Organize your closet
Here, our top tips for making your closet organized, functional and serene! You really can have a closet you love no matter how much space you have. The trick is to maximize the use of every inch by putting in shelves, rods, and hooks from floor to ceiling. Create a place for each of your fashion finds. And make it easy on the eyes by sticking to a simple color theme for the space (like white wood and clear/plastic or light gray with touches of gold). How everything’s laid out should be attractive and it should make you smile. 😁
Invest in it
Invest a little time and money into creating a put-together closet with the space you have. It's so worth it because it makes getting dressed every day so much easier. Your wardrobe should be orderly and you should have a system in place for keeping it that way. Set up the structure — by a little planning and making a place for everything — and you'll find it's easy to keep it nice.
2. Install easy shelving
If you have bare walls in your closet (or just a single rod), try easy-to-install shelving! A well-designed closet takes advantage of the vertical space — this means putting in double hanging rods where you can, and shelves as high as possible. Lots of shelves, drawers, and rod space will keep stuff off the floor! Choose shelving and drawers that have either fine plastic mesh or a solid material (instead of wire) because they won't imprint a pattern onto your clothing. There are great closet systems available at stores like The Container Store, Home Depot, Lowes, Wayfair, Overstock.com, and Ikea.
White elfa Reach-In Closet, at The Container Store
The elfa system has many options for layout and colors/materials! Elfa also remains flexible for changing the configuration as needs change over time.
Deluxe Closet System, at Wayfair
A low cost but effective system.
Martha Stewart Living Essential Closet, at The Home Depot
A super simple solution.
ELVARLI storage system, at Ikea
Bamboo shelves and a clean white look. This unit attaches to the ceiling so it doesn't necessarily need to be placed against a wall.
3. Hang & fold
Certain clothing items such as tops and dresses need to be hung to discourage wrinkles, and items such as sweaters need to be folded to keep their shape. Other items can be hung up or folded based on personal preference and what your space allows! Be sure to buy uniform hangars — they have great motivational effects!
Folded items should be neatly stacked on shelves or in drawers. When stacking items on top of each other, stack only a few high so that nothing is squished and the pile stays neat. Sweaters should be stacked with the chunkiest/heaviest knit at the bottom of the pile and the lightest on top. And shelf dividers help keep piles of sweaters or jeans from toppling over!
Hang: Tops, dresses, pants, skirts, jackets, vests, coats
Fold: Tank tops, sweaters, undergarments, pajamas
Either hang or fold: Jeans, T-shirts, shorts, scarves, workout clothes
Joe Mangano Black Huggable Hangars, at The Container Store
These felt-lined slim hangars are a cult favorite - they take up minimal space and you don't have to worry about clothing sliding off of them!
Petite Basic Walnut Wooden Hangars, at The Container Store
Wooden hangars look elegant. They are a great choice if space is not an issue.
Clear Stackable Sweater Drawer, at The Container Store
Perfectly sized drawers for sweaters, the clear plastic allows you to see what’s in there and it keeps the dust off too! Stash in them: sweaters, tees, folded scarves, and more.
4. Arrange by type & color
Like goes with like — sweaters with sweaters, tops with tops, shorts with shorts, and so on. That way, you'll always know what spot of your wardrobe to find the type of item you're looking for! Within each of these groupings, arrange by color.
We like to arrange the way Marie Kondo describes in her book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. That is, by ordering clothes by the "heaviest" items (long length, dark color, thicker material) on the left to "lighter" items (shorter, lighter in color and material) on the right. The idea is that it feels uplifting (and we think it does)! You can use these principles for ordering items that are hung as well as for those that are folded.
5. Make it pretty
If you have one, a walk-in closet is ideal for a dressing room! (If you don't, a spare bedroom can be transformed!) Wood built-in storage is awesome for a permanent dressing space. Make the room an actual living space that's luxurious with layered lighting such as recessed lights and a beautiful chandelier. If the space allows, an island makes an excellent center-piece for storing jewelry and accessories. Seating such as a padded ottoman makes the room more comfortable.
6. Store away
If you have enough space in your regular dressing area, keep off-season clothing there in less-visible, harder to reach spots. (Display in the most visible/accessible places the items that you would actually wear right now.) If you don't have room for the off-season stuff, it can be stored away in boxes and located somewhere else in the house. Plastic or soft-sided boxes are good because they keep the dust off.
Grey Storage Bags, at The Container Store
We love these zippered, labeled storage bags to hide away in a closet or the attic!
Bigso Grey Soft Storage Boxes with Handles, at The Container Store
These grey fabric boxes are pretty enough for your closet shelf or anywhere else visible in your home!
Sweater Box, at The Container Store
The Container Store has excellent simple plastic storage boxes in many sizes!
Hanging Wardrobe - Natural Blended Canvas, at Target
Canvas hanging garment bags work well to store your off-season hangables! Just keep them in a less used closet.
