I do not live in a big house.
I do not live in a new house.
I live in a house that was built in the 70s with standard closets.
Standard closets can work for most people, but I’m not most people because I love clothes, shoes and handbags. And I also love my husband, who needs to wear clothes, so I have to find a way to make my “standard closet” go farther so we can fit his clothes in there too and not go naked.
So, this episode of I Love These Things is dedicated to my closet organization techniques and favorite tools.
(With this being said, please know that I am NOT an organizing guru. I’m more of a “let’s keep it off the floor” kind of girl. A solid “Grade B” Organizer. If you are looking amazing-sauce organization techniques, there are WAY BETTER blog articles than this one. However, I did write this post about six steps to a functional closet and lots of these tips, but not all, are in that post.)
1. Sort clothes by color.
This was a trick that I learned a LONG TIME ago … I sort my clothes not by category, season, or type, but by color. In my scattered brain, I can remember that I have an orange shirt. I can’t remember that I have a halter shirt that is orange.
So yes, my closet looks like a rainbow, but I know where everything is in my rainbow.
2. Use THIS scarf organizer.
I own a fair amount of scarves. And those scarves come in varying degrees of thickness (some super thick, some sort of thick, some thin, and some paper thin.) Because of the varying degrees of thickness, it can be hard to find a way to showcase them without either taking up too much room and/or not seeing all the options.
Not any more. This scarf organizer is the bomb.
It’s slim enough to take up about as much room as a pair of jeans on a hanger, but the holes are big enough to allow a blanket scarf to be showcased. I do usually put “thicker” scarves toward the bottom, but that is just personal preference.
PS: And if you want to get extra points…use these boot shapers. It’s like the scarf organizer for boots.
3. Have a box for everything.
These cloth boxes have been a lifesaver insider my dresser.
I originally picked up a set at IKEA almost a year ago and have since bought several more.
I love that small things like running socks, thong underwear, nightgowns, and shapewear have a place. These are especially great for items that are expensive, but don’t get a daily use (I’m talking to you SPANX body suit). The expensive item doesn’t get lost in the shuffle or abused (because it ends up a ball in the side of the dresser drawer) because it has a spot in a box.
Currently, I house my socks, underwear (both thong and regular), swim suits, shapewear, workout bras, night gowns, tank tops, and t-shirts in these.
4. Use all the same hangers.
This was a bit of a splurge, I’ll admit, but I totally felt like a grown-up after I did it.
I bought the same kind of hanger for all the clothes in my closet and use it exclusively.
(Bye, bye mixed-matched plastic-crappy-wire-from-the-dry-cleaner-hangers.)
These “huggable hangers” are the bomb. I’m not sure what they are made of, but their design allows me to put MORE shirts in my closet, my clothes stay wrinkle-free, and I no longer have “hanger lines or bumps” on my sweaters or blouses. (Plus, at only $.37 each … it’s kind of silly not to.)
Plus, if you are smart, you keep a small stash of hangers to the side, so you don’t have to go searching for a new hanger after you do laundry. You just grab a new hanger, place the shirt in it’s right color, and away you go. It’s magic.
Here are some other organizational things that are making me happy this week:
- This Changed The Way I Look At Possessions & Stuff
- This Is As Important As Physical Clutter
- This Changed The Way I View My Closet & My Buying Habits
Here are the three things this week that are making me happy…
See past editions of I LOVE These Things.
