Number one on our Christmas list this year is a Closet Genie. No, that’s not something we saw on a late night infomercial. It’s someone who can organize our closets for us.

If you have that organizing skill, consider giving your services as a gift to your friends. Most of us cannot make rational decisions when it comes to getting rid of the “best date I ever had” outfit from 1989. Or the “these make my booty look amazing” jeans that haven’t fit in this century.

While we wait for the Closet Genies to appear, here are a few tips on organizing your own closet.

1. Remove everything. This lets you see exactly the space you have to work with. Prepare to be shocked by the pile of stuff that came out of that closet.
2. Now that you can see the light of day, give your closet a good cleaning from top to bottom. If you can, follow that cleaning with a fresh coat of white paint.
3. Separate the items you removed into three piles: keep, sell/donate and throw away. Most people hate this step because it means getting rid of everything they do not use or wear. Face it – all of the stuff you’re looking at is not ever going to fit in that closet again, so take a breath and just do it. Here are some general sorting guidelines to follow.

Keep: Put only items into this bin that you have worn or used at least twice in the past year. Be brutally harsh. If it doesn’t fit today, it’s not likely to fit anytime soon. Get rid of it. If in doubt, do not put it into this bin.

Sell or donate: Clothes and other items that are not right for you (seriously – you never wear them, so you know they’re not right) but still have a useful life for someone else should go into this bin. What you consider ugly may be perfect to someone else. Take them to a consignment store or donate them to the Salvation Army or Goodwill. You may get a tax break, but more than that you’ll feel good. Put all of these items in your car. You’re more likely to get rid of them quickly if they’re in the passenger seat staring at you.

Throw away: Clothes and shoes that are worn out, hopelessly stained, broken or in some other state of calamity go into this bin. If you won’t wear it because it’s wrecked, no one else wants it either. Use a black plastic yard waste bag, so you can’t see what throwing away.

Okay, this next step is for the advanced class. If it sounds like too much work, move on to step 5. Better to make a little progress you can feel good about, right?


4. Divide the “Keep” bin by season, type and use. If possible, keep out-of-season items in a separate storage place in your home. Next, sort your work or professional clothes and casual attire. Now divide each pile into common-wear and infrequent-wear, arranging them so the items you wear most often are the most handy.
5. Use closet organizers. At the minimum you need a sturdy shoe rack, good hangers and shelves in addition to your standard hanging rod. Investing in a few good organizational pieces will make organizing your closet, and keeping it organized, a snap!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009 at 10:09 am and is filed under Home, Organizational tips for home and life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.