Messy closets are our morning nightmare. It hides all you want to find – but it brings all back once you are not looking for it. We usually feel lost and overwhelmed trying to fish one top or bottom from a pile of unidentified clothes and goes without saying that we usually get late. Closets are a key part of our day and in order to start feeling your most efficient self, you need to create order.

Step 1: Empty it – Quick sort

You need a blank canvas to work with. Using your bed as working station, move items from closet to bed, breaking them in groups: bottoms, tops, dresses, skirts, jumpsuits, workout. Remove all from the shelf on top, if you have one. Dust it, clean the floor.

Step 2: Deep sorting + Purging

Do you really need all the clothes you have? Clutter is just a conflict between the space and the amount of belongings. When you reduce, you simplify a important routine and the results will keep you sharp, on time and well dressed. My recommendation: let go of whatever you never used or whatever doesn’t fit anymore. Don’t forget the unflattering pieces. Let go of old clothes (unless sentimental) and curate your closet to express your best. Put all donations, trash and/or sell in clear bags, labeled. I like these from Amazon.

Step 3: Space Planning + Storage

Ok, you decided what to keep. Now it’s time to put it all back. Once of my suggestions when working with closets is to use the same type of hanger all the way through. It might sound silly, but identical hangers will help you to locate clothes faster. You can use plastic hangers or velvet hangers. Avoid wood hangers, as they can be bulky and take closet space.

Keep groups together! As you put clothes back in the closet, keep tops with tops, dresses with dresses, etc. You can break the group down into short dresses / long dresses. Set long ones to the sides, so you can have a good view of the floor. Put tops short sleeves in front if Summer. Use skirt hangers to differentiate bottoms.

Once all the clothes are hanged, let’s focus on shoe storage. The floor is also prime space and you can make good use of it with a shoe organizer. Feel free to get two if it fits in your closet. Ideally, they work better side by side.

The top shelf can have some pretty and functional bins like these. Inside these, gather work out tops, bottoms, scarves, hats, small bags or any other group of items. Label them using these. You can also use plastic bins in different sizes to keep out of season clothes, per example. Go vertical, stocking up to three bins. Always be safe – check if it risks falling on you.

If you would like, another cool way to keep order is to have clothes dividers like these. It will help you to put things back where they belong as well make it easier to find what you need.

Step 4: You’ve create a organizing system

With those in place, your closet will look amazing. The cool part about space planning and storage items is that, together in place they frame how you work with the space. It might take few weeks to get used to it – but keep following the system and chances are your closet won’t ever been messy again. The goal here is to reduce the time you take to get ready, but also to allow you to keep order on your own.

Kindly,

Patricia