Sort Out Your Closet in 5 Simple Steps

We’ve received our first batch of inventory, and it’s been a blast counting, organizing, and stocking. All this unpacking made me think about my closet at home, and how to organize it to make getting ready in the morning a breeze.

Getting dressed for anything is a lot easier when your closet is organized, instead of piled up with everything jumbled together. Keeping your clothes in order is easy to do, and only takes a few minutes.

Here are our top 5 tips for organizing your closet.

1 – Sort Your Stuff

The first step to an organized closet is to sort out what you have. Make a section for each kind of item, such as work tops, blazers, dresses, and pants. Once you can see what you have, get rid of any items that you haven’t worn in the last two years. Anything that you don’t actually wear is just cluttering up the space you have.

Donate or sell anything that you don't wear or that doesn't fit. Items that are damaged should be thrown away.

Now that you have your categories, you could just stuff everything back in the closet. However, it is much easier to see what you have if you keep similar items together. Try hanging the pants next to the capris, which would be next to skirts, and then dresses. This way, if the kind of item you planned to wear isn’t working that day you can try something similar without digging through everything.

2 - Colour Block

To make the most of the space you have, hang each category up by colour. For example, put all the black blazers together next to all the grey blazers, next to the blue blazers, etc.  

By keeping the colours together you can easily see all the options and find what you want.

This also makes it easier to put together an outfit. Once you pick one colour, you can see what colours or patterns will go with it - minus the struggle to find something.

3 – Use Baskets or Bins

I’m a huge fan of putting baskets on the shelf on top of the hanging items. Small items such as tanks for layering can easily be folded and stacked, leaving extra room in both your closet and your dresser. If you don’t have a dresser, using baskets for things like socks and underwear prevents clutter.

Stores like Bowring, Jysk, Winners, and Pipers have carts with basket drawers. These are perfect for storing undies, socks, tanks, bras, and shorts. Since these carts are decorative, you can use them around your bedroom for both storage and design. 

4 – Add a Second Hanging Rack

For those of us who hang the majority of our items, one hanging bar isn’t always enough. Add a second bar by installing a tension rod about halfway between the first bar and the floor. Long items such as dresses can still go on the top bar, and now you have two bars to place everything else.

Tension rods are the best option since you won’t need tools to install them, they can easily be moved, and you won’t damage the walls of your closet if you take it down.

Pro tip: Put dresses and shirts on the top rack, and pants on the bottom. Since we're used to seeing clothing this way, you'll be able to see outfits before you take anything out. 

5 – Use an Over-the-Door Hanger

Placing an over-the-door hanger on the closet door gives you a place to store your necklaces, bracelets, scarves, or belts. Choose one that has multiple hooks so you can hang several items. Storing them in your closet not only keeps your room from becoming overrun with accessories, it also makes dressing up your outfit super easy.  

Have a suggestion for organizing your space? Share with us in the comments.