It’s that time of year where some of your winter clothes get pushed to the back and you are brining out those fun spring tops. I am very lucky to have a large walk-in closet but I know that not everyone is lucky enough to live in a large Texas house where everything is bigger! I wanted to give you a few easy tips to quickly re-organize your closet for this new season.
1. Purge!
This is the hardest part but start going through everything. I like pulling it all out of the closet to really take a look at each item but if you don’t have that kind of time then just flip through and ask yourself the following questions:
- Does this fit me right now?
- Is it good condition (not damaged or stained)?
- If this was in the store right now would I buy it?
If your answer no to any of the above questions then pull it out of your closet. Damaged and stained clothes get thrown away. Items that don’t fit, donate or sell online. If it’s just not your style any more donate or sell online. What happens with those items that you “think you might wear” my trick is to put them on a different colored hanger. If you have not switched it by the end of the season then it’s gone. This leads me to number two…
2. Change your hangers
Changing your hangers to all slim line does a few things. First visually it makes for a very uniform and clean look, second you can get so much more in your closet with this style versus a wood or plastic hanger. I also like black for most of your items so then you can pick a grey or white for your “maybe” clothes and it stands out every time you think about wearing that item. I have these pink ones in my office since I love some pink! I’ve shopped around a lot for this style of hanger and the best prices have been at Costco and the Amazon Basics brand 100 pack $39.99. If you don’t need 100 they also come in bundles of 50 ($23.99) and 30 ($14.99). They also make a kids version in beige that are great for little kids clothes ($20.99 for 50) (baby clothes go on a smaller one).
3. Group by category then color
My closet is grouped into tops, casual jackets, work blazers, bottoms, suits and dresses. In each color group I do my best to then arrange by style for example tops go sleeveless to long sleeve. By grouping them in colors it REALLY helps when you are getting dressed or looking for a specific item. I realized that with tops many times I know what color I want to wear but if it’s a short sleeve or a tank it’s not as important so I’d rather have all my color choices together. If you can see on the bottom row I have a few items on beige hangers, those are still my “maybe” items. Once I wear it they will go on a black hanger and they have reserved their right to stay in the closet, if they are still on a beige hanger in about month they will be gone!
Recently I also separated my closet into “fall/ winter” and “spring/summer” items on the bottom row. This way I can easily see my colors and styles in the season that we are in
My closet is grouped into tops, casual jackets, work blazers, bottoms, swim coverups and dresses. In each color group I do my best to then arrange by style for example tops go sleeveless to long sleeve. By grouping them in colors it REALLY helps when you are getting dressed or looking for a specific item.
I realized that with tops many times I know what color I want to wear but if it’s a short sleeve or a tank it’s not as important so I’d rather have all my color choices together. If you can see on the bottom row I have a few items on beige hangers, those are still my “maybe” items. Once I wear it they will go on a black hanger and they have reserved their right to stay in the closet, if they are still on a beige hanger in about month they will be gone!
4. Flip your shoes
I am lucky enough to have a shoe wall, but my husband doesn’t. Even if your shoes are on a rack (my favorite for men here) facing them forward and backward helps you fit more on each row making for the most efficient use of your space. My husband’s dress shoes fit 3 pairs on each row all facing forward until you get to his athletic shoes which must go front to back to fit (for reference he wears a size 12).
Then group each by category and color. This helps to better understand what you have before you buy anything new.
5. Put it in a box and label it
In our closet we have a high shelf that is not really feasible for daily use so I put things up there that I use seasonally. In one section I have my boots. These stand up well with some good boot shapers, I like the plastic kind $9.99 since they are inexpensive but might switch over to the cedar $49.99 for some of my more expensive riding boots since they really help your boots last. Don’t forget to clean your boots before storing them, I have a couple different cleaners depending on the boot.
- Hunter Rubber Care Kit $22
- Ugg Sheepskin Care Kit $24.95
- Synovia Shoe Care Kit & Deluxe Cedar Box $79.95 I got this as a Christmas present for my husband for his dress shoes but I also use it for my leather riding boots. They also have less expensive kits without the box for $19.95.
In the next section I have closed canvas boxes ($14.99-$19.99) to keep things like holiday sweaters, gifts (these are little things I use as surprises throughout the year) hats/gloves/ scarves and travel bags. Since these have an attached hinge top they are east to stack and look uniform across the top of your closet. Each of these have a little area to label and I normally just print out and slide right in (no need for great hand writing). AS you can see I have a few extras on hand as I need to add to the “hidden” areas.
Hopefully this helps you get organized as we move into a new season.
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