Organizing is a chore that most of us put off far too frequently. After all, who likes spending their weekends solely just cleaning out their closets? But if this is the 12th time you’ve noticed something missing from your wardrobe only to find it later under a pile of wrinkled clothes, then perhaps some spring cleaning is long overdue. So, without further ado, here are some top tips on how to organize your closet space more effectively.
How To Organize Your Closet In Just Six Steps
Start Tidying By Categories
Most of us tend to completely empty out our closets when we first start organizing. While there’s nothing wrong with that approach, having all your clothes strewn across your bed can be a stressful sight that might make you want to clean even less. Decluttering your clothes by each category (tops, bottoms, accessories, outerwear, etc.) will make the elimination process a whole lot easier. For one, you won’t feel nearly as overwhelmed sifting through the items of a single category as opposed to one big mountain pile of clothes.
Secondly, comparing like-for-like clothing will give you a better view of any accidental fashion repeats. For instance, perhaps you own several pairs of jeans that are in the same cut and colour or 10 of the same black t-shirts. This will allow you to evaluate and determine which ones you wear most frequently and which ones you can get rid of. Once you’ve finished organizing one category into separate donate, trash, and keep piles, you can then move on to the next.
Carefully Assess What You Want To Keep And Donate
One thing to consider when deciding on how to organize your closet space is to never justify keeping certain items. If you have to justify it, you probably don’t need or want that piece in the first place. That one (or several) clothing items that are two sizes too small that you’re still desperately holding on to because “you’ll wear it again when you lose weight”? Yeah, that has got to go. If you’re not wearing it now, you’re certainly not going to wear it later. Here are some questions you should ask yourself when assessing your clothes:
- Does it fit?
- In the words of Marie Kondo, “Does it spark joy?”
- Is it in style or does it reflect my current style?
- Do I look good and feel confident in it?
- Have I worn this in the past year?
- Would I buy this again today?
- Is it damaged?
If the answer is “no” to any of the questions, then put those garments aside in one of your assigned piles.
Out With The “New” And In With The “Old”
Try to keep your basic wardrobe staples that can be recycled year after year and purge the super trendy pieces that may quickly go out of style within a month. When evaluating your clothes, it’s important to determine which clothes you reach for the most and which you don’t. Another factor to consider when you organize your closet is how easy it is to style certain items. You’re most likely to get more wear out of your basics, because of how versatile they are to style with almost everything.
We’re not saying you should only keep all your basics because that would defeat the purpose of a closet clean-out. If there are any duplicates, just get rid of the ones you don’t wear as often. Similarly, you don’t necessarily need to get rid of all your trendy pieces either. After all, having a closet full of basics can be rather boring too. So, it’s best to keep a handful of trendy items that you wear frequently on rotation to ensure your wardrobe stays updated and fashionable.
Try The Backwards Hanger Experiment
Sometimes, deciding what clothes to keep and what to donate or trash is easier said than done. Though we tell ourselves not to justify holding on to our clothes, it can be hard to let go. This backwards hanger experiment is a decluttering hack that will help you to organize your closet more effectively. How this method works is that you should reverse all your hangers and hang it back onto the rack.
So, instead of the hook facing inwards, flip it around to face it outwards. Then, each time you wear an item, you’ll have to flip it back to its original position and hang it like you normally would. Within three to six months, you’ll be able to see exactly what you have worn and what you haven’t. For all the items that are still hung backwards, take them out and place them in the donate pile.
Put Everything Back According To Categories
Just like the beginning of the decluttering stage, store all the clothes you want to keep based on the category they’re in. By organizing similar items together, you’ll be able to locate your clothes far more efficiently. It makes getting ready in the morning an enjoyable process since you’ll know where everything is.
For instance, assign all the belts together in one allocated spot, arrange your pants alongside each other, followed by shirts, dresses, and the rest of the categories. If you’re still looking for better ideas on how to organize your closet, you can also colour-coordinate these categories from light to dark. This will not only keep things neat and tidy but will also make your wardrobe look visually-pleasing too.
Use Storage Organizers And Dividers For Smaller Items
Smaller and thinner clothing materials such as socks, tights, and scarves are slightly trickier to keep in place. Even more so when storing them in drawers and shelves, as some items tend to get hidden in deep, unseen corners. There’s also the temptation of stuffing more pieces than you should, resulting in piles upon piles of messy, wrinkled clothing. Storage organizers and dividers will help you have a better-structured system. It’s a quick and easy way to maximise your storage space, especially for those who don’t know how to organize their closets. Tiered shoe racks and shelves are great for neater shoe organization too instead of having them scattered all over the floor.
Keep Your Closet Clean And Organized With These Practical Tips
We understand that it can be tedious to declutter, so we hope that these tips were useful in showing you how to organize your closet practically. Remember to take things one step at a time instead of tackling every item in your wardrobe from the get-go. Need to clean out your kitchen cabinets too? Check out our other article for kitchen cabinet organization tips.
