You got up late and now you can't find what you want to wear in the closet and you've had enough and are ready to do something about it. If your closet is bursting at the seams and you've tried the 'standard' closet organizing tips, we've got 10 great ways for you to use and gain control of your closet and make your life easier.
You may have already bought closet organizers or systems and tried many of the typical closet organizational techniques - like separating your clothing by colors (works well), putting an entire outfit on one or a two part hanger for ease of access, bought Joy Magano's Huggable Hangers which give you more space and cut down on ironing, and weeded out your closet of clothing you don't wear. So what more can you do - here are 10 new and unexpected ways.
Tall Kitchen Stools
1. Take all of your clothes hangers and turn them around on the rod. Hanger opening is facing into the room. As you wear your clothes, rehang the hangers normally. In 6 months, look in your closet and pull out the hangers and the clothes on them that are still facing the room. These are the clothes you haven't worn and thus can get rid of. This system works great with kids and the elderly too, as it is very visual and you can't disagree with what you find. (free)
2. You can buy a wooden vertical pant hanger system that mounts on the wall in a stud and it has 20 wooden free swinging arms that you slid your pants on. The amount of room it saves it incredible and it is so easy to get at your pants. It also can fit in places that would have been wasted or underutilized too. Cost is around . 20 pants hung in the space (is 15 inches length of arms or how far out from the wall it extends and is about 3 feet high) of what usually would take 6 pant hangers!
3. Shoes, shoes, shoes - you never can have enough and you never have enough room. Two great ways to handle the shoe storage need are:
a. Shoes out of season or of special occasion type use used shoe boxes (free) (men's size boxes are great). Buy a package of labels at the dollar store () and put on end of box and in permanent marker write what shoes are inside. You can usually get two pairs of sandals in a box and sometimes two pairs of shoes. Pile your boxes with label side out on the top shelf of your closet. You can always find what you need, the shoes are protected and the boxes will last years - I have boxes over 15 years old that I still use. Use a box too for small fancy purses.
b. There are several types of shoe holders out there. Many people use the 2-3 level racks that go in the bottom of the closet. Take a look at the shoe trees that are metal, stand about two feet tall, have 3 levels and hold 18 pairs of shoes in a 16 inch diameter circle. Cost is about . You can put it in the closet or in your room in an easy to access but 'hidden' space, since I went to these (I have two full ones), I simply love them due to saving space, ease of finding the shoes I want and putting them away again and the flexibility of where to put the shoe tree. Just love it.
4. Joy Magano of Huggable Hanger fame at HSN also has a wonderful device that is new in hangers you need to check out, especially if you are a guy or you wear a lot of scarves. The hanger may look a bit odd - it has rows of 'hooks' down each end and the middle looks like some pant hangers where you put pants on each bar. Well, this new hanger actually has multiple uses - belts and neckties for the guys, even silk neckties won't slip off, it keeps everything organized and very easy to view all on a hanger. The hanger also works great for women's belts, scarves or hanging pocket books. You could even use it for hanging large necklaces with pendants or large beaded ones that you wear often.
5. You already know that if you don't wear some clothes/coats/shoes, you need to get rid of them. You can give them to friends, charity, have a yard sale, throw away, or sell at a consignment shop. But I would like to push you a bit further.
a. If you sell at consignment shops, do your homework on the different requirements of each. Length item can stay in the store, amount of business, type of clothing usually bought by customers. If you have vintage clothing, say from college or your parents - find a vintage store. Dresses fit for proms, weddings, formal and semi-formal occasions should be in consignment stores by the end of March - beginning of April (if you have gloves, handbag or jewelry that you've used to accessorize the dress, include them as part of the dress and it will sell even faster).
b. Coats and gloves and boots if they are small enough are great to take to your local schools. The school will make sure the items go to the kids really need them. This also includes backpacks.
c. My parents died and I had to find a place for their clothing and I cleaned out more from my wardrobe but didn't want a yard sale. So I found a local family that didn't have much and made a deal with them. I gave them all of the clothing, dishes, kids clothing & items, furniture and such, with the understanding that they should take only what they could use and pass it along for free to other families that they knew could use items. Everything did end up going just as promised and several of my needy neighbors were able to benefit but without embarrassment of appearing in need. In return, I easily got rid of a lot 'stuff', felt good about what I had accomplished but I also heard back from people who had received items and how happy and thankful they were and since then, they've actually helped me out when I needed a certain skill one of them had. I've also taken a lot of different types of things to my local food bank. Check with your food bank and see if they'll accept not food items. Hobby items, books, clothing, unopened medicines, table clothes, towels, toilet paper, etc., all things that food stamp money doesn't buy and the food bank really does know who is most in need.
6. You already know to use different height hanging rods but is your closet space still not maximized. Usually there is a top shelf that has several feet above it open to the ceiling. Using that incredible square footage is important. As earlier stated, is a great place for shoe storage boxes to the ceiling. You can put in additional shelves mounted on the wall or that stand alone (Wal-Mart for about ) but I like simpler. Try baskets that are stackable (dollar store), I keep a basket for out-of-season clothes, one for some clothes that don't fit but I can't part with, gym clothing, extra pocketbooks, etc. I have a foldable step stool to reach up to where I can safely and easily reach each basket as needed - which isn't often, which is why I put them up high. For tall men, putting in some additional type of shelving is great for folded jeans, sweat shirts and such, without taking up hanging space in the closet. I even use baskets that fit under hanging clothes for storage and easy to access.
7. Sneaky clothes sorting! If you are one of those people who has a very difficult time deciding what to remove from your closet and discard, here is the simplest method. For one month, yes - one month or 30 days, you do your laundry but don't put any of it back in your closet. Keep it on the dryer, or piled in a chair or somewhere. You will find that you continue to wear what is in your clean clothes pile and not wear everything in your closet. This method really shows you what you wear the most, what type of style of clothing you really feel the most comfortable and happiest wearing and it shows you in your closet what you are not wearing. Try it for each season and you'll quickly and easily find out what to get rid of and a better understanding of what type of clothing to buy (or not) in the future to really fit your style and needs. Try this and you'll really be surprised.
8. Hooks & Pegs. Things that you wear frequently, like your robe and pjs, hang them on hooks or pegs and save the room in your closet for other things. There are over the door hooks, wall mounted, ornate and plain pegs & hooks and places you can place them that is more convenient than in the closet and yet not be an eyesore. Not a new idea, but one that is all too often over looked and not maximized. Near you outside door hooks for your coats and gain space in the entrance closet. A hook in the garage for the 'dirty task' jacket. A hook in the kitchen for the kitchen towel.
9. Get your WOW factor up. I love to look through catalogs and think about buying an item or two or three, or hit a store and fall for a great bargain or new style BUT I don't buy. Wait 3 days, plus look in your closet at what you already have and does what you want fit in, do you need it or is it a just 'want' it feeling. If after 3 days and going through your closet, you still feel the need to get the new item(s), then do so. But you have to take a piece of clothing of your closet too, to put the new one in.
10. This is for those of you who really have a difficult time not buying clothes. Every time you DON'T buy something because you stopped yourself for some reason, take the money you would have spent on the clothing and put in a jar or open a special bank account. Have a picture, vision board or collage of what you will do once you have enough money. Make your vision a really good one, like a trip or pay off debt, buy a car of your dreams, etc. You'll find that every time you start putting the unspent money into your private super goal account, the more you'll want to do it. Result: you don't add more to your closet, over time you really find what you clothes you really want and are willing to spend money on and those you really don't see as much value in purchasing, your closet contents should decrease and you'll easily achieve a great goal that you didn't think you ever would have been able to do. It's amazing how this actually works subconsciously and it is a great thing to teach children.
So, now you have 10 new and exciting ways to get your closet more organized, make it easier for you to understand your clothing needs and how to keep things neater/more organized and utilize your closet space better. Enjoy your success.