How To Organize Your Closet
Organizing is a key part of developing your style and taking ownership of the space where all your clothes live: the closet. It's easy to let this space slip, because apart from you, possibly me, and maybe your partner, no one sees your closet. It is the fashion equivalent of a junk drawer, but unlike the junk drawer, you have to go into it every single day.
Any space you have to enter every day is an important one to keep tidy.
In the closet, there are three things you need to do to make your clothes easy to utilize and sift through every morning. I have a clear way of organizing my closet and my client's closets, but for this article, I also wanted to contact a certified specialist who focuses solely on bringing order to you closet, home and office.
Suzanne Holsomback, a professional organizer in Austin, TX, gave me her thoughts on the importance of order, "There are a few reasons why an organized closet is essential. One is that clutter is stressful and anxiety inducing. If one of the first things you do in the morning is enter a stressful place or a place that causes frustration (Ah, I can't find my other boot), then you whole day will be influence by that initial stressor. "
I could not agree more, which is why my first rule of closet order is:
#1 You must be able to see what you have to use what you have.
As Suzanne said, one boot should live next to its soulmate (the other boot). Ideally, both shoes should be visible, but both shoes should definitely be easily accessible (i.e. live on the floor under your clothes, not in the hall closet). When you're putting together an outfit, and you're not sure what shoes to wear, you can look down and voila! the perfect shoes appears.
This rule is important for two reasons. First, as the old says goes "out of sight, out of mind." If your jewelry is stashed under your bed or collecting dust in the bottom drawer of your vanity, you definitely aren't using it. Second, when every piece lives together, you can visualize and create a succinct, stylish outfit.
To make pieces more visible, add stick-on hangers to your closet wall or hang them from an available rack. This is where my accessories live in my closet...
#2 ORGANIZE BY ITEM
If everything in your closet is mixed up, it's easy to pull out an unidentifiable black object only to learn it's not the black skirt you meant to reach for, but rather last year's Halloween costume.
Here are your categories to organize by: pants, shirts, skirts, sweaters, jackets, blazer, heavy coats, dresses.
Not only will you not get confused what your reaching for, but you will also be able to go to each section to pull exactly what you want to create your outfit.
#3 ORGANIZE BY COLOR
Often times, we dress by mood, "What do I feel like wearing today?" Although you have your favorite outfits, you may lean towards one over another on any given day. Different days, life events and professional occasions call for us to be multi-faceted, thus our clothing must represent that. If I'm heading to an important meeting, I automatically skip my yellow dresses and head straight to the navy and black ones. When I'm all giddy for fall (which I've been a lot lately), I head to my blush and nude tops to pair with tan booties. If I want to wear a powerful color I know looks best on me, I head to the coral dress section. Categorizing them by their color makes it easy to create your vision without getting distracted, frustrated or lost in a sea of clothes. Each color pops thus each color is easy to grab.
WANT MORE STYLE AND LESS CLUTTER IN YOUR LIFE?
I would love to talk with you 1-on-1 to create a personalized plan of action to help you with your closet woes, style goals and wardrobe wants.
