De clutter it, Clean it Out and Organize it….Your Closet, that is!!

I posted this last year and received lots of likes and comments.  With everyone social distancing at home, this is a good time to do some closet organizing.

Closets are one of those rooms that can easily get neglected. All we have to do is shove stuff in them and close the door. No one will ever know what’s behind those doors, right? Well it doesn’t matter if anyone else knows, when it comes to your clothes closet, you are the one that matters. I have come to realize that the more my clothes closet is organized and decluttered, the more outfits I can put together and I have less duplication of items, because I can actually see what I have.

Not only is it a good idea to keep your closets clean and decluttered, but you can color coordinate your clothing and accessories as well. Think of your closet as a boutique. If you go to your local boutique, all items are organized either by color or by style. Shoes are all in one location, handbags in another and jewelry and other accessories in a section of their own. This is the same way we can organize our closets. Our closet should be easy to shop in. We should be able to stand in the middle of our closet and choose and outfit by just looking and not have to move anything around. I know, not everyone has a large closet that they can stand in the middle of, but even if you have a small closet you can still organize it in a way that will make it easy to shop.

I’ve helped to organize closets for many women and one of the first things I find is that most don’t know what items of clothing they do or don’t have. They purchase items that they don’t need, because they forgot they had the same item in their closet already. You can avoid this if you organize your closet better.

Color coordinating is the first key to organizing.
• Separate all items of clothing by style then color and they can be in whatever order works best for you.
• All Shirts by color, then dresses, jackets, skirts, pants, etc.
• Black, white, grey, brown, yellow, green, etc.
• Solids first then any item that is multi colored, for instance black with other colors included will come after black. So start with solids then multi colors.
• If you have double hanging rods, this will give you more space to utilize.

Then find ways of utilizing every bit of space in your closet. There are many space saving tricks for smaller closets. For instance, you can hang jeans with hooks from the hardware store and fold sweaters and put them on shelves in your closet if you don’t have enough room in your dresser drawers.

Showcase your handbags and shoes neatly on shelves in your closet or if you have space in your bedroom, use a decorative shelf and decorate with shoes, handbags, scarves and jewelry. Who needs other decorative items if you have fun fashionable handbags and shoes?

If you have plenty of costume jewelry, like I do, there are many DIY ways of storing them. You can use coat hanging racks on the back of your closet door, put wire mesh in a picture frame and hang your earrings on it. Use bathroom towel rods to hang bracelets and necklaces. Use decorative bowls to store your rings and lapel pens. The examples are endless. Be creative and think outside of the box.

Socks, underwear and tanks can take up a lot of space as well. Store them in clear pocket hanging organizers behind your closet door or roll them and store them in a drawer or plastic ben.

For those of you who have an abundance of clothing and require extra space, you can always turn an extra bedroom into your dream closet. The sky is the limit as to the items you can use to make your extra bedroom your special dream closet.  The hardware store has do it yourself shelving units you can use and you can also put your own touch on it by adding fun colors with rugs ottomans, wallpaper and wall art.

Have fun with it.  This is your boutique and you can design it as you see fit.  So de clutter, clean out and organize your closet.