Organizing a Closet Doesn’t Have to be a Major Project

Good times, good times, nothing like organizing a closet to make for a relaxing day, right?

Let me preface by saying that I had little to do with it. My plantar fasciitis has worsened with all the up and down the stairs with  moving boxes. (Who needs Zumba when you’ve got a two-story house, a large family and lots of stuff to keep organized?) The husband did 98% of it..or maybe 99%, it depends on how much percentage you’d assign to me saying “Put that pile there. No, that pile should go to the left. Yes, that pile goes on top since it’s winter-wear.”

My bad is that I don’t have before pictures. Just picture all the stuff you see in the pictures below but on only one shelf and without the little accessory storage.

And this.

And this.

Moving on…

This helped me a whole lot.

Each shelf holds a different type of thing — glass cases (I have a lot of glasses, both prescription and not), scarves (LOVE scarves), smaller bags and clutch purses, belts, gloves, etc. Such a great way to make them visible so I know what I have and easily accessible.

That’s a $9.99 hook/basket set-up from Lowe’s. It holds my bigger, bulkier belts and it’s attached to the back of the freestanding shelf unit that holds the accessories.

To be honest, I tried to hang the hook on the wall. I believe the response I got was “Are you going to leave me ANY closet room?”

Blank stare.

So it’s hanging on the shelving unit and the belts don’t touch the floor. Good enough for me and my husband still has the illusion of having closet space.

If you’re looking to organize your closet, consider adding inexpensive shelves above your existing basic closet hardware. I think it took him about 20 minutes per closet (he did three, including my office and our laundry room) and made it so tall stacks of jeans could be separated into style (boot, skinny, flare..yes, I said flare) without fear of falling on me each time I try to choose a pair.

Look at what you wear the most and make that easiest to get to. Lots of sweaters but you live in SoCal? Top shelf. Work attire gets worn five days a week? Put it in an easy to reach place when you’re rushing around in the half-light and where things won’t get wrinkled. For me, that meant leaving gaps in where I piled my many boxes of shoes, so longer dresses could hang without getting tangled or knocking down boxes when I pulled one out in a hurry. Keeping shoeboxes turned forwards so the style of shoe shows, then piling by type (boot, heel, sandal) helps keep them organized and if you spend a lot of money on your shoes, it’s just better for keeping your shoes clean and safe. I’ve even gone so far to use Rubbermaid bins for organizing things on shelves, but with a p-touch label on the side to make it fast. (In the back of my head, I want to know that in an emergency, I can tell my husband to grab this and that and that, he can easily find them. I remember having to pack once for a hospital admission, quickly, when my son got ill, and being more prepared would have meant I had something other than a t-shirt and uncomfortable jeans to wear!

For the last 17+ years, I’ve worked at home most of the time, so I maintain a work wardrobe (which I continually add to, of course) but I also have a ‘fancy’ wardrobe of at-home attire, casual at-home attire, fancy ‘going out’ outfits..you name it. I honestly downsized two very large trashbags in the makingof this closet, as well as several pairs of shoes. I try to keep to the ‘one thing in, one thing out’ credo, but who are we kidding…

I’m a bit, uhm, shall we say obsessive about organization of my clothes. My sleeveless shirts are all together. My long-sleeves are all together. Dresses are hung in groups of sleeveless, short-sleeved, then long, and each of those sections divided into plain and pattern, and then by color. That part can take some time initially, but now I know when I think “hmmm, I’m in a purple mood,” I know where to find my purple sleeveless shirt and my black skirt with a purple accent pattern. It cuts down my time considerably each day, and I can easily see what I have to choose from for a particular time of clothing. Even my cover-ups are organized in similar fashion. Obsessive? Yes. Super-effective? Definitely.

Organizing a closet doesn’t have to be a nightmare; with a little planning and not a lot of money, you can have a closet that makes it fun to pick out your clothes each day.