6 Features of an Organized Closet
You’ve already purged your closet of everything you don’t wear anymore. Now you need to organize it so that your remaining clothing stays in good condition and is easily accessible. After all, if you can’t see it or get to it, you’re never going to wear it! The following six features of an organized closet will help you know how to get your clothes in order.
Long Hanging Clothes
Most closet rods are at a height that is ideal for long hanging items like dresses and long coats. Be sure to use the appropriate hangers for each item: shaped hangers with broader shoulders for coats and suits, no-slip velvet hangers for delicate items, and wood or plastic for everything else. Please straighten out all those old wire hangers and roast some marshmallows on them, because that’s about all they’re good for!
Short Hanging Clothes
Skirts, pants, and shirts don’t actually take up much vertical space in your closet. By installing two rods–one about 40 inches above the floor, the other about 40 inches above that–you can double the amount of clothing you can hang in the same sizes space. Not handy with a screwdriver? Not to worry! If your current closet rod is high enough, you can use one of these closet doublers to do pretty much the same thing. Again, be sure to use the right hanger for your clothes. Skirts should be clipped to straight hangers, as should pants. You can also fold pants over open-ended hangers like these. Tops belong on plastic, wood, or no-slip velvet hangers.
Folded Clothes
Everyone has their preferences for how to fold a pair of socks or pair of jeans, but no matter how you do it, there are a couple key things to keep in mind for your folded items. Don’t stack your folded clothing too high. For one thing, you’ll forget about the stuff on the bottom of the stack. For another, those bottom pieces will get smashed and creased from the weight of everything on top. Four pairs of pants, six sweaters, or eight t-shirts is a good rule of thumb. Stack like items together, and keep each stack separate by using dividers or bins. Match socks before throwing them into a drawer; even better, use small dividers to keep pairs of socks separate and visible.
Shoes
We are probably all guilty of tossing our shoes into a jumbled mess on the floor of the closet (or living room…or bedroom…or entryway…) but this greatly diminishes the life of your shoes. Storing shoes properly not only helps you know where they are and what shoes you have–so you don’t end up accidentally buying a sixth pair of black heels–but also keeps them looking neat and clean. For people with the floor space, stacking shoe shelves are a great way to organize and display each pair. Over-the-door and other hanging options are ideal for people with less room to work with. Special occasion shoes should be boxed up and labeled so they don’t get dusty or damaged when not being worn, and tall boots should be stored upright with shapers inside to keep them from folding over and getting creases.
Accessories
Make sure your jewelry, scarves, and other accessories have a place to live too. But don’t just toss them into a drawer or on a shelf! Each piece needs its own little home, or else your necklaces will end up in a knotted jumble and you’ll be forever searching for matching earrings. See where you have a little extra space to work with and put it to good use. Wall mounted or over-the-door jewelry organizers great for walk-in closets, compartmentalized trays can slide into an unused drawer, and hanging pouches take up very little real estate on a closet rod. Scarves, ties, and belts can be rolled up stored like socks in a drawer, hung on individual wall hooks, or stored on a hanging organizer on your closet rod. Purses should be stored upright on a shelf or in a box.
Seasonal Clothes
This category includes things like sweaters, gloves, warm scarves, and coats for winter, and swimsuits, sundresses, and sandals for summer. Store these items in the harder-to-reach spaces in your closet: high shelves, the end of the closet rod, on the floor in the very back, etc. That way they won’t distract from the clothing that is seasonally appropriate right now. Fold knits carefully and store them in clearly labeled boxes. Hang silks, linens, and other delicate fabrics inside garment bags so they won’t have deep creases when you get them out again. Add a cedar block to each box, or include a hanging block inside a garment bag, to prevent pests from munching on your clothes while you’re not wearing them.
Check our archives for more helpful hints on keeping your closets organized!
Jen is the mother of two sweet girls; her days are filled with Dr. Seuss books and laundry, block castles and pink tutus. Reading is her first passion. Finding and testing out delicious recipes is a close second. She and her husband are working on making their fixer-upper home into something amazing. It’s a satisfying but painfully slow process. Read more from Jen at her blog: Nothing Can Come Of Nothing.
Featured image courtesy of The Hanger Depot.
Jen makes her home in the Alberta prairies with her husband and young daughter, where she writes about all things DIY. From home renovations to arts and crafts, if it's home decor she'll get her hands dirty and give it a shot!
Love this. Beautiful and well used/organized friendly which is exactly what we need