Organize Your Closet - Finally!

Does it take more than a minute to locate a favorite in your closet? Do your freshly laundered or dry-cleaned clothes come off the hanger in need of pressing? Do you wear the same clothes each week, even though your closet sports an updated wardrobe?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, your closet’s in dire need of a makeover.

Let’s get it started

Start by removing all the clothes and accessories from your closet and organizing them by type: shirts, pants, suits, dresses, coats, shoes, belts, and handbags.

Set aside the things you don’t wear anymore, and consider their future. Possibilities for dealing with these items include:

☂  Store winter or summer garments until the appropriate season
☂  Update seasoned clothes by having them altered.
☂  Donate the hopeless items to charity.
☂  Make some quick cash by selling less-desirables on consignment.
☂  Give soft, worn clothes new life as cleaning or car-washing rags.

What to do with the leftovers? You’ll probably find numerous wrinkled but wearable items you’d forgotten. Make a mental note to place these “aha!” items in plain view.

Now is a good time to evaluate how well past storage methods have worked till now. Too much time spent searching for the right shirt for that suit? Simple solution: Consider hanging the two pieces side by side.

Are you a mix-and-matcher-on-the-fly type? Group clothes by color (so you can quickly scan for the day’s color du jour) or by garment type, placing jackets next to shirts and pants beside shirts. Decide whether it would be easier to view your clothes by type (work clothes and weekend fun stuff), color or length. Revamp the closet accordingly.

Double your space by adding a second rod below shorter items such as shirts and folded-over trousers. Then hang more of the same there.

Alternatively, consider adding shelves for your T-shirts, sweaters, and shoes beneath hanging items. After all, when your clothing is buried in dresser drawers, it’s out of sight – and usually out of mind. What’s more, hanging a knitted or lightweight garment on a hanger can distort the shape of the fabric, requiring more frequent – and time-consuming—dry cleaning.

Dealing with the detritus What about all that extraneous junk that ends up cluttering drawers and dresser tops? Hang a mesh laundry bag in your closet for socks, stockings, handkerchiefs, and other small items. Loop belts over a hanger next to pants, or hang on hooks inside the door. Store hats or bags this way as well.

Still more stuff than room to stash or store it? It’s time to bring in reinforcements. There are plenty of inexpensive organizing tools than can help you maximize even the tightest spaces. Back-of-the-door shoe bags keep shoes off the floor and in plain sight. Also consider racks for scarves, ties, belts, hats and other accessories.

Still need options? If the basic design of your closet leaves you short a hanging rod or three, you have options: consider a new or antique freestanding armoire or wardrobe; a prefab closet kit (available at home- speciality and organizing stores) and retool the space yourself.

Or, hire a closet designer to create a system (search your local Yellow Pages under “Closets and Closet Accessories”) or do an online search for a designer near you.

CLOSET TRUTH:

Professional closet organizers generally allot one linear foot (30 cm) of hanging space for 6 suits, 8 dresses, 12 shirts or 6 pairs of pants.

Ms. Clean Jeans says  -- No hang-ups allowed!