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The Fast and the Slow Way to Organize your
Closet - April 9, 2006
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So
your closets are a mess. Your sweaters have taken over and your
shoes are out of control. How do you get this mess of a closet
under control? Here is some closet organization advice and
resources to you started.
Remember, the foundation of any well organized closet are clear shoe
boxes (Hint, Hint, Nudge, Nudge, Wink, Wink).
As with everything in life, you can do it the quick way, or the slow
way and closet organization is no different....so we have included both
approaches, enjoy.
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The Quick Way - The Five Minute Primer on Closet Organization
* Use shelf dividers to keep stacks of clothing from
falling over;
* Put up some hooks on the inside of your closet
door for items that you wear regularly, like pajamas or items that
don’t really belong inside drawers such as belts, scarves and ties;
* Don’t use wire hooks! They will destroy your
clothing (usually by putting holes in it)! Use high quality
wooden or acrylic ones;
* Don’t use wire hangers, they are perfect for
destroying the shape of your shirts and blouses. Use wood or
plastic hangers. Invest in the same type of hangar for a uniform look.
* When hanging clothing, group the similar length
clothes together to open up space under shorter garments.
* Use storage boxes that are designed for shoes and
bags (Hint, Hint).
* Here is a quick and dirty list that you can use to
help organize your closet:
o Cubbies in
drawers
o Clear shoe
boxes
o Lucite shelf
dividers
o Pull out full
length mirror
o Rounded corner
shelf
o Consider an
ironing board that can fold into a drawer or hang it on the wall
o Pull out
clothes rod
o Roll out shoe
shelves
o Jewelry tray
o Belt & tie
racks
o Hang your
hamper on door
The Slow Way - The “Whole Weekend Full of Fun” Approach to Closet
Organization
Phase One: Declutter your Closets
1. Take a look at your clothes and decide which clothes do you
need, which do you want (the nostalgic pieces) and which ones you can
live without (think large shoulder pads from the 80’s or maybe the acid
washed jeans);
2. Go through all of your clothes, removing the items that you can live
with out. Put these ones in garbage bags and either sell them on
eBay if that is your thing (money for new clothes or shoes), or give
them to charity. If in doubt, apply the two year test: if you
haven’t thought about/considered wearing a piece of clothing in the
last two years, get rid of it;
3. Now go through your remaining clothing and pick out the nostalgia
pieces or the stuff that you paid way too much for and just can’t see
throwing out. Put these aside for now;
4. Now you are left with a closet full of clothing that you wear on a
regular basis;
Phase Two: Sort out your Clothes, Sort Out your Life
Sort out your clothing systematically. Different groupings could
be: by article type, by length, by color, by use or by style. The
key here is to keep things simple. You should not need to hang a
road map on your closet door in order to figure out where to hang
something. Two things you must do when organizing your clothes,
is to group your clothing by size (long hanging, short hanging, etc),
this is important when it comes to structuring your closet and season,
which is important for maximizing your closet space;
Be sure to pick out any clothing that needs cleaning and more
importantly, fixing. Chances are that the only time you notice
that clothing needs to be fixed is when you plan on wearing it;
Take your clothes out of dry cleaning bags, unless you plan on packing
these clothes for a trip. They seem to stay wrinkle free in these
bags, even when folded in a suitcase, in the short-term but the plastic
can damage your clothes in the long-term;
Consider storing out of season clothing, shoes and boots in clear
storage boxes. If your closet space is at a premium, store out of
season clothing in another part of the house.
Phase Three: Structuring your closet
A well organized closet has 4 basic storage sections: long hanging,
short hanging, shelves and baskets/drawers. For short hanging
clothing, install double decker rods to maximize usable space;
Closet organization systems range from prefab wire products to
custom-built wood systems. Cedar based systems are a good choice as the
scent discourages adult moths from living in your closets.
If you decided on a cedar system, remember that cedar loses its strong
scent if not sanded regularly;
For the best protection against moths, store fine woolens in seal
containers; and
Clearly delineate the clothing categories that you have devised with
labeled rod divider discs and within in each category, hang clothes by
color from light to dark.
Phase Four: Important Closet Organization Tips To Keep in Mind
When storing clothing in an attic or basement, be aware of mosture and
environmental differences from your bedroom;
Use wood or plastic hangers only. We can’t emphasize this
enough. Cardboard crossbars get sticky and leave a line on folded
pants and wire hangers make marks in the shoulders of your shirtsl
Use racks or hooks for belts, hats, purses and scarves; and
Take shoes out of their original cardboard boxes.
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