How Do You Do It?: Closet Organization

         Several people have asked me, “How do you do it?”  My organizational skills get plenty of attention from family, friends, and co-workers.  What I want so badly is to say “It’s so easy!”  Instead, I usually say something along the lines of “I really don’t know.”  Truth is I want to share my methods with everyone, so I decided, why not?  I’ll be doing a series of organizational tutorials over the next couple of weeks and I hope they are well enjoyed.

            To give a little background, my husband and I live in a two bedroom apartment, and while I wouldn’t call it small, others may.  I utilize all the space in this apartment to its full capacity.  We coupon and need space to stock-pile, but as you can guess, this is difficult to do in an apartment.  We made it possible using several different organizational methods, all of which I will share with you.  I welcome questions and (kind) comments.  Feel free to enjoy and organize!

The Closet!!!

            I started organizing my closet by starting top to bottom.  I went through item at a time at the top shelf, getting rid of anything I don’t use without a second thought.  Part of organization is minimization.  Don’t think about an item.  If you pick it up and your first thought is “I didn’t know I had this” or “I never use/wear this,” get rid of it!  You don’t need something you didn’t even know you had.  I continue this method going through each and every hanger then through each and every pair of shoes.  I toss things into one pile of “get rid of it” items, and the other pile is stuff I plan to keep.

            Next process:  sort it!  I pick through the items I’m keeping and organize them into work clothes, casual clothes, and outerwear.  Do the same with your shoes.  Sort them into boots, flats, tennis shoes, and sandals.  Finally grab your accessories and place them into piles:  belts, scarves, handbags, wallets, etc.

            Now that you have that, let’s start putting it back!

Shoes:

            I start here first, you can skip around as needed.  I was tired of all of my shoes ending up on top of each other and ruining the look of these shoes I paid so much for.  To fix this problem I went out and grabbed a tension rod and placed it about two feet from the floor of the closet.  I then took pant/skirt hangers (the kind with the clips) and clipped my boots to these.  

Next, I bent up some wire hangers and used these to hold my flats and sandals.  These shoes normally get squashed and ruined, but with them off the floor, they are not only easier to see and access, they last longer. 

On the floor of the closet I placed my heels and tennis shoes in pairs.  

Now that we finished the shoes, let’s move on.

The top Shelf:

            I use my top shelf for a variety of items.  I make sure to used boxes and baskets to organize items such as cords, paperwork, and manuals.  I use the top shelf of my closet to store these items as there is nowhere else in our apartment to store them.  I also placed all of my wallets and purses into a basket and place them on my top shelf.  That was easy!  Next!!!

Hanging Everything:

            As I already stated, I start by sorting everything into piles of work clothes versus casual clothes.  I use two different colored hangers to differentiate between work clothing and casual clothing.  I mostly did this because I already had a mixture of two colors of hangers.  The two piles I already had I began to sort down further.  I grabbed these really awesome pant hangers that each hold four pairs of pants.  Can you say space-saving!?  I hang slacks on one hanger and jeans on another.  

I also grabbed a skirt hanger and hung my skirts on that.  

On to the next step!

            Begin hanging any dresses you own on one color hanger.  I know you may have some casual dresses and some dresses you wear to work or formal events, but hang them all on the same color hanger.  They will go in the same place due to their length.  Once you have your dresses on hangers, hang them to one side of the closet.  Your dresses will hang toward the back of the closet due to the length of them.  Because dresses hang so low, they sometimes hinder the view of your shoes now that they are on their awesome new tension rods.

            Place your skirts next in line followed by your work pants.

            Now start putting your work clothes on the same color hanger you used for your dresses.  I hang my clothing up in a ROYGBIV spectrum.  Feel free to hang your clothing up however you feel comfortable.  After your work clothing, hang any extra hangers of that color in front of your work clothes.

            Next, I took one of the pant hangers I had left-over from my boots.  I used shower rings to hold belts and scarves.  I looped these shower rings over the hanger and placed them next in line to the extra work clothing hangers.

On the opposite side of your scarves and belts, hang your jeans.

            Start hanging lightweight jackets and cardigans on the other color hangers.  Place these on the other side of your closet.  Because I do not have space in my closet, I hang all heavier sweatshirts and coats in my entry-way closet, but you can hang all sweatshirts and coat in your closet if you would like.

            The next (and final) step is to place all of your casual shirts on the same color hanger as your jackets.  Place these in line next to your jackets.  Hang any extra hangers on the opposite side of the scarves and belts. 

            Now you are finished.  Step back and admire your handy work!  Enjoy the look of your beautifully organized closet.  I hope you enjoy!