How to Organize a Cluttered Closet

Everyone's closet needs some help every now and then. With these tips, you should be able to get rid of some junk, categorize like items, and make more efficient use of the space that you do have. Getting your closet organized will help you to get your day off to a positive start and keep your life running more smoothly.

1) Empty the closet. You can use your bed as a staging area. A rolling garment rack is also useful for temporarily holding your items that you don't want wrinkled during the organization process. You can later use the rolling garment rack to store out of season clothing or big coats that won't fit in your bedroom or coat closet.

2) Categorize like items. Pile up t-shirts in one stack, work-out clothes in another, dress shoes in one pile, casual wear in another, you get the picture. Separate everything as much as possible so that you can get an idea of where you'll be headed when you start to figure out what you want to do with your closet. Putting things into piles gives you a good visual to go by so that you can accurately estimate how much room you will need for each item. You may not have realized that you had so many of one thing until you group them together.

3) Get rid of what you can. Bring some garbage bags or boxes into the room and designate them for storage, yard sale, give away, or charity. Only keep out what you really use all of the time. Try not to let your closet become cluttered with storage items. You can store things like clothes that don't fit right now or that are out of season underneath beds, on garment racks, in other closets, or in dressers. Set limits as to what you will allow to be kept in your everyday use closet.

4) If you don't have space for what you have left, consider investing a little money in some shelving or a closet organization system. Sometimes you can get away with some small shelves, a few baskets or bins, and a shoe organization rack. Make use of the vertical space in the closet by using the left and right front corners of the closet for shelves and the back of the door for shoes.

5) You may be able to move the top shelf and bar up higher so that you can add a second bar. This makes a great use of a small space and only costs a few dollars. It's easy to do and only takes a few minutes.

6) Now that you have the room, take a look at your clothes hangers. Do they get bent up or cross over each other in the closet? Cheap hangers can be a bigger problem than you think. Invest a little in some nice cedar hangers or clothes hangers that will last you for a long time. Sturdy hangers will keep your clothes from falling on the floor and also make the closet look great. Once you've updated your hangers, hang your clothes however you would like.