An organized closet makes for a lot less stress, let me just tell you. I am no stranger to shopping and it tends to get ahead of me with closet organization. The more items you add, the easier it is to fall out of organization you have already set up for your closet space. It only takes one event where you are struggling to find something to wear to destroy your organization system. With spring cleaning being the perfect thing to tackle right now, we figured we would focus on closet tips as it’s a great place to begin. It’s the perfect time to chat spring cleaning tips and we are so excited to share our favorite tricks for keeping your closet organized.
Where to Begin
If you’ve never heard of the Marie Kondo method, now is the time to learn. The premise of this is that you don’t keep anything that doesn’t spark joy in your life. So if there are items you have not worn in 7 years, maybe pull them out and take a look at them to figure out why that is. Are they out of style? Do they not fit the way you used to enjoy? Did they not hold up well? There could be so many things. Depending on the condition of the items, we recommend putting them into bags to sell or donate.
Change of Seasons
For a fresh start to the season, this might be a time where you want to look into storage containers. Especially in NYC, we tend to use under the bed storage or storage spaces for seasonal items. For instance, for summer clothes, we keep them in their own boxes and pull them out when we need them. When doing so, the winter items get put away. This saves space in our wardrobes and keeps it a functional space with less items around. It’s a clean slate and there is not better time than now to start putting away most of the winter pieces and pulling out the warm and transitional closet items.
Shoe Boxes
A lot of people like to keep their shoes organized in the boxes they came in or in clear boxes so they can clearly see what they have. I you live in an apartment or smaller space, this is not always practical. Our biggest tip for this is to find a solution that works for you and will keep you accountable. For example, if that is a shoe rack, over the door shoe organizer or one of those spinning shoe organizers do what works. We don’t have space to have a separate closet for shoes and we need easy access to them to grab and run out the door. Shoe racks are essential if you have kids because it’s really easy for their shoes to just be everywhere.
Organize Your Way
This is going to be more vague but you need to create a system that makes sense to you. This might be color coding your closet. Or organizing it by tank tops to tees, and then work your way to dresses. We need to focus on systems that will remain intact for the entire season. For us, we use a mixture of systems and that is what works best for us. Jeans all stay together, shorts all remain together, we don’t mix dresses with long sleeves. Everything reminds in the spots where we have similar items. If you don’t know where to begin, maybe try color coding so you can easily remember where everything is by associating the color of the item with where it will be in your wardrobe.
Keep Up
Finally, the only way this works is by keeping up with the system you put in place. My happy place is an organized space and functional zones. As a busy mom to teens, the closets can become a big mess. The only part of my life I can control is how I react. And in this way, it’s how I can keep my home and my own closet looking. There are so many organization options for a small closet, large closet, drawers and so much more. Invest in quality hangers, vacuum bags for seasonal items and clear bins if you have the space. There is enough space for everything you want to keep, you just need to organize it in a different way. Use the top shelf for bins and baskets, put your winter shoes and heavy coats in a separate space and keep daily life items accessible for yourself.
Happy organizing!
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