10 Τips for Organizing your Βedroom Closets

Get organized and clear the clutter with these clever ideas, methods, and products.

Tip 1: Seasonal Change

 

It's possible that no matter how much you try to edit and organize, you just have too much stuff to fit in your closet.

If that's the case, then you need to resort to a seasonal system by rotating your fall/winter clothes with your spring/summer clothes.

Covered clothing racks can be filled with out-of-season clothes and kept in your attic or basement or under your bed. Flat storage boxes can serve a similar purpose.

Tip 2: Clear it out

 

Distinguish clothing and shoes that you wear and items that you need to get rid of.

You can do this by the golden rule of closet organizing: If you haven't worn it in a year, toss it.

Also, if it doesn't fit you well, it is time to get rid of it. Instead of hanging on to your "skinny jeans" until you lose a few pounds, donate them.

Then, when you get down to your goal weight, treat yourself to a new, stylish pair of jeans.

Tip 3: If the shoe fits

 

If you are keeping your shoe boxes, label what is inside with a picture or a post.

Alternatively, invest in clear shoe boxes with drawer-front pulls; they allow you to see what's inside so you can easily access your shoes.

 

You can find a lot of shapes at containerstore.com.

Tip 4: Measure up

 

Once you have whittled down your wardrobe, you need to assess the layout of your closet. Measure the space you have, making sure to utilize backs of doors, floor space, and all interior walls. When you go to shop for boxes, bins, and other necessary space-savers, make sure you have your closet measurements in hand. Use every square inch of your closet. Hang shoe racks on the back of your closet door. Classic belt hangers with multiple hooks are also a good solution for hanging camisoles, bras, or scarves.

Tip 5: Get hung up

 

Invest in the right kind of hanger for the type of clothing you are hanging.

Use padded hangers for items made from delicate fabrics, plastic hangers for button-down shirts, and sturdy wood hangers for suit jackets as they help retain the shape of the items. Remove all wire hangers (they don't properly support your clothes) and plastic dry-cleaner bags (they don't allow fabrics to breathe, keeping the chemicals used in dry cleaning in your clothes).

Tip 6: No sweat

 

Save time in the morning by coordinating your wardrobe. Sort by color, and hang like-types of clothing together (i.e. skirts, pants, blouses, etc.). Sort sweaters, T-shirts, and other folded clothing by color as well. Always remove sweaters from hangers and fold them. Hangers will ruin the shape of sweaters over time. Store sweaters on shelves in manageable-sized stacks using sweater dividers to keep them from turning into leaning towers of Pisa. Even better, store them in sweater boxes with well marked labels.

Tip 7: Eyes have it

 

Keep items you use frequently at eye level or below and items you rarely use higher up. Labelled boxes are good for storing things like bathing suits or turtlenecks because you can rotate them higher or lower in your closet depending on the season. Move any snow boots, rain boots, or other "outdoor" gear to your front hall closet (or mudroom if you are lucky enough to have one); restrict what goes in your clothes closet to dress shoes only.

Tip 8: Add Lighting

 

Good closet lighting is too useful to be ignored.

A lot of closets either don't have a light or are lit by an exposed incandescent bulb screwed into a surface-mounted fixture operated with a pull-chain.

The first situation is inconvenient, but the second is dangerous.

Tip 9: Save more Space

 

If you live in a small space, replace traditional closet doors that swing out with curtains, Roller or hanging screens.

Tip 10: Keep the system

The more often you work on closet maintenance, the less time it will take.

Go through your closet and complete a quick makeover (or make-under) once a month, and tackle the full re-organization process twice a year.

CNNLiving