Does your closet feel a little overstuffed? Do you find yourself searching for what you need a little too much? Your closet plays a big role in your daily routine. We get dressed everyday. We may help family members get dressed every day. We do laundry often. Those clean clothes have to go somewhere, right? Dealing with a disorganized, messy closet every single day is likely adding unnecessary stress and overwhelm to your day. The good news is an organized closet is something you can have. With a simple plan, a little focus and the right strategies, you can create a calm, functional closet you will love using. Even better news? We have the professional organizing strategies to help you achieve the closet of your dreams!
Declutter Your Closet
The thought and process of decluttering can truly feel overwhelming. You may feel like you don’t even know where to start. You can’t organize clutter. So the first step to organizing your closet is to remove anything you don’t wear, use or love.
- Give Yourself Time – Decluttering is a process and you will need time to sort, categorize and make decisions on what items to keep and what items need to be donated or discarded.
- Empty The Closet – We know, we know, but this is the best way to really see what you have and do a thorough job. Make sure you have a spot to place everything and take all of your items out of the closet. This allows you to make better decisions as you sort through all the things.
- Quick Clean – This is a perfect time to remove cobwebs, wipe down shelves and clean the floor. It will feel really good to place your keep items back into a fresh, clean space!
- Sort & Categorize – As you work through all of your things, separate by category like t-shirts, blouses, pants, jeans, work clothes, leisure wear and athletic wear. The categories will vary depending on your wardrobe.
- Let It Go, Let It Go – Have your donate, sell and discard bins or bags ready as you begin to sort your items. This tends to be the challenging part of the process. As you sort your clothes, ask yourself these questions. Any no’s, let it go!
- Have I worn this in the last year?
- Do I like the way this fits?
- How do I feel when I put this on?
- Would I buy this again today?
Shall We Organize?
Decluttering is complete and you are left with only the clothing items that fit you well and make you feel fabulous when you put it on! Now the fun part begins. Let’s create an organized system that makes your closet work for you! This step will feel so much lighter and doable with less stuff to organize.
The goal here is to create an organized closet system that works for you, your lifestyle and the way you go about your daily routines. Start with those categories of like items you created when decluttering. Now we want to sort those categories by how often you use or wear the item. We want to keep more frequently used items front and center and use your higher or lower areas for those items you only use occasionally.
As you return items to your closet, create zones or sections in your closet for the categories like work, casual and activewear. You will love how quick and easy the process of putting laundry away becomes with this system in place!
Add Space and Structure
To help maximize your closet space, consider storing your off season items outside of your primary closet area. You can use a spare bedroom closet, space in your attic or garage or even utilize your under bed storage. If your closet is still too full, clutter will likely creep back in. Give your clothes and accessories space and room to breathe.
Closet organizing products are great tools to help you maintain your organized system and maximize your closet space. Matching hangers are a game changer for any closet. Slim, non-slip hangers save space and create a lovely, visually appealing look. Bins and dividers work well for folded items like sweaters and t-shirts, handbags and other items you store on your shelves. You will need a shoe system. Shoe shelves or cubbies can work well. Clear, stackable shoe boxes or an over-the-door shoe organizer are great options as well, especially if you are working with limited space. You can also find a lot of options to organize your belts, scarves, jewelry and other accessories.
And just like that you have a clutter free, highly functional organized closet! Plan to do routine closet resets. It can be once a week, once a month or whatever works with your schedule. This is important to maintain all of your hard work and organized closet bliss! Small maintenance sessions prevent major redos later.
If you need a hand decluttering and organizing your home, we’re here to help!
Are you local to Winston-Salem, North Carolina and surrounding areas?
Contact Organized Jill for a complimentary consultation.