Give Your Closet a Makeover in 5 Easy Steps!
Do you want to learn how to organize your closet like a pro? How would it feel to open the door to a freshly cleaned and organized closet? Pretty good, right!
If you are struggling with a mountain of shoes on the floor, clothes crammed in the closet, and just too much clutter you are in the right place.
Just follow the simple steps below, and in no time you will have a clean, organized closet that will have you feeling less stressed, saving you time finding things, and just look prettier so you feel happy when you open that door.
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Step One: Completely Empty Out the Closet
Remove everything from your closet and lay it all out. This will help you see exactly what you have, and clean the closet surfaces properly.
Separate the items into the following piles as you remove them from the closet:
- Clothing
- Shoes / Boots / Slippers
- Accessories
- Coats / Jackets
- Hangers
- Organizers / Bins / Racks
- Miscellaneous Items
Step Two: Clean the Closet
The next step is to give the closet good cleaning to remove the dust, dirt, and marks on the walls and/or shelves.
Supplies:
- Bucket Filled with Warm Water
- Sponge
- Paper Towel
- Rags or Microfiber Cloths
- Vacuum or Broom / Dust Pan
- Supplies to Clean the type of floor in the closet (Tile: Mop/Bucket with Cleaning Solution; Hardwood: Dust Mop with Spray on Solution; Carpet: Stain Remover and Carpet Cleaner)
- Rubber Gloves
- Optional: Paint and Painting Supplies
Start by wiping the dust off the shelves using the rags or microfiber cloths.
Then get the sponge wet with the water in the bucket, ring out the excess water, and use the sponge to wipe down the walls, shelves, and baseboards.
Finally, vacuum or sweep the floor, remove any stains, and clean the floor using the appropriate method for the floor type (hardwood, tile, carpet, etc).
At this point you may want to consider giving the walls a fresh coat of paint. This will freshen up dingy walls and cover any marks, but it is completely up to you.
Related Post: Proven Steps to Declutter Your Home (Without the Overwhelm)
Step Three: Sort Items
This is one of the most challenging steps in my opinion. It is easy to throw away items that are truly garbage (like that broken hanger or left over dryer sheet you found on the floor), but not always easy to decide what to keep, donate, recycle, or toss.
Here are some tips to help you organize your items so you know what will go back in the closet, and what will not.
Clothing and Shoes – Follow the chart below to decide to keep or get rid of each item of clothing or pair of shoes in your closet.
Have-I-worn-this-in-the-last-year_-1Accessories – Keep them if you still wear them and they are in good condition. Toss them if they are poor condition. Donate them if they are in good condition and you simply don’t wear them anymore.
Miscellaneous Items – Go through each of these items and decide if they belong in your bedroom closet. If not, set them aside so you can go through them separately.
Step Four: Assess Your Closet Space and Configuration
The next challenge is planning how to put the items back in the closet so they are organized, easy to access, and look nice. This step is important to ensure the closet is functional for you.
Review what you have left to put away, and determine if you have enough room in the closet for everything.
If not, don’t worry. There are many products to help you reconfigure and organize your closet.
Here are some ideas to update your closet configuration:
Problem: Not enough space to hang the clothes.
Solution: Add Additional Garment Racks with Shelves on top. Buy it Here.
Shop Now for this or other closet organization solutions.
Problem: Too Many Shoes to fit on floor.
Solution: Shoe Rack – Buy it Here
Shop Now for this and other shoe organizers.
Problem: Too Dark to find anything.
Solution: Add a Light – Buy it Here
Shop Now for this and other lighting solutions.
Problem: Can’t reach top shelf to get to items.
Solution: Step Stool – Buy it Here
More Tips:
- Hang clothes on the same type of hangers to maximize space and keep an orderly appearance.
- Use a Shoe Rack or Cubbies to store your shoes. If space is limited, consider keeping the shoes you wear regularly in a visible and easy to access spot in your closet, and store the remaining shoes somewhere else. For instance, if it is currently summer where you live then you don’t need to have your winter boots in the prime real estate of your closet.
- Use a tie rack hanger to hang ties or belts.
- Use a vertical hanger to hang dress pants or skirts.
- Replace any cardboard boxes, plastic bags, or shoe boxes you are storing items in with bins or totes.
- Folding pajamas, work out clothes, bathing suits, socks, camisols, hoodies and lingerie and keeping them in your dresser drawers will give you more room in your closet.
- Coats, Jackets, Hats, Scarves, and Gloves or Mittens should be stored in a coat closet if possible.
- Store off season clothing in bins under your bed, or a different location in your home. This will give the clothing in your closet plenty of breathing room so you can access them easily and avoid wrinkles.
Step Five: Put Items Back in Closet like a Pro
You are almost there! In Steps One through Four you cleared the closet, cleaned it, sorted all of your items, and planned how you will fit everything back in there.
Now you are ready to take the final step and put everything back in there.
- Start by putting the items on or near the floor in first. Shoes you wear all the time should go in the front where you can easily see and access them.
- Put clothing back in the closet. Give each category of clothing a home in the closet. There is no wrong way to do this, but here are some suggestions: Fold thicker clothing such as jeans and sweaters and put them on a shelf or in a drawer. Then hang all your pants and skirts together on one part of the rack. Next Hang all your lightweight shirts and blouses together and group by casual or dress, then move on to light weight long sleeve shirts, heavier long sleeve shirts, blazers, and so on.
- Place the remaining items on the shelves and/or in bins on the shelves.
- Consider storing off-season clothing in bins under your bed, or in another location of your home to avoid overcrowding clothes in the closet.
Stand Back and Admire Your Closet Makeover
Congratulations! You did it. Stand back and admire your newly organized and made over closet you worked so hard on. You’ve earned it!
How to Maintain Your Newly Organized Closet
Keeping the closet clean and organized is the hardest part for many people. Closets are infamous for collecting items that don’t belong, too many clothes, and other items that are thrown in and the door shut.
Try to be mindful of what you are putting in the closet in between cleanings, and be sure to add a task to you spring or fall cleaning checklist to clean and organize the closet.
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