I‘m often asked to help friends re-organize their closets. I would often decline in my younger years, if only because the closet would be a mess again the next time I was over. In my wise old age, I tend to enjoy this task, because I have learned a valuable lesson: Functional for me doesn’t mean functional for other people.
Reorganizing a closet so that it’s functional for you can be one of the biggest favors you do for yourself. Even if you’re not a total clothes horse — and especially if you are — having a functional closet saves so much time. More so, it reduces the morning fun of being unable to find the shirt you KNOW you washed and wanted to wear to work today but its either lost in the land of hangers or it’s wrinkled.
I’m going to share what makes MY closet functional. Post-pandemic, it will change. Come summer, it will change again. My advice today stems from MY experience and CURRENT needs; you should be prepared to adjust based on your own life, and to adjust as time goes on.
So let’s get started.
First, take everything out of your closet.
I mean it. Take everything out, then dust the shelves and baseboards and sweep or vacuum the floor. An actual clean slate, if you will. Today, you will handle every thing in your closet individually. Everything is going on trial.
This is the part where most organizers will tell you to have bins ready ahead of time: To Donate, To Mend, etc. I don’t do this, because I find it just adds anxiety. When organizing, I prefer to pare things down in stages; it means I only have one decision to make at a time. A real help if you tend to be a packrat like me. For me, just throwing anything NOT going back into the closet into a separate pile works well. If that’s not for you, go ahead and get those dedicated bins/bags/piles ready.
Look at each item, and ask yourself:
Could I wear this as it is out of the house right now?
Doesn’t fit? Bye. Think it may fit later? It still goes on the pile. Needs mending or cleaning? You’re not hanging it up right now, so throw it on the pile. Stained and beyond repair? Out of there!
Do I NEED this?
Marie Kondo, et. al will advise you to keep things you love. That’s not bad advice, but for clothes, paring down an overflowing wardrobe requires you to get a little ruthless. Do you have an actual NEED for eight dresses when you always wear pants? Do you NEED those shoes that you literally have no place to wear?
Do I LIKE this?
Uncomfortable? Pile — you won’t wear it if you dread wearing it. No longer in your style preferences? Pile.
Repeat this process with your shoes and handbags.
You’re left with clothes you can wear, have a place to wear them to, and like. Let’s put them away, shall we?
I suggest sorting by type, then color, then store by frequency of use. Here’s a roadmap I use.
- OFF-SEASON: It may make more sense for you to store your off-season clothes in a box under your bed. Here in Virginia, we get all four seasons in one day a lot, so I prefer to keep everything within reach. I also aim for a minimal lifestyle, so if my entire wardrobe outgrows my closet, its time to pare down.
- EVENT-SPECIFIC: Football jerseys, volunteer shirts, etc. These are for items that you really only wear to one place.
- DRESSES: I generally only wear dresses to church, but in this era of COVID, that’s not an actual place we go anymore. I put those further back.
- JACKETS: This time of year, I keep these in this section. Come summer, they’ll be moved to off-season.
- SUITS/BLAZERS, then PANTS, then SHIRTS. This is my work wardrobe. I have a few shirts/jackets that have my employer logo, so I put those in the front so I can find them.
I put my hanging organizers towards the middle, and formal wear to the left out of reach.
When storing, consider:
- Use ONE type of hanger, and hang everything facing the same direction. Huge game changer in the function part — and, it just LOOKS good.
- I like to use hanging shoe organizers for heels, flats, and scarves. Saves space and they’re easier to find!
- I use a shoe rack and line my boots up, and store sneakers under them. Shoes in the front are those I wear all the time. I use a fabric basket for slippers and sandals.
- Plastic crates turned on their side make for excellent storage — you get an extra shelf, and bags stand up nicely.
Now, let’s deal with that pile.
Again, we’re going to take each piece individually, and decide what to do with it.
If anything in that pile is something you want to keep but it just needs mending or cleaning, put in a bag to take wherever you do that. For what you’re not keeping, decide: Toss, Sell, or Donate:
Donate
If it’s in decent condition, donate to a local charity or thrift store. I work with people in crisis who are rebuilding their lives. Trust me — when you donate those clothes, or take them to the thrift store, they go to a good place to someone who really needs them.
Toss
Nobody wants your dingy shirts, the shirt from 2015 from that 5K you ran, or anything stained or torn. Either repurpose them, or toss them. You’re not doing anyone favors by donating crap.
Sell
If you have the time and means and storage space to keep unwanted things from going back into your closet, sell the good stuff on Poshmark or ThreadUp or your favorite app. If you don’t, donate them. It’s not doing anyone any good sitting unused in your closet.
Once the pile is sorted into various bins or bags, move them out of the room.
Your final step is to pull up a chair or sit on your bed and gaze in wonder at your beautiful, functional closet.
Now, if we could just get someone to wash, dry, and hang up the clothes every week. Baby steps.
