Eliminating clutter and organizing your walk-in closet can save time, reduce stress, and improve efficiency as well as your mood. Go about the project relaxed and methodically, and you’ll be breezing through your morning routine and looking fabulously coordinated before you know it. As Benjamin Franklin famously said, “every minute spent organizing, an hour is earned.”
Here are our top seven tips for organizing your walk-in closet:
Clear Out Your Closet
Don’t spend time organizing things you don’t need. Once a year or even once a season, dedicate an hour or two to cleaning out your closet. Donate items to charity if they no longer fit, are out of fashion or if they “no longer bring you joy,” as Marie Kondo says. If you haven’t worn an item in the last year – donate it. If it has holes, is stained, or is stretched out – throw it away. If it’s new(ish) or still has tags on it – try selling it to a consignment shop. Less stuff will make organizing tips two through seven much easier.
Separate By Style
Once your closet is completely emptied, and you’re left with only the items you wear and love, you can begin organizing. Start by separating your clothes into categories – dress shirts, pants, skirts, jeans, socks, swimwear, shoes, etc. Taking inventory of what you have will make it easier to create a custom organization plan.
Customize, Customize, Customize
Choose a design or arrange compartments, shelves, racks, and drawers to accommodate your items. How you choose to display and organize your items will depend on your lifestyle, and your existing closet space. For example, if you’re a shoe collector, you may opt to display your prized possessions on horizontal shelves up the length of the wall. But if you only own the basics, a small rack on the floor will do the trick. Think about what you own and organize accordingly.
Organize According to Use
Once you’ve established your closet’s design, you can begin to put things in their perfect place. We recommend starting from the top. This fall season, store your swimsuits, beach towels, sandals, and summer dresses – this helps to stay organized and maximize space throughout the seasons. In the summer, you can store your winter hats, jackets, gloves, and boots in bins on the top shelf since you won’t need to access them regularly.
Utilize Adjustable Shelves and Hanging Rods
Adjustable shelves and hanging rods can be customized to fit your wardrobe and utilize dead space. Items like jeans, bulky sweaters, t-shirts, and athletic wear can be folded according to the KonMari Folding Method seen here, and placed on shelves by category. Place tops on the top shelves and pants on the bottom shelves. Shoe shelves can also be adjusted to accommodate everything from tall boots to flat sandals. Hanging rods should also be modified according to the clothes you own. Measure the length of your tops and bottoms on hangers and place rods accordingly.
Clever & Creative Hacks
Make Marie proud by going above and beyond. These space-saving and visually appealing techniques will please even the most type-A personality.
- Use drawer dividers to separate different clothing items
- Organize each category (e.g., shirts, shorts, pants) by color. Not only is it visually pleasing, but it will make matching the perfect outfit easier.
- Ditch mismatched hangers and replace them with thin felt hangers – your clothes won’t slip off when you’re thumbing through, and their narrow design helps to save space.
- Use empty wall space or hangers to organize and display your jewelry, belts, scarves, and ties.
- Label your storage containers according to the seasonal items being stored to make it easier to find things.
Take It to the Next Level
Create a space that makes you feel like a king or queen every time you step inside. A full-length mirror, elegant light fixture, small area rug, or decorative wallpaper will have you feeling like royalty and make the process of getting ready for the day much more fun.
