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Best Closet Organizing Strategies

by | Oct 8, 2020 | Closets

We use our closet every single day (okay, except for pyjama days.) It makes sense to make it easy to find the perfect outfit for your day. No mess, no stress. 

Streamlining your closet tells you a lot about yourself. How you dress tells people who you are. And how your closet is set up is also uniquely you. My closet is extremely practical – because I’m a practical kind of person. So if that’s what you are looking for – read on!

Closet Style
The first thing you want to consider when thinking about your closet is choosing a style. It may be dictated somewhat by your living arrangement and your budget, but you always have choices and it is up to you to create the closet of your dreams (within budget of course!) So whether you choose to use your built-in, have a stand-alone wardrobe, or do a free standing rack, it’s up to you.

I like a clean look in my room, so I prefer to have my clothes behind a closed door and in drawers.

Declutter using TRACKED

Declutter your Closet

A few years ago an organizer friend of mine said that the Pareto rule also applies to closets. The Pareto rule (applied to closets) says that you will use 80% of the items in your closet 20% of the time and 20% of the things in your closet 80% of the time. I started to take a really critical look at the things in my closet. The percentages may not have been 100% accurate, but there were certainly things in my closet that I barely wore or hadn’t worn in a while. Time to declutter!
Find the questions that support you in getting to your desired closet when decluttering. What do I mean by that? Marie Kondo uses the question “Does it spark joy?” Other questions you might want to consider are:
  • Do I love it?
  • Do I wear it?
  • Does it fit?
  • Do I have too many of these?
  • What is “enough” for me?
  • Do I look and feel fabulous wearing this?
  • Does this match who I am?
Hanger Trick

The Hanger Trick

One sure way to not lie to yourself about what you do and don’t wear is to use the hanger trick. It’s pretty simple and does take some time to set up (if you have a lot of clothes) but it does really help you not cheat on this. Here’s how it works:

  1. Decide on a time frame (3 months, 6 months, 12 months)
  2. Reverse all the hangers in your closet
  3. When you wear something, put it back the right way
  4. At the end of the time frame, anything you haven’t worn will still be the wrong way around and you know you can let it go.

If you do cheat – I did (there were a couple of pieces of clothing that I just loved and told myself that I would wear in the next 6 months) be sure to repeat the process 2 or 3 times. By the time you’ve not actually worn that loved item, for double or triple the time frame you gave yourself, it’s really time to give it a new home.

I have an exception. I still have my wedding dress. I do still fit it and I have worn it several times since my wedding, but not for a while. And I’m very clear I’m keeping it for sentimental reasons, not as an item of clothing in my closet.

Practical Closet Strategies

Make a point of using vertical space strategically. Use double hanging rods, use shelving, hooks, etc. to use the vertical height in your closet.

Vertical space in your Closet

Sort the clothing items in your closet so that you can find them easily. You can use just one classification or several depending on the amount of clothing you have. For instance, I have things arranged by length (long hanging and double hung), by type (shirts and pants separately), and my shirts are organized by sleeve length and then by color. 

But you may choose to put together outfits for each day of the week and hang those things together so you can just grab the things you are going to wear that day.

And some people rotate the clothing they have in their closet depending on the season. I don’t have that much clothing and find I wear a lot of my clothing year round (one of the benefits of living in Southern California.)

Keep like with like in your closet

Use the Right Closet Storage Tools

Storing your clothing and accessories in a way that makes them easy to access and put away is pretty much the goal here. Use see through containers and label them so it is easy to see where to put things back. Use the right containers or storage tools for the items. 

Your Best Closet

There are lots of different ideas presented here. Some of them will work for you and some of them, eh, not so much. That’s okay. You think the way you think and some ideas will “fit” better than others.

So which tips will work for you? What makes sense for your closet? Make sure to take some time to implement those tips this week!