As the end of the year rolls up and that new year excitement sets in, you might be feeling an itch to do some reorganizing at home. Let’s face it, you might’ve already done the whole declutter-and-reorganize routine a few times this year as a way to keep busy (or ‘cause you were simply tired of the mess, since we all have a pile of clothes that just sits there from time to time).
Whether or not the organization that came about from boredom has stuck is the question though. At the end of the day, keeping your closet nicely organized and manageable can be as simple as making sure to put things back in the proper places once you’re done with them. But what can really give you a strong base to kick off maintaining a manageable closet is a fresh approach to your closet organization.
So here are three easy tips for closet organization to help get your closet into the proper starting stage for ongoing maintenance, largely to avoid the overwhelming Mount Doom of clothes that we all loathe.
1. Categorize your clothes.
Categorizing your clothes is undoubtedly something you’ve heard and likely done before, but let’s consider it as a two-step process this time around. There’s the categorization process when you go through your clothes to decide what to keep (two piles), and there’s the categorization that comes with keeping them in particular groups as you put everything back into your closet (possibly infinite groups).
So, as you take your clothes out of the closet, separate them out into categories as you go through them. Your categories could look like and be broken down any number of ways.
These are a few examples:
- Tops
- Bottoms
- Underwear and socks
- Accessories like scarves, hats, and ties
- Seasonal garb like bomber jackets that you may not wear the entire year
These kinds of categories make it much easier for you to see all that you have as you sort through what you want to keep and what you’d like to donate. You can always go further and more granular, like turning the category of tops into t-shirts, henleys, polos, long sleeves, and the like
Once you start putting things away in your closet, you can do so by category. This helps you keep similar items together. You can easily put lesser-used items, such as seasonal wear, on a shelf a bit out of the way.
Organize your closet like a pro in pro gear like our Garnet Polo Shirt.
2. Rethink your closet organization.
This starts with a simple question. What kind of storage do you need? Sometimes, our closet space has storage that just doesn't work all that well for what we’d like. Rethinking your closet organization and what items you use to organize can be as simple as adding new storage options or redoing how you’re actually utilizing your closet space.
- Use simple containers such as baskets, clear boxes, or bins in your closet. They’re easy to place on shelves or the floor, and they can be labeled accordingly by category. You can also repurpose containers you already own or find inexpensive options at your preferred store.
- If you lack built-in shelving, consider heading to your local thrift store to find a small shelf or shelving unit that will fit inside your closet. This can offer up extra storage space for your newly categorized Fresh Clean Tees! You’d be surprised how easily you can increase your storage space and upgrade organization game with a tiny additional batch of shelves.
- Consider a hanging closet organizer. If you don’t want to wind up with a heavier piece of furniture like a shelf, a hanging closet organizer is a great alternative that also happens to be lightweight. You can easily hang it in your closet and place your different categories of clothing on each shelf.
When it comes to closet organization, you don’t need a full closet makeover (which, let’s face it, most of us don’t have time for). Making use of storage options you already have around the house or low-cost options can make a big, big difference (somewhere other than your bank account).
Fresh meets functional in our Black Pocket Tee, which is really what closet organization is about.
3. Roll, stack, and fold.
Taking time to consider how you store your clothes can make for more effective and maintainable closet organization moving forward. Hanging is the typical go-to when we’re putting clothes away, but alternatives to stashing your favorite tops and bottoms that may work better for you. Utilizing a few different (non-hanging) ways to put clothes away can offer you simple space-saving and seriously satisfying organization.
- Roll: Smaller and thinner items like shirts and undergarments can easily be rolled. They can then be placed into containers for easy storage. Rolled into tube shapes, these smaller items will take up less space.
- Stack: Stacking can take up more room than rolling clothing items, but it works especially well for thicker items like winter wear and pants that you have. Stacking clothes on shelves or in your hanging storage allows you to further group those thicker items together as well.
- Fold: With your reworked organization setup, you might consider the Marie Kondo folding method or just folding items into simple squares. You can figure out which method you prefer with a bit of experimentation.
With these three tips, you should be on your way to having an easy-to-maintain closet throughout the year. Once your closet is nicely organized, you can go about your week knowing that you can simply grab what you need when you need it without having to fear the dreaded pile of doom each time you open the closet.
— Paige Lyman
