Basic Rules of Closet Organization

Everyone's closet has different problems. You could have a large shoe collection or need extra storage. Even though we may all have different ideas about what will work best, there are some easy basic rules and things to think about that will help guide you on your way. Using these tips, you can consider things that you may not have thought of on your own and be on your way to the best closet for you that you've ever had.

1) Clean out the closet and give as much as possible to charity. As you go, remember to take notice or even take notes about problem areas and things that have been bothering you about your closet. If you start getting ideas about closet upgrades and need some extra money, consider a yard sale, consignment, or sell some of your items on auction websites. Get rid of as much as possible. If you haven't worn something in a year or a whole season, for whatever reason, then the rule is to get rid of it.

2) Take a look at what you're keeping and start to categorize. Some people categorize by use so that they can keep the things that they repeatedly use in the front and center of the closet. This is a good idea if you tend to organize and then slowly undo everything that you've done over the next few weeks. Organizing by use makes things, in a sense, stay organized by themselves, because you'll wash and hang items that you use a lot in the center of the closet. This slowly pushes the things that you don't use to the back. When your closet starts feeling cramped again, you can safely get rid of whatever has been pushed to the end and never used.

3) Another way to categorize is by the length of the clothing. This is a good way to make space in your closet if it seems too small to store what you want to keep. Hanging shorter items all together frees up some space below for storage. Another advantage to this is that you can utilize additional hanging bars. If you hang all of your pants on pants hangers, you can hang them on a low bar on one side or across the bottom of your closet. Shirts and jackets can hang above the pants on another bar, giving you twice the hanging space that you had before. If you have some longer things to hang, like dresses and long coats, place an additional bar on one side of your closet for these items.

4) Once you decide how you're going to configure your clothing, think about which types of clothes hangers will best suit your needs. You can get space saving hangers, like metal hangers or cascading hangers that will save you even more space. Cedar hangers protect your closet from musty odors and pests. Stock your closet and all you'll have left are the little things that will personalize your closet.