit of all the little bags by putting them in an old pillowcase.

Hang it up. Hooks are a fantastic way to store hats.

Organizing your clothes by color is a simple way to avoid annoying decisions of what goes with what. With each section, whether it's casual or business, work from the lightest to the darkest color for easy matching--white at one end, black at the other.

If your closet doesn't have great lighting, you should get a battery operated light.

Even when you love everything in your wardrobe, it will be easier to see your options if you take the time to change your closet with the seasons. Put the sweaters and wools away when the weather turns warm, and keep the shorts and beachwear stored "off duty" during the winter.

Answer 2

I guess dresses and pants would have to go on the top row, so they don't touch the floor. Shirts, shorts, blouses could go on the bottom.

You do have storage boxes (or something similar) to put away your out-of-season clothes, right? Don't need them taking up space in the hang up section.

I separate dress clothes from casual - usually fold t-shirts and put them in a drawer. You should look at the closet organizers at Walmart or Target to get some better ideas.

Answer 3

Get rid of whatever you don't fit into anymore and haven't worn in at least a year, unless it was a very special occasion. Then get all matching hangers, wood ones will add a really neat and tidy effect. put all t-shirts together, then fancier blouses, then dresses(from short to long). Try to keep the colors all together too, like reds with reds you know? On the other side, start with shorts, then skirts (from short to long) then jeans then suits. If you have outer wear and sweaters, put them in the very back wherever you have room since it will be a while before they come out again.

Answer 4

Get a closet organizer at Home Depot or Lowe's

Answer 5

Put what you mostly wear each day on one rack and dressy things that are for special occasions on the other. Do the same with shoes. Order shirts by color and then put the pants behind all the shirts by color then the shorts and then the dresses. Make it a walk by. Grab the shirt then the pants/shorts and bend down to the shoes. Same with the others. Put accessories such as purses and belts by color behind too. For stuff to put in the purse, have a container with organizing boxes in them for tissues, wallets, sunglasses ect.

Answer 6

I organize mine by style, then color. Shirts on top, pants or skirts on bottom. Long sleeves go one place, no sleeves another, jacket styles that aren't really coats have their own spot, etc....it really just depends on what styles you wear most often and what will help you really "see" everything when you go in there. (I find it's better to put things that aren't qute your favorites where you'll see them more, because that way you'll wear them more often, your favorites you'll really dig for no matter where they are.) One tip that I find EXTREMELY hard to follow, is before you organize, go through everything and take out the things you haven't worn in years, things that don't fit, or things you really like but are probably not going to wear ever (lol, I have ALOT of those :P) and just get rid of them. I've done that...up to a point, and it really helped to clear out alot of my closet clutter.

Answer 7

you are a girl, so what does it matter? you will never have all your clothes neatly hanging in an organized fashion, cause they will be all over the room from trying on everything you own twice, looking for that perfect outfit to wear, and when you have selected the right one, it will probably be the first one you tried on in the first place, and then it wont look good together and you will cry and call your best friend and tell her that you have nothing to wear. am I right? hahaha, I have seen my daughter do this a hundred times and her mom and i have to laff at her with amusement.

Answer 8

Organize according to what you listed. All your shirts all your shorts etc. together. Then organize them according to color. Then what you wear the most in front, etc. I personally don't wear dresses a lot so mine are toward the back.

Answer 9

Well the easiest way to do it is to organize your clothes by colors . Or just put your extra clothes in a dresser or something.

Answer 10

Get some trash bags and get rid of the ones that you haven't worn in the last 2 years, then go out and buy some new ones. [ this should free up some of the space that's been cluttering you life. ] Do the same with your shoes, etc.