Organizing a closet is one of our specialties here at Get Organized! with Bridges +CO. This is where most people begin and end their day, in preparation for the next phase. A clean closet is imperative for reducing stress and saving time, especially in the morning.

Start with the Laundry

The first part of getting your closet clean is to clear the floor. With dirty laundry in a pile and shoes scattered around, who can find what they’re looking for? Instead of covering your carpet, try tossing your worn clothes into a hamper.

Shoes need to be organized and all in the same section, so that it’s easy to see what options you have and find what you’re looking for. How many times have you run around the house, looking for the other shoe?

A great way to order your shoes is with an over the door shoe organizer, or in a stacked up clear plastic drawers. There are a ton of great ideas, I just love how HGTV will gives us these 25 shoe organizing tips with photos. There’s definitely something for everyone!

Organize Your Clothes Your Way

The next thing up are the racks in your closet. One way for organizing your clothes is by color, i.e. all the red shirts together, which makes finding that cute red top a breeze; another is to organize your clothes by putting them together according to what you wear for different occasions or activities, work goes here; play goes there.

For those of you in transition, you can organize by size, saving you the time of trying on two or three pairs of jeans. Others can take a more general approach and just place all their shirts together and all of their pants together.

Although everyone is unique in how they organize, the bottom line is to keep it simple so that your clothes are arranged in a way that makes finding what you want easy for you! Keeping it organized will allow you to maintain peace of mind.

Organizing Tools for your Closet

Most people keep their clothes on hangers. Some closets have built-in shelves where you can keep clothes that you don’t mind being folded or that don’t wrinkle easily. If you don’t have shelves, you can buy hanging shelves that hook right over the closet pole.

For those with smaller closets, all the clothes will go on one rung, so to make things easier, hang all of your shirts, blouses, jackets on one side, and all of your jeans, slacks, skirts on the other.

If you have a walk-in closet and room for more than one rung, hang shorter items closer to the floor and longer items, such as dresses, along the top. This way everything is organized and neat.

To keep your ties nice and straight, you can hang those as well. Hangers can be used, as well as hooks. And, speaking of hooks, putting these on the inside of your closet door will make an often worn item, like a jacket or bathrobe, easy to find in an instant!

For any storage you might be using your closet for, there are clear plastic bins that will help you easily identify what’s inside and keep all of your items in one place. You can keep these on the floor, or above your clothing on the top shelve.

Organized Closet

An Organized Closet, free of Clutter

Clearing Out Clutter

Another very important part of getting your closet organized is clearing out clutter! You know, the old top you haven’t worn since last year’s Christmas party or those jeans you’ve worn a thousand times, but just won’t give up? It’s time to do some letting go!

Getting rid of clothes you no longer wear or are hanging on to ‘just in case’, can really get your closet cleared out. If you haven’t worn it for a year, chances are it will sit for another year, collecting dust in your closet. Why save what you’re not using? There are other ways to make good use of these items!

Consignment stores are looking for your gently-used, nice clothing and shoes. They will sell them for you, and you will receive a percentage of the retail price. What a great deal! Take a look at the article I wrote on Using Consignment Shops as You Declutter!

If your clothes aren’t what the consigner is looking for, many stores will gladly take donations. The profit they make usually benefits a local charity or organization. Another way to get rid of clothing for a profit is to have a yard sale.

Either way, you will feel good about the new found space in your closet, and someone else will benefit from the sharing of your excess! It’s a win-win!

Keeping Your Closet Organized

To keep your closet neat and orderly, it’s important to keep organizational systems in place. Hang up your clothes and put your shoes in their place. Dirty clothes go in the hamper, and the floor stays clear.

To keep your closet functional, use the ‘one in; one out’ rule. If you buy something new, get rid of something you haven’t worn for a while. This simple motto will help keep your closet from getting cluttered and overloaded all over again.

These great tips will have you cleaned up and cleaned out in no time! Now, get to your closet and Get Organized!