Organizing a Closet in Five Easy Steps

Are you making the most functional use of your closet space? It’s all too easy to just hang, fold, or toss items wherever it’s most convenient at the moment, but that can lead to a messy closet where it’s hard to find what you need when you need it. A much better approach is to put some thought—and work—into organizing so that you not only make the best use of your closet but also weed out the items that are just taking up space. Organizing a closet is a relatively quick project that pays off in dividends later on, and it’s not as difficult a task as you might think.

There are a lot of reasons to finally tackle your closet. Whether you’ve got a move coming up, are trying to find more space, or just can’t look at that mess for one more day, organizing your closet is a simple way to take inventory and make the most of the square footage you’re working with. Below, we’ll go over the steps that you need to follow when you’re organizing a closet, including how to decide what stays and what goes.

Empty It Out

Clean It

Keep, Toss, Donate

• Does it fit?
• Have you worn it in the last year?
• Is it your style?
• Does it bring you joy?

Plan Your Vision

Utilize Any Unused Space

Keeping Your Closet Organized

As you might expect, organizing a closet is not a one-and-done sort of job. After you’re done with the steps above, you’ll need to continue taking steps to keep your closet looking its best. Here are some ways to do it.

Toss as you buy. Treat your hangers like the prime real estate that they are. When you buy something new and you’re out of hangers, pick something to get rid of to free a hanger up instead of just buying more.

Pay attention to what you wear (and what you don’t). Even if you organize as you go you’ll still want to take regular inventory of what’s in your closet and toss or donate the items you don’t wear. So pay attention to what’s on the normal rotation and what you’re always skipping over when figuring out what to wear. If you skip over an item enough, it’s probably time to let it go.

Add storage elsewhere. Sometimes making the most use of your closet requires finding alternate storage solutions around your home. Under-bed storage, dressers, and in-drawer organizers can all help you make more out of what you’ve got without having to stuff everything into your closet.

The perfectly organized closet is the one that seems perfect to you. Organize the space in a way that makes the most sense for your lifestyle, following the guidelines provided above. In addition to having a better organized closet, you’ll also have a space that you enjoy a lot more.