Reduce Closet Clutter

Closets tend to take the brunt of our laziness or time constraints.  They become cluttered and just about unusable.  If you are not sure where to begin, use this guide to get ideas about how to get it organized and keep it that way.

People organize their closet and then, before they know it, it gets cluttered again.  This is generally because of a lack of planning.  We organize, clean and make space for what we keep in our closets.  But, what we often neglect to do is to plan for seasonal changes and new items coming into the closet.  This can translate into disaster after only a couple of months.

If your closet is not big enough to accommodate your winter and summer wardrobes, then you’re in the same boat as most of us.  It is important to get a system down so that you can easily transfer from summer, to fall, to winter, to spring without making a total mess of your closet.

Winter wardrobes are generally bulkier and take up more space, so start there.  You may decide to invest in an attractive armoire or wardrobe that stays outside of your closet.  Here you can store your winter coats, suits, sweaters and heavy bedding.  Getting this stuff out of your closet can free up a lot of space.  Plus, if it’s in the room, it will be a lot easier to transfer back to the closet later.

Another option is to store winter items in large plastic bins or vacuum compression bags.  You can then put them in a spare bedroom, garage, or under your bed.  You may need to use risers to make enough room underneath your bed.

Keep out transitional season clothes that always stay in your closet.  You will need about a week’s worth of warmer and cooler clothes for those in-between times when you’re not quite ready to flip your wardrobe.  Keeping the process of switching from winter to summer and vice versa simple will save you from having to start over every season.

If possible, utilize a hanging bar for storing your out of season clothes.  Keeping your wardrobe on clothes hangers makes it much easier to transfer them to your main closet later.  It can help you avoid stuffy odors, wrinkles, and the work of rehanging later.

You can use any kind of clothes hanger, but specialty hangers will allow you to use a small space for a whole wardrobe.  Shirt hangers, skirt hangers, dress hangers and coat hangers can all be hung on a cascading hanger, drastically reducing the space that they normally would take up.  You can use a home garment rack with a dust cover if you need somewhere to hang your clothes for storage.