Closets are fantastic places to hide unwanted Christmas presents, clothes that haven’t been worn in years and everything that doesn’t belong anywhere else. Until one day, you can neither fit in one more shoe nor find the shirt that would be perfect for this weekend…
If this day has come, make no more excuses for small bedrooms or small closets with lots of clothes. A practical approach and a little time is all you need to create a wardrobe that you can be proud of. Here is a brief guide on how to organise your clothes with some pro closet organisation tips to get you started.
1) Remove everything
The first tip in this list is also the first step in any successful wardrobe organisation – pull out everything from your closet and drawers. It is quicker, easier and more effective to start with a blank slate.
2) Decide what you need to keep
Now that all of the items are laid out on the bed and covering the floor, examine each item and decide whether you really need to keep it. Everything else can be categorised into piles for donating to charity, selling online or in a garage sale, passing on or throwing out.
Be ruthless! There will be jeans that no longer fit, that cute top that clashes with everything and the sweater that you can’t believe was ever in fashion. Only keep items that you will wear again (and any sentimental items that you cannot bear to part with, such as a wedding dress). This is also the ideal time to create a “mending” pile to fix items that you would wear if only it had a zip that actually zipped.
3) Organise into piles by category
So, how to arrange your wardrobe neatly? One of the easiest ways to organise your closet is to group each item into a similar category, such as by season (ski gear in a separate pile to beachwear), how often you wear them and by purpose (favourite pants vs formal evening wear). The same process applies to organising shoes and accessories such as sunglasses, scarves and handbags.
4) Design a storage system that works for you
There are many ways to organise your bedroom closet. It is simply a matter of figuring out a system that works for you and the space available. Each pile from step three should be assigned its own unique place in the wardrobe; whether it is on hangers or hooks, in a drawer or box, or on a shelf.
Where possible, install more doweling (a broom handle will do for the savvy DIY-er) for extra hanging room. Staggered hanging rods of different heights are often effective to maximise the space available while creating space to look after longer dresses and suits. Now is also the ideal time to invest in suitable hangers for proper clothing care and to avoid wrinkles.
Hooks or additional hanging rods can be added to walls or the back of doors to house bags, sunglasses and other accessories. High places and floor space can be exploited by inserting shelves with the option of installing dividers for neat piles. Stackable crates (shoe boxes are a perfect size for accessories) and pull-out drawers are an efficient use of space. Adding labels or colour-coding is helpful for when you start asking yourself, “Now, where did I put… ?”
5) The great shoe conundrum
It is very easy to finally fit everything into a closet, only to turn around and discover mountains of shoes still to go (this phenomenon is also encountered when packing a suitcase). Here, you have several options; build a shoe rack to make the most of the floor space in the wardrobe, install hanging compartments or vertical shelving or find an alternative home (see number six). Storing one shoe heel-out and the other toe-out usually reduces the space required and allows you to examine shoes from all angles to help with deciding what to wear.
6) Finding alternative homes
Even with the most creative efforts, some items may just not fit. In this situation, it is time to search for alternative homes. Bulky items such as ski jackets can be stored in vacuum-pack bags to reduce storage volume. Shoes and bags are also common items to re-home. Perhaps there is space at the front door, in a chest of drawers, in the guest bedroom wardrobe, or under the bed?
7) Lighting
Adequate lighting is essential to make the most of your newly organised wardrobe. You may need to add extra light fittings and carefully consider the placement of light switches. If you have unused wall space, hanging a mirror is handy to maximise light and to admire that outfit you had completely forgotten about!
Based in New Zealand, Sofia Lockett is a freelance writer with a passion for design, technology and innovation. Sofia has written for NZ based businesses such as Sea Containers. You can read more articles on her Tumblr.