It’s incredibly frustrating to start your morning with a closet
full of clothes and nothing to wear. You just want to get dressed and go, but
instead, you’re trying in vain to find your left shoe or pants that fit.
Besides banishing frustration, there are some really great reasons
to overhaul your bedroom closet immediately. You’ve spent hard-earned money
buying clothes, so you should be able to find and wear them. An organized
closet means saving money, since you can see everything you own at a glance and
will no longer purchase an item of clothing only to find an identical piece
buried in your closet a week later.
Keeping your clothes organized also means being on time and
reducing your stress level, as you can dress quickly and efficiently. The more
often you can leave home on time, in a relaxed mood and looking good, the more
often you’ll have a great day.
As a professional organizer, I’ve discovered that too often closets
are organized to mimic a department store—all
of the shirts are hanging together and all
the bottoms are stacked together. This creates a hide-and-seek game where
clients are sorting through everything they own just to find an outfit for work
or clothes for the gym.
Fortunately, there are some much easier solutions. Try some of
these great techniques for getting your closet organized and keeping it that
way.
The Pro’s 5 Easy Closet
Overhaul Steps
1.
Remove all the clothes from
your closet. Starting with an empty closet is the easiest way to get organized.
As you remove garments, sort them into preliminary piles: one for warm weather
clothes, another for cold weather clothes and a separate pile for things you
don’t wish to keep.
2.
Stow off-season clothing
out of sight. If your closet is large, you can place them in a storage bin in the
back of the closet. Or, move them to a guest room closet. Another option is to
use under-the-bed storage boxes. Moving and separating winter items from summer
items will help you stay organized, because you won’t have to sort through your
winter sweaters to find a summer dress in July.
3.
Sort your current-season
clothing by use into the following categories:
·
Work
·
Casual
·
Dressy
·
Exercise
·
Gardening or housework
·
Uniforms
·
Any other special category
you may have
4.
Hang up one category at a
time. As you do so, put like items together. For example, hang all your work
slacks and skirts next to each other. Using this method, you’ll only have one
section of your closet to hunt through as you match outfits.
5.
Be sure to eliminate items
that do not fit, are out of style or need repair. Make it a habit to only hang
up garments that are ready to wear.
The Pro’s Three Favorite
Closet Tricks
1.
Baskets and Containers: Since
stacks of sweaters tend to slide to one side or off of the shelf, I love to keep
them contained. It is much easier to keep your closet neat when you can take a
basket down, find what you need and put it back. It’s impossible to do that with
loose items on a shelf.
2.
Dresser in the Closet: If you
have a walk-in closet, consider adding a small dresser in one corner. That way,
you won’t have to go between two different places to find the pieces you need.
Having your folded items right by your hanging items puts them all in one spot.
3.
Clip Hangers: Clip hangers save my life—and
my frustration level. They are great for holding so many items that slide
around on or fall off regular hangers. I fold scarves in half and clip them to
clip hangers. They are never wrinkled and always ready to wear. I also clip
tank tops and undershirts by their hem, since they always seem to slide off
hangers.
You can use these tricks in
one afternoon to get your closet organized. You’ll save time in the morning and
start every day in a more peaceful, efficient manner.
Lea Schneider has major experience planning closet rehabs, advising many
homeowners in her role as a professional organizational expert. Lea writes her advice
online for The Home Depot. For storage solutions that can help you better
organize your closets, you can visit the Home Depot website.
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