How To Organize Your Closet:
The next chapter in our series on how being organized can help reduce stress is “How to Organize Your Closet”. If you haven’t had a chance to read our original post on organization and stress, make sure to head on over to that post.
Some Interesting Facts About Clutter!
Did you know;
“Clutter can make it more difficult to focus on a particular task” this according to research done by Princeton University in 2011.
Why does this happen?
Well, according to there research “multiple stimuli in the visual field at the same time, compete for neural representation”.
In laments terms, it’s hard to focus on and complete tasks when their are objects not relevant to the task attempting to be completed.
Clutter can affect not just stress, but cause anxiety, sleep issues and make it more difficult to focus.
Consequently, making us less productive, and may actually have a cumulative effect on our brains, according to RACGP (Royal Australian College of General Practitioners).
They go on to discuss, that because our brains tend to air on the side of “order”, the clutter often “drains our cognitive resources”.
Pretty heavy stuff, right!
Above all, this type of research, would lead one to believe, that being organized is fairy important these days.
Let’s Bring It Back
With all that being said, let’s bring it back to this post, and what it’s intended for.
How often have you lost an article of clothing?
How often have you went to find the perfect outfit, shirt, tie, only to be baffled as to where it has gone?
Well, hopefully not to often, but it surely happens. It could be anywhere for all you know, right!?
Did you place it in with the “out of season” clothes? Did you move it to a bin in the garage because it was “out of style”?
In our previous post, we discussed how to organize your bedroom, however, today we’re going to share some organizational tactics, when it comes to your closet.
Another point we make is for those of you whom have small closets. How can we make it feel bigger?
We’re sure somewhere in your past, you’ve went through an area of your home with a fine tooth comb. In the end, asking yourself, “how the heck did I fit so much in such a little space?”
How To Organize Your Closet, A Process:
a. Decisions. Decisions.
Ask yourself, “what are my goals”?
- is my focus to simply going through old clothes?
- may I’m attempting to reorganize?
- do I want to change the closet space?
- do I want to do a complete re-design, maybe a custom closet?
- All of the above?
Oftentimes, our goals are different from person to person or from closet to closet, in this case. At any rate, you should have a clear goal in mind before you begin.
Of course, sometimes a good old fashion cleaning is all that’s needed, so good for you if this is the case.
However, there may be a bigger picture/plan in mind as well, which requires some additional thought. So, prior to pulling everything out and finding yourself in limbo, think about these things before you even begin!
b. Simply, Understand the Process:
The art or technique of organizing your closet or your clothes in general, is ONGOING.
Why?
Well simply put, because most people are continuing to update there wardrobe, right?
Even once your are finished, your mindset may change, and that’s okay.
c. Ready. Set. Go!
Okay, so:
- you’ve got your direction, check!
- You’re in a good headspace, check!
Now what?
Obviously, the next step of the process is to clear out your closet. The easiest and most thorough way of organizing your closet is to first, empty it.
Evaluate your space. Think about:
- where are your hard to reach spots?
- decide where you want your “most worn clothes” to be displayed and/or stored.
- do you have a space for off-season clothes?
- are you going to use plastic bins, or other storage devices?
- can you slide a dresser into the closet to get it off your bedroom floor and tucked away in a closet instead?
- be creative. Think outside the box!
It goes without saying that at this point, you should be looking at your closet and it should now be empty. Thus, from this moment on, focusing on putting it back together like a puzzle.
Having said that, have an open mind, as you may not like the way something looks or feels, and that’s okay.
Similarly, how your closet looks, should match your routine or function in a way specific for you.
Idea: Make sure to donate clothes when you can. There are plenty of places out there that will take clothing and accessories.
d. Keep em’ Closed:
Like much of this process, it comes down to personal preference. In our opinion, the more you can store behind closed doors, the better.
If you have an island, or a dresser of some sort, we recommend keeping your clothes tucked away.
That doesn’t mean you can’t have things on display, but it gives the perception of more space, and a cleaner space, in many cases.
e. Categories:
The next tip for organizing your closet is using categories. This tactic can be a great starting point or idea as you move along with the process. For instance, categories can relate to “types of clothes”.
This could include sweaters, pants, under-garments, t-shirts, dress clothes, etc. This will never work if you just toss a pile of mismatched clothes on top of one another.
Likewise, an article on HGTV references the importance of “the closet” area, stating “it’s where you start and end each day…feeling like it’s really lovely and organized and functional can set you up for success”.
f. Color Code It:
In addition to having things categorized, you can color code items in your closet. Now maybe you simply don’t have enough clothes to do this, but nonetheless, it’s an option.
If you have lot’s of clothing and you have a wide variety of colors, this makes things easier, specially if you’re someone who likes to wear certain colors, dependent on the season.
g. Fold n’ Stack, Vs. Hang It, Vs. Roll it Up:
This can be another handy tactic as there are just certain clothes, and accessories that need to be folded vs. hung.
For example, suits, dresses, and delicate items should be hung. Some materials wrinkle easy; satin, silk and lace may be better off hung, rather then folded.
Likewise, clothing such as sweaters, (because they are heavy and can get those terrible indents from hangers), may fold easier and indeed is the better option in our opinion.
Furthermore, “stretchy-type” material, like workout gear can become deformed or more stretched out on a hanger. (Tip: Use a similar looking hanger for all your clothes for cohesiveness and order).
When it comes to athletic gear, or spandex-type material, you can also use the “roll it up” method.
If you store towels or wash clothes in your closet, this is also a technique to use. These articles role-up easily, and can save you tons of space!
Rolling Leggings for Storage
Idea: Once you have decided which clothes can be rolled, try purchasing some drawer dividers, so you can further organize and customize the look and feel of your closet space.
h. Maximize your Space:
A solid general rule of thumb to get the biggest bang for your buck, is to use every space possible.
With that being said, be careful not to go cramming articles of clothing, hats, accessories into one space.
Utilize and maximize the space, but be cognizant of the fact that one of the reasons why you’re doing this, is to de-clutter you closet.
On that note, a great way to organize accessories is by using empty wall space to hang things, such as jewelry or hats. This tactic can save you from having a big jewelry box getting in the way.
Handmade Jewelry Wall Organizer.
i. Go Vertical:
Our favorite way to both store, and organize shoes, is to go vertical. Some shoe racks in particular have 3 or 4 levels for shoes making excellent use of vertical space. This technique can be a huge space saver.
The different levels of the shoe rack also makes it easy to organize shoes by “type” as well.
Turn this into another DIY project, custom to the look and feel of your closet space. If not, you can find all sorts of shoe racks on Amazon and Wayfair.
Similarly, try to use vertical shelf-hanging organizers to make the most of your space. These can be used for practically anything.
j. Utilize Shelving:
If your closet has space, shelving can be another option to organize and de-clutter.
They can serve so multiple purposes. Shelves are relatively easy and cheap to hang, especially nowadays with all the options available.
See our post on ways to organize your bedroom to learn more about hanging and floating wall shelves.
Here’s a useful article with pictures on how to turn a basic closet with minimal shelving to something more useful, with a simple shelving option.
k. This is a “Must See”:
Things get much easier when you create a system that works for you.
For example, placing frequently worn clothes and accessories in easy to reach areas, preferably at eye level. If you have a favorite jacket, pair of jeans or winter sweater you wear often, store those in an easy to see and reach area.
This can also be ideal when switching out summer, winter, spring and fall clothing lines.
Have a place for articles of clothing you see yourselves wearing most frequent, and place those items at eye level or easy to reach spots. This is simple, but effective!
l. Maintenance Check:
With any sort of organization, de-cluttering project, it’s also a long term investment of your time and sometimes your wallet.
New clothes, old clothes out! Seeing what works and what doesn’t, over a time-period.
However, after you have went through the process or an initial new setup, things should run more smoothly.
At that time, it’s more about maintenance and monthly tidying up. Maybe making a small change here and there.
Final Thoughts!
Thanks so much for stopping by, we appreciate your visit as always.
Feel free to share this post on social media platforms. We look forward to having you back here at RN To Zen!
Resources:
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21228167/
- https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/clinical/what-does-clutter-do-to-your-brain-and-body
- https://www.hgtv.com/lifestyle/clean-and-organize/home-organization-ideas-from-professional-organizers
- https://realitydaydream.com/custom-closet-shelving-tutorial/
