How to Organize a Closet: A Short Guide
#Too Much Stuff?
No matter how big or small your closet, you’ve likely spent some time looking for a piece of clothing you would have sworn you had. You’ve also probably rummaged through your clothes only to stumble across a piece of clothing you forgot you still owned.
There’s a reason for this: Again, no matter how big or small your closet, most people just don’t wear their whole wardrobe. A Statista study found that about one in five Americans “often” buys clothes they never wear–and obviously more than that buy clothes they occasionally never wear.
With space at a premium, a self storage unit could be a good way to expand your closet space, especially if you’re looking for seasonal clothing storage. But some good old-fashioned organization can help, too. Acorn Mini Storage is on the case!
Best Way to Organize a Closet
The best way to organize a closet is ultimately the approach that you’ll continue to do. It’s relatively easy to tear into your closet like a whirlwind, but keeping it organized is more important in the long run.
As a result, you’ll want to ask yourself one big question: what are my goals for closet organization? Do you want to identify clothes you don’t wear often? Do you want to make it more aesthetically pleasing? Do you want to arrange your closet for efficiency so that you spend less time looking for stuff?
Regardless, we think a great way to think about closet organization is to use the most basic element of the KonMari Method as popularized by Marie Kondo. Kondo writes that, in this method, “your feelings are the standard for decision making.” There are a thousand ways to organize something, but the best way to organize a closet is the way that makes you feel the best.
Clothing Organization Tips
Once you’ve decided on a reason and guiding principles for why you’re organizing your closet, it’s time to go down the route of clothing organization. These quick steps work whether you’ve got a walk-in closet or something a little less grand.
- Start by taking everything (and we mean everything) out: Don’t organize a full or partially full closet. Get your closet empty so you can do a full inventory of your clothing.
- Identify clothes that you don’t regularly wear. Notice we didn’t say clothes that you never wear–we’re talking about clothes you don’t regularly wear. These could be seasonal clothes or special event clothes you could store elsewhere.
- Pick an organizational method and stick to it. Again, which clothes organization approach you take is determined by what you want to get out of your closet. But sticking to it is easier once you clean it all out first.
Here’s another pro-tip: if you’re struggling with parting with certain items, this little trick might help. After a wash, hang clothes up or put your clothes in your drawer on, say, the left side and only the left side. Then, after enough time, all of the clothes you don’t often wear will end up on the right, making it easy to identify them and make decisions on them.
How to Organize a Small Closet With Lots of Clothes
Small closets need organization just like larger ones. Our recommendation? Fold or roll more clothes! Consider purchasing some hanging cubes or closet organizers that provide space for you to use the verticality of your closet with the space efficiency of clothes folding.
Clothing Storage
No matter if you’re living in a small downtown St. Paul apartment or in a house with a walk-in closet elsewhere in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area, additional storage space is just around the corner with your friends at Acorn Mini Storage. We can help you with larger organizing projects, the big move, or just with additional closet space for your winter gear, camping gear, and more. Find storage near you and get organized!
