The Complete Process of Closet Organizing

Do you have trouble finding things in your clothes closet because it is one big mess?
Do you have to rummage through a bunch of boxes to find that one pair of shoes, purse, or hat that you were looking for?
Do you spend too much time each morning trying to pick out an outfit to wear to work and then struggle to find the right shoes, belt, jacket and earrings? (Extra time in bed? Yes please!)

Is this a scenario that sounds all-too-familiar to you? If so, you’re one of many people who have to contend with their disorganized closets every day. And disorganized closets can have more negative effects on your life then you might imagine.

I know how to transform your daily routine from frantic to peaceful. A step-by-step guide (with photos) shows you how to easily organize your closet for good.

“If you can imagine it, you can achieve it. If you can dream it, you can become it.”
© William Arthur Ward

When you make time to organize your closet you have such benefits:

Getting dressed in the morning will take no time at all.
You will be able to find exactly what you’re looking for (so much less stress!).
You will finally know your style, which will…
Drastically reduce the likelihood of future bad clothing purchases.

I know some magic instruments how to transform the messy closet to organized closet in just one-minute time! I share my secret only with you!

Imagine Your Ideal Closet

Сlose your eyes and relax. Let your imagination do the work. Think about what kind of closet you want to have. Imagine a rack of clothing that contained your perfect closet, what would it look like?
When you imagine your ideal closet, you are really clarifying why you want to tidy and visualize your ultimate goals in concrete terms. I created a list of questions and tips which will help you to define what is your ideal closet, click here.

and the Magic is happening right now! Next steps is taking action!

3 “Take Action” Steps for Closet Organizing

I have experience to organize closets by using one of the following methods: traditional organizing method and KonMari Method™. I advise you to choose the method which suits best for you.

Step 1. Decluttering

KonMari method ™ : Get all your clothes across your entire home and put them in one pile in the same room. I prepared for you a comprehensive KonMari checklist for clothes. To download a free copy, click here.

Pros: The “power of the pile”. You’ll confront the volume of things you have, which can be eye-opening. (Did I really have these many clothes?)

Cons: Too much at once! Tossing every piece of clothing you own into a massive fabric mountain on your bed can be overwhelming for you. After a while, you get tired of making decisions and you lose motivation to complete the decluttering process.

Traditional organizing method: sift clothes by type. Separate your clothes into categories like pants, dresses, tops, outerwear, accessories, and undergarments. Then sort through every item in a single category before moving on to the next.

Pros: it’s way easier to compare similar clothes when they’re all grouped together in front of you, making it easier to get rid of the things you know you have too much of or don’t want.

Cons: you don’t see the whole amount of clothes you owned.

Step 2. Sorting the clothes

You start sorting through clothes in this step. I would recommend you take 4 boxes or baskets and label each of them: keep, store, donate and trash. Pick up each individual item and decide whether to keep, store, donate or discard it.

Keep:
Anything you love and wear often

Store:
Seasonal clothes

Donate:
These items should be in good shape. Think “gently used” when adding to this pile.

Trash:
Clothing to trash would include anything stained beyond repair, ripped, hopelessly out of style or anything that you would be embarrassed to donate.

How decide which items to keep?

KonMari method™:

Focus on what to keep rather than what you’re getting rid of.

Make sure to hold each item in your hands as carefully decided if the item sparked ‘joy’ for you. “You can also define things that spark joy as things that make you happy,” Marie Kondo explains in her book.

Does it give you a thrill of excitement when you hold it? Does it give you that little spark of happiness? If not, then it’s time to let it go from your life.

Before donating or throwing away items that don’t spark joy, you should thank the item for its service in a thoughtful, deliberate way. By honouring your relationship with that item, it’s easier to let it go forever.

Traditional Organizing Method:

When considering if you want to keep clothes, you’ll want to think about the functionality of the item, how often you wear it, and what it means to you.

When you decide whether or not to keep item, it’s helpful to ask yourself these questions:

Do I feel confident and comfortable when I wear this item?
Would I buy this now?
Does it project the image I want to portray?
Do I have too many of the same item (i.e., three black cardigans)?
Does this still fit without bumps, bulges, or hanger marks?

Professional Advice

Avoid these reasons keep clothes you don’t wear: “fond memories”, “when I lose weight”, “It was expensive”. I believe you should only have pieces in your closets that you’ll actually wear. It makes getting dressed easier and faster.

You may ask:

Why I should not keep clothes because of fond memories?

A wedding dress and one or two other items are certainly okay to keep for sentimental reasons, but you can’t keep everything just because it reminds you of something. Focusing on upcoming events and the importance of creating space for what you might like to purchase is helpful when you’re attempting to free yourself from old clothes.

Why I should not keep my “goal weight clothes”?

The problem with that sort of thinking is that, even though it’s certainly possible that one day you’ll lose the weight you gained and be able to wear your old clothes, they don’t fit you now, and when you wake up and get ready in the morning, you’re not getting dressed to go do things tomorrow or a year from now. You’re getting dressed to go do things today, so you need clothes that fit the shape and size that your body is today.

You can’t have a whole wardrobe of clothes you’d like to fit into someday taking valuable closet space away from what you wear now.If you want to keep some clothes as motivation, perhaps they can be stored away from your daily wardrobe.

Why I should not keep an item only because it was expensive?

It’s easy to feel guilty about having spent money on something that you don’t really like and won’t wear. But the money has already been spent. Keeping something just because you think you should wear it is a constant reminder of the ill-spent money. Don’t beat yourself up about it — just let it go. The money is already spent. Keeping it in your closet will not get the money back.

Step 3. Organize

Break your closet into “zones”

Divide your closet into zones with a designated category for each:

shoes
accessories
gym clothes
sleepwear
etc

Every piece should have their own ‘home’.

There are a few options how to store your clothes in the closet:

Hang your clothes

Generally, these are things that are either hard to fold or that would wrinkle too easily when folded. I usually recommend to hang up coats, jackets, suits, dresses, skirts, shirts, blouses and dress pants.

Hang clothes on the hangers according the following categories:

By type
By color
By occasions
By length
By sets

KonMari method for closet organizing is to hang your clothes so they rise to the right:

Long, dark, heavy items on the left.
Short, light items on the right.

According to this equation, your closet should look something like this:

Fold your clothes

KonMari method for folding clothes is based on the principle of saving space. Store items upright instead of flat to maximize vertical space and enhance visibility and accessibility.

You can easily see all your clothes
Folded clothes take less storage space
You can take one piece at a time without creating a mess.

Closet Organizing Tips

Sort Like with Like

Group all tops together, all pants together, all dresses together. I recommend that you keep sub-categories together as much as possible.

When it comes to the example with the t-shirts, fold or hang your t-shirts. By doing this, you will always know that you can find all your t-shirts in one spot (either in the hanging or the folded part of your closet).

Colour coding method

Light to Dark – Start with white and gradually make your way to darker colors by sight. If colors become too similar use a dividing color in an accommodating color family. For example, separate navy blues from blacks by inserting a section of light blue clothing. To know more, click here.

Uniformity is crucial

Matching hangers, shoe boxes, and containers will eliminate visual clutter within the space, making it feel instantly neater

Prioritize where you position things

Less frequently used items should go up high and out of reach. Items you use regularly should be at eye-level and easy to access

The Discipline of Putting Things Away

Develop the habit of putting things back right after each use. Each time we leave things out we avoid making decisions.

Closet Organizing Tools

Use stackable storage boxes at the bottom of the wardrobe for shoes and accessories.
Use drawer organizers for small items.
Add labels that clearly describe the contents inside enclosed storage.
Choose rectangular-shaped storage over round or irregularly-shaped storage solutions

You can always find a professional help in your region. KonMari Consultant or Professional closet organizers will come to your home to talk over your needs, goals, and preferences; take measurements; draw up plans and make recommendations.

Decluttering your closet and allowing yourself to enjoy a clutter free closet is a big expression of self-love. Your closet reflects your life.