If you have heard yourself say, “I have nothing to wear!” more than once a week, then you can have more of an organization problem, not that you literally have nothing to wear. We need to get your closet organized for optimum efficiency. Getting it to the point wear you are happy and can find things with the snap of a finger is going to take a while, so plan this as your weekend project and try to maintain it! After all you have put in so much work to organize it, right?

Step 1
The first thing you need to do is sort. While going through your clothes separate your items into the following piles:  KEEP (these should be in perfect condition and should fit well), FIX (either needs laundry, dry cleaning, or tailoring then it will be perfect), UNDECIDED (This pile is for last years trends that your not sure are coming back, etc), NOSTALGIA & DONATE (This pile is for your old roller skates you can’t seem to part with, or things that you just wouldn’t be caught in).

Step 2
Ok your closet is barren, that’s the way it should look, if there are more things in there, take them out and put them in the pile, this goes for shoes too! Let’s first work with the FIX pile. Get your items ready to be dropped off at the tailor, dry cleaner, or shoe repair shop, and take the others down to the laundry. Do this today; don’t go any further until you have completed this step.

Step 3
Your KEEP pile is your closets capsule, all your outfits should be able to work around the pieces in this pile. Now, separate the items in this pile by color. Organize them into your closet. All sweaters (by color) should be folded and put away where as other items that will not be distorted by hanging should be hung. The organization should be by color, item (shirt, pants, sweater, etc), then size.

Step 4
You should keep your UNDECIDED pieces in the closet as well. Hang and shelve all other pieces away from your KEEP section. You can always go back into your UNDECIDED section later on, and use deconstruction techniques to come up with new styles. Who knows!

Step 5
This step is maybe the most difficult for some but if you can’t seem to donate an item because of emotional value and you can’t display it, then put it in a box and keep it in a different area of your house used only for storage. Your closet should be a functional area for your wardrobe to work properly it is not just another storage space, it has the same value as any other room in your house.

Step 6
Go back to your closet and make sure that your accessories like belts, bags, scarves, and shoes are also organized properly.  You can make cubbies to hold your shoes and bags from old boxes covered with fabric or paper. Hang scarves and belts. You can use a tackle box for your jewelry.