The following is a guest post from regular contributor, Kristin at The Gold Project.
Welcome to my new blog series. I have wanted to do this series for awhile now, but decided to wait until I was entirely moved first. Over the next couple of months, I will take you through the closets in my home, give you some tips on how I organize them, and actually get some of them organized in the process. At my old home, I had almost every closet organized. And, then, I moved! So, this momma is back at step 1.
And, here is a little secret, I am using this series as my motivation to get my new closets in order. If I tell y’all I am going to do it, then I must!
Some of the areas and topics I will cover include:
- Shoe storage
- Tops storage
- Bottoms storage
- My closet (or side of the closet) reveal
- My husband’s (or side of the closet) closet
- My son’s closet
- My daughter’s closet
- Coat closet
- My accessory closet
- My favorite closet organizing products
- Bathroom closets
And, I may throw in a few extra topics along the way. So, please feel free to let me know of any closet topics that you would like me to cover.
Today, I will start with quick organizing tips to organize your closet without spending a lot of money.
1. Sort and Purge
This is the most difficult step of them all, I think. I suggest starting this process when you have the right frame of mind. I don’t know about you, but I have to be in the “I’m ready to do this” mindset. If not, then my sentimental side takes over and I want to keep everything.
I would make four piles… Keep, Donate, Throw Away, Maybe.
- Keep – Items that I definitely know I love and will wear often.
- Donate – Items that I know 100% that I do not want, but are in perfect condition for someone else to use.
- Throw Away – Items that I know 100% that I do not want, but they are not in the condition for others to use (ex: rips, stains, tears).
- Maybe – Items I still need to think about keeping. I suggest placing all of these items in a container and storing them for a certain length of time (a month, maybe). If you do not go to the box to take anything out of it, then that means you can live without those pieces. I have done this several times and it works great!
2. Categorize
This step may seem like it isn’t needed, but it is an important one. After you sort and purge, categorize your items. Shoes… Tops… Bottoms… And, so forth. It will make the next step a lot easier.
3. Code
I really wanted to label this step “Color-Code,” but I understand that not everyone organizes their clothes in the same manner. After I categorize my items, I color-code them. My tops usually hang left to right in the following color pattern…
- white
- off white
- tan
- yellow
- orange
- pink
- red
- green
- blue
- purple
- gray
- black
It may seem a little overboard, but it eliminates a lot of time in the mornings. If I know I want to wear a red shirt, I know exactly where to go.
I know some people like to code their closet based on types of clothing…
- Tops
- sleeveless blouses
- tank tops
- long sleeve button-ups
- long sleeve t-shirts
- spaghetti strap tops
- sweaters
- short sleeve blouses
- short sleeve t-shirts
The key to this step is that it should benefit YOU! If color-coding works best for you, then color-code. If you like to walk into your closet and know exactly where all of your long sleeve t-shirts are, then code by type. Organizing should fit the person and everyone is different.
4. Containerize
Accessories and small clothing items look more organized if they are stored in a container. So, place scarves, hats, belts, gloves, cosmetic bags, etc. in some form of basket, box, or tub. There is a myth floating around that states organizing is expensive.
Organizing does NOT have to be expensive!
You could use old shoe boxes that you aren’t using anymore or even go to a dollar store. I get a lot of containers from Dollar Tree in my hometown. They have cute colors and unique containers. Honestly, you can spend as much or as little as you want on organizing. Sometimes, it just takes a little creativity to save a few pennies.
5. Use Similar Hangers
A simple way to streamline the hanging apparel in your closet is to have similar hangers. It is amazing the difference it will make in the appearance. I did this with my closet and my husband’s and it made a world of difference. I am in the process of doing the same in my daughter and son’s closets as well.
To make doing laundry easier, my husband and I use different types of hangers. I use Huggable Hangers and he uses the wooden hangers. I got his hangers from Bed Bath and Beyond. It is definitely a personal preference, but it helps my household. You may notice that some of my hooks are brass and some are chrome. They didn’t offer chrome when I bought my first set about 10 years ago.
Having all of your clothing at the same level and even across the entire rod looks amazing. And, once again, you do not have to spend a fortune to achieve this goal. Dollar stores carry hangers and Wal-Mart even sells hangers in bulk for a decent price.
In college, getting organized became very important to me. I didn’t have a lot of extra cash to use to buy the professional products, so I had to determine what I could do on a small amount of extra spending money. These were the steps I used and they have helped me in every closet I have owned.
Do you have closets that need some organization?
My name is Kristin and I am a middle school career education teacher by day and a mommy/wife/blogger by night. I am married to my high school sweetheart and we have two loving children. We recently made a life-changing move to Arkansas, so our new house is always under construction. I get excitement out of finding new creative, functional, and cute ways to organize things! I also enjoy writing and documenting life as it happens. So, I put these loves together and created The Gold Project. With the help of my husband, I am attempting to turn our house into a home. So, check out this special place of mine and take this journey with me!
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Note from Laura ~ for more closet organizing tips please also visit my 31 day closet organizing series from last year.
Kris Healey says
If you want to make an even bigger change in your closets changeover to the slim velvet hangers! I was shocked when I changed mine over. I did not get rid of many clothes and it cut my hanging space by half! So amazing. They are pretty cheap to get at winners, home sense or costco.
Emily Chapelle says
I think that’s the same as the “huggable” ones she mentions in the post.
Firesparx says
Great post! I wanted to point out that our local charity (Goodwill, I’m in Canada) takes ALL clothing items whether they are reusable or not. They employ people to sort through the clothes and anything that isn’t reusable gets sold for rags. So its a win-win-win in my opinion. It may be worth checking out if your local charity is the same way, then you don’t need to decide if an item is reusable or now, just throw it in the Donation pile and be done!
Kristin @ The Gold Project says
Really? I need to check into that here. I always donate usable items, but I had no idea the others could be donated too. Thanks for the info.
caroljane says
Hi Kristen. My master bed room closet is do bad it’s scary. I really don’t ever go in there. I keep my clothes on top of the dryer. Oh yes I do. If I send you a picture of my closet would you give me some advice? Thanks. Desperate in Ohio.
Kristin @ The Gold Project says
I would love to. Send me some pics and I will help you in any way possible. 🙂
tealady3 says
I is about time I redo my closets,yes closets, I have 2 in our master bedroom. My poor hubby only uses about a foot of space the rest is all mine.
I am normally organized but lately I have been getting lazy, so I will be following along, you spoke of your color organizing which I do use but I have one more step I use. I take my colors and hang them with all white sleeveless then white short sleeves, and then sweaters and so on.
Kristin @ The Gold Project says
Your comment reminded me of the closets in my master bathroom. When the owner of our home (we are in the process of buying it), showed us around the house the first time, she showed us the master closet and stated, “This is my closet.” Then, she turns to this small broom closet and says, “and, this is my husband’s.” We had a nice chuckle about it. XOXO
Shelia @ House of Highlands says
My bedroom closet needs to be organized – my biggest challenge is figuring out where to store my shoes – my husband said that he saw a shoe carousel on HGTV and that it is a big space saver. I will definitely follow your series! I crave organization and my closet is the worst room in my home!
Shelia
Kristin @ The Gold Project says
YAY!!! Thank you so much for following along.