Closet Organizers

When you’re considering a closet organizing system, you should avoid gadget infatuation. This happens when you’re looking at a brochure or website, you see some ingenious closet organizing contraption and you think, “I’ve GOT to have that.”

There are hundreds of innovative, cool ideas for closet organization, but it’s your closet. Not many people will see it, and eventually the gadget will lose its novelty and you’ll just wonder, “Why did I buy that?”

Another common pitfall for people perusing closet organization systems is the “one closet fits all” thought. The organizing system that gives you the absolute best use of space isn’t necessarily the one for you.

A million cubby holes won’t help you if you need the space for hanging garments. Squeezing ties into tiny plastic compartments will save space, but it will cost you time if you have to iron ties.

Your closet organizing strategy depends on your clothes, shoes, and accessories. It also depends on your budget and handyman (or handywoman) skill.

Which Closet Organizing System is Right for You?

Give Your Old Clothing To Charity

Before you decide upon an organizing system, you have to go through your clothes. You don’t want to buy or design a system to hold clothes that you don’t wear. That’s a waste of time and space.

Instead, you want to keep your closet to only things you currently wear. This means if you have “fat clothes” and “skinny clothes,” you have to only keep the size that fits you now in your closet. This also means only clothes for this season.

A closet organizing system to store sweaters in your closet with your summer clothes is a waste of money and space. During skinny times, keep your fat clothes in another closet or a storage container. During summer, keep your sweaters in a storage container under a bed or in another closet.

Organizing doesn’t mean fitting as much as possible into one space. It means making a space user-friendly and more efficient. Stuffing a space with too many items won’t allow you to see everything, no matter what organization system you use. If you haven’t worn a piece of clothing in over 6 months, get rid of it.

Make your goal to fill one trash bag with clothes to be donated. If you fill two, you can buy a new outfit. Bargain with yourself to keep from being a packrat.

Evaluate Your Closet Contents

Look at the clothes you actually wear hanging in your closet now. Are there an equal number of pants and shirts? Are there a lot of dresses? Your pants should hang on pant hangers. Don’t fold them over shirt hangers. It only creates an extra crease and doesn’t allow you to recognize the pants as quickly in a brief look into your closet.

Decide how much space you need for long items and how much you need for short items. If you need mostly long item space, it’s silly to install an additional short hanging rack. Simply hang your shorter items in a group on the same rack.

Don’t fall into the trap of wanting your closet to look cool. You only need it to work efficiently for you.

Utilize Your Shelf Space

Utilize the shelf space over your hanging rack. There are a number of shelf dividers available to create separate sections for different clothing, shoes, and accessories.

If you have a lot of room on top of your current shelf, add another shelf instead of stacking higher. Shoes and bags are easily recognizable on higher than eye level shelves.

Think Outside of The Box

If you have a master bedroom with two closets, think outside of the box. Don’t automatically give one closet to your spouse and take one for yourself just because that’s the way it’s usually done.

If it makes more sense to have both of your clothes together in one hanging closet and make the other closet completely into shelves for folded clothes, shoes, bags, and accessories, consider that option.

Never forget that closet organization is about what works best for you, not what other people generally do.

Organize Your Clothes

If your budget is fairly tight or you know that you have too many clothes, you might decide to be more honest with yourself about what you actually wear. It might turn out that you only need very minimal closet organization accessories once you get rid of the clothes that are only taking up space.

We all think that we need more space, but most of us only need to use the space we have in a more logical way. Do you really wear all of those belts, or do you have a couple that you like more than others? If you have certain belts you only wear with one pair of pants or jeans, loop the belt in the pants before you hang them.

It solves the problem of needing additional space, and it will be more convenient when you get dressed. If you waste too much time in the morning deciding what to wear, group outfits together in the closet. There’s no law that says that you have to hang all shirts together and all pants together. Your closet organization is about your life.

Modular Closet Organizing System

If you do purchase a closet organizing system, I highly suggest you get a modular system that you can change. What is right for your winter clothes might not work as well for summer clothes. What works well for you this year might change in the future.

You should allow yourself versatility in your closet organizing. Try one way out for a while, and if it’s not as convenient as possible, change it. It’s all about saving you time and effort.