4 Tips & Products For Closet Organizing Ideas

No matter where we call home — an apartment, a house, or even a university dorm — one thing remains consistent: there just never seems to be enough closet space. As a result, our clothes end up shoved onto too-tight hanging racks or stuffed into storage bins under the bed. Shoes get stacked on top of each other and other miscellaneous items end up strewn about the home, creating mountains of unnecessary clutter. 

Not only is the lack of closet space unsightly on the eyes, but shoving clothing into any open nook you can find often also leads to forgetting about some of your favorite wardrobe pieces (out of sight, out of mind, right?). Plus, there’s nothing worse than pulling your favorite shirt out of the closet only to find it’s gotten incredibly wrinkled from being jammed onto the hanging rack. 

Fortunately, this is the perfect time of year to reimagine the way your closet is organized. As you tackle the various spring cleaning tasks of your home this month, be sure to prioritize the spaces that often go unnoticed, like your closets. Not sure where to begin? Don’t worry, we’ve got the perfect tips and products for all your closet organizing needs.

Take Inventory & Declutter

First things first: take inventory of what exactly is in your closet, and what you’re hoping to add to it. Like we said, overflowing closets sometimes cause us to forget what we already own which tends to lead to buying several of the same items over and over again. Our suggestion is to pull out everything that’s currently in your closet, as well as the items hiding in storage bins, to assess what you already have and what you maybe don’t need to keep anymore.

So, what do you do once you’ve dumped the entire contents of your wardrobe onto your bed and bedroom floor? Start with the easy stuff. Items that no longer fit or are damaged beyond repair can easily go in the “donate” and “trash” piles. That way, you’re already narrowing down the mountain of items you’re dealing with. 

Once you’ve done this step, it’ll be much easier to go through each item piece by piece and ask yourself, “do I really want to keep this?” Most of us know that if the answer is immediately a yes, the item should be set aside to be organized back into the closet later and if it’s immediately a no, to toss it in the “donate” bin. But, it’s the “maybe” items that stump most people and can slow down the decluttering process. 

Our advice for this is to create a “maybe” box for these items. The rule: If you don’t go looking for any of the items in this box before the self-appointed deadline, it gets donated. Anything you do go looking for can be brought back into the closet. But, be realistic about these deadlines, especially when it comes to seasonal clothing. If you’ve got a “maybe” box full of summer dresses that you know you won’t be wearing, and therefore won’t go looking for, until the weather warms up, it’s okay to set the deadline for mid- or late summer.

If decluttering is still an intimidating task after these two tips, try one of our other strategies and recommendations.

Figure Out What Can Be Folded

Let’s be honest, most of us are probably hanging way too much clothing in our closets because we feel like we don’t have enough space in our drawers. Well, spoiler: that’s probably because we also aren’t folding our clothes properly. Sure, you know how to fold but do you know how to fold in a way that both maximizes drawer space and looks aesthetically pleasing? If the answer is no, check out some of our favorite hacks for folding different clothing items.

Items we recommend folding instead of hanging, especially if you don’t have a lot of closet space, include:

• Athleisure wear
• Casual shirts
• Dresses that are too long and touch the ground or shelf below the hanging rack
• Pants

Create Different Zones

One way to avoid the issue of “never having anything to wear” is to know exactly where to look for whatever occasion it is that you’re dressing for. We’ve all been in a situation where it feels like we have nothing to wear, when in reality the piece we were looking for was probably just hidden among the mess that was our cluttered closet. So, while we’re decluttering and reimagining our hanging space, let’s also reimagine the zoning of the closet itself.

The first, most important, thing to consider when zoning out your closet is “what seasons am I dressing for during the next few months?” If your city or suburb experiences warm and sunny spring summers, there’s nothing wrong with storing away your bulky fall and winter clothes until the temperature starts to drop again. 

Once you’ve done that, take a look at what your heaviest clothing items are. Most likely, the heaviest items are going to be some light jackets and blazers that you use to layer on cooler spring days or chilly summer evenings. Then, take a look at what your lightest clothing item is (probably a strappy sundress or short-sleeve linen button up shirt), and arrange the rest of the items accordingly.

Our recommendation is to zone your closet by type of item with heavier items (jackets and blazers) toward the back of the closet and lighter items (short sleeves and tank tops) toward the front. 

Use Storage Bins

Take advantage of whatever shelf space you have in your closet by using storage bins and organizers to store non-hanging items and other miscellaneous clothing pieces, like scarves and swimsuits. Our vegan leather rectangle and square storage baskets are the perfect choice for adding some organization to your shelves. The carrying handles on either side of the basket makes it easy to pull down from a top shelf, and the adjustable dividers are ideal for storing multiple types of items in one basket, while still maintaining the idea of keeping everything in its own zone.

Follow these easy steps to reimagine the functionality of your closet, and the days of struggling to jam one-too-many hangers onto the hanging rack will be long behind you.