BEFORE


{How could you find a mate to your shoes?}

{Handbags thrown on the shelves… tisk tisk}

{Clothes from all seasons mixed together}

AFTER

{Scarfs and sweaters folded in the hanging baskets}

{shoes on the shelves with their mate and arranged by color & occasion}

{Shirts organized by sleeve length and color}

{Handbags organized by color and occasion}

{Necklaces displayed on a towel rack that swivels on a spice rack for easy access}

{Flip Flops with their matching pair in a basket}

Growing up, my mother never had to tell me to clean my room or make my bed.  My friends all think I am a little anal.  And my husband thinks I have OCD.   Whenever my sister moves and needs help packing/unpacking or some needs their closet organized, who do they call?  Me.  And, is it weird that I actually enjoy doing it?  (Don’t answer that.)

I was recently asked to help someone (who wishes to remain anonymous) organize her closet so I decided to share a few of tips with you.  We will just refer to her as D in the post. 🙂

Clothes:

– First, organize your closet by season.  This way the things you won’t be wearing for months are out of your way and you can focus on what you DO have to wear.

– Next, I like to organize by classification.  I start with dresses on the left and fade into skirts, pants, jackets and blouses.

-Within each group, sort your clothes by length.  Ex. Sleeveless shirts to long sleeves with short sleeves in between.

– Don’t forget to keep your color stories together too!  This way if you know you want to wear a white blouse, all of your options are together for a quick assessment.

– If you have two levels of hanging racks, hang your tops on the higher level and your bottoms on the lower level so you can visualize your outfit options when shopping your closet.

– Keep items you don’t wear often, like evening dresses, on the far side.

Shoes and Accessories:

– The key to getting the most wear out of your wardrobe is being able to SEE the items you have.  This closet has great shelving to display shoes, but if you don’t have space like this, invest in a good shoe rack.  I have and love this one that hangs over my door. (It holds 36 pair!)

– For flats and flip flops that are easy to stack, match them with their pair and keep them in a cute basket for easy storage that doesn’t take up space on your shoe rack.

– Put your scarves on display too so you can see all of your options.  We used these hanging shelves in the photographs, but if you are like me and don’t have room for this size organizer, go for these great hangers that were made just for this.

– If you have the luxury of a walk in closet like the one shown in the pictures, you should keep your jewelry in your closet so you can pick out your accessories with your clothes.  I used a towel stand to display D’s necklaces, and even took the next step by placing it on a swivel spice rack!  (To see how I display my necklaces, click here.)

– I organized the handbags by size & occasion.  For small clutches and wallets, use another basket to keep them all together so they don’t get lost in the mix.

{the discard pile}

– Last, but certainly not least, don’t be afraid to get rid of things you no longer wear.  Start with things you have not worn in the past year.  Chances are, if you didn’t wear it last year, you aren’t going to wear it next year.

– Have someone you trust look over your keep pile and your discard pile before making any permanent decisions.  I can be too quick to throw things away so I have my mom make sure I am not being too rash before I donate.  D, on the other hand, needed me to go through her closet and tell her what needs to go.  Either way, it is always more fun to have a friend!

Feel free to ask any questions or share your tips in the comment section below!

*A big thank you to Cindy for writing in and requesting this post!