Even the most organized of us can feel overwhelmed by an out-of-control closet. Whether you have trouble parting with things you’re hoping will come back into style, you suffer from an emotional attachment to clothing, or you’re just lucky enough to have a massive designer wardrobe spilling with the latest fashions, there’s a tip or two here to simplify your closet. When you’re done, you’ll have a better idea of which items you actually wear and which can be relegated to a box in the attic or a thrift store bin.
Begin with a Blank Slate
Start by removing everything from your closet, including anything on the floor. Take all your hanging items off the hangers first, and set them aside in a pile. While you’ve got everything out, you might as well give your closet a good cleaning. Vacuum or sweep the floor, dust the shelves, and wipe off any smudges. You probably don’t need to go crazy, but a little cleanup is never a bad idea.
Group Your Items
You can begin this process as you’re removing the items from your closet. Put sweaters with sweaters, slacks with slacks, and button-down shirts with button-down shirts. You can further separate them into dress clothes and casual clothes, if your wardrobe has such designations. When it’s time to begin rehanging your items, keep them organized into these categories, and place the most-used items in the most accessible spot, and lesser-used categories – like dress clothes and island wear – in harder to reach areas.
Consider Saying Goodbye
If you’re not ready to automatically start tossing clothes you no longer wear, but you’re open to the idea, you might give the backward hanger trick a try. This one’s an oldy but a goody! The way it works is that as you’re replacing your hanging clothes into the closet, you hang them on the pole the opposite way, so the opening on the hook of the hanger faces you. Now, everytime you remove an item and actually wear it, you rehang it the correct way. Set yourself a calendar reminder and in six months, consider donating or selling anything that’s still hanging the wrong way.
Hopefully these tips will help you find what you’re looking for more quickly and easily. For more tips and tricks on organizing your apartment, visit the Olympus Boulevard blog.