Easy Ways To Organize Your Closet

By Janey Dike on August 1, 2014

This article is brought to you by CORT, a subsidiary of Berkshire-Hathaway and the world’s largest furniture rental and relocation services company. To learn more about how we can help college students like you, click here.

Keeping your closet organized can be an ongoing and tedious battle, especially within the small confines of a college residence hall or apartment.

With the ease of online shopping and the skilled shoppers’ ability to sniff out a bargain clearance sale, it can be so easy to end up with way too many clothes, accessories, pieces of jewelry, and of course, shoes. Figuring out how to squeeze everything onto hangers and shelves is like an ongoing game of Tetris.

Even if you do manage to fit all of your apparel in your room, there’s no guarantee that it won’t all be so jumbled that your clothes are a wrinkled bundle, your jewelry is a knotted mess, and your shoes are always without the other pair.

Here are a few efficient ways to clean out your wardrobe and keep your closet in consistently tip-top shape.

Decide what you actually need and want. And get rid of what you don’t.

The first step in closet organization is making space. That means it’s time to go through what you actually wear and give up on the items that have barely seen sunlight.

Even if you like certain pieces of clothing, but have only worn them once or twice, take a minute to decide if they are really worth keeping. Sometimes it’s hard to know how often you wear your clothes.

Try turning all of your hangers the wrong way (hooked from back to front). Whenever you wear an item, hang it back up the right way. After a few months, you’ll be able to see if there are any clothes that you haven’t even taken off the hanger.

Then there is the problem of having too many garments that look exactly the same. If you have five black tank tops or three purple floral dresses, it may be time to assess whether you actually need several pieces of very similar clothing or not.

And there are the clothes and shoes that have gotten so much wear and tear that they are practically falling apart. In this case, it’s time to let go. No one wants to see those armpit stains or your toes through that hole in your tennis shoes.

image via gofashionshow.com

Separate the clothes you are getting rid of into categories. 

When getting rid of apparel, separate everything into three categories: consignment, donation, trash.

Some clothes you may want to try to get some money for, especially if they are still in really good shape or if you initially paid a good amount for them. Make sure that these items don’t have stains and that they are ready for sale. This means washed, ironed, and usually on a hanger.

Some consignment shop owners may have more requirements and many will only take clothes from you that they believe will actually sell. You can also try selling your own clothes at a yard sale or online. There are several apps and websites created for the sole purpose of selling or trading new and used clothing. All you need to do is create an account and upload a few pictures of the item you are trying to sell.

If you want to donate clothing (try Goodwill, churches, winter clothing drives, local shelters), make sure that your items are still in good shape. If something is so worn out or old that you don’t want to wear it, no one else will either. But those snow boots that you outgrew or the pack of undershirts that you decided you don’t really need are perfect.

Not only will you be doing yourself a favor by making room in your closet, but you’ll be helping out another person by providing decent and inexpensive (or free!) clothing.

Some items just have to be thrown away. Clothing that is too worn or dirty, or jewelry that is beyond tarnished or missing beads and chains just needs to go. Most likely, you’ve forgotten about this clothing and it’s been sitting in the back of your drawers.

image via huffingtonpost.com

Start filling up your empty closet.

Before starting to organize, empty your closet. Use your bed and floor to lay out your clothes and accessories so that you can start fresh filling up your shelves and hangers. Once you’ve done this, start off by hanging up your clothes.

You want to hang up as many clothes as possible because the clothes are easy to see and access. It also keeps clothes wrinkle-free. Consider installing another hanging pole in your closet to make the most of the allotted space.

When hanging up clothes, sort them by a category that works for you. You can hang up clothes by season, or by type of clothing (tank tops together, dresses together, etc.).

If your closet has built-in shelves, use these to place clothing like workout gear, sweatshirts and pants. You can also purchase small plastic dressers with pullout drawers and place them in your closet for additional space.

Organizing shoes can differ based on the amount of space and resources that you have. The most efficient ways to organize shoes is to use an over-the-door shoe rack with pockets. There are also shoe organizers that can be hooked onto the hanging poles in your closet.

You can also place a shoe rack on the floor of your closet to keep shoes in good shape and in an easy-to-reach place. If you don’t have access to these organization products, you can also place your shoes in a bin on the floor of your closet. Your shoes won’t be separated by pair, but it’s better than throwing them on the floor.

image via momadvice.com

Don’t forget about accessories. 

If you’re like me, scarves are an essential factor in fall and winter outfits. Luckily, there are actually hangers created to hold several scarves at once. The hangers have the same benefits for scarves as they do for clothes in keeping them organized and wrinkle-free.

Jewelry can be hard to keep straight and easily accessible. There are useful hanging jewelry organizers with dozens of small pockets and zippers to hold bracelets, earrings, rings, hair accessories, and more.

If you are running out of hanging space in your closet, bins with small dividers are a smart way to keep track of accessories and keep necklaces and bracelets from getting tangled. Attaching removal hooks to the walls or closet door can create space for hanging necklaces, scarves, or hats as well.

image via pureandsimpledesigns.wordpress.com

Looking for a more convenient way to furnish your off-campus apartment? Rent stylish furniture from CORT and save time and money. For more information on furniture rental packages, click here.

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