The Answers to Your “How to Organize My Closet” Questions

Raise your hand if your closet could use a little organizational TLC right about now! There’s just something about a closet that’s mostly out of sight and out of mind that makes it a black hole of clutter. Not only that, but closets usually hold the widest variety of clutter. Clothes, gift wrapping supplies, wedding photos, shoes, and an extra air mattress could all be hanging out together in there!

Whether your closet is in complete disarray or is decently organized already, I’m sharing some useful closet organization tips and tricks in this video. Click below to watch!

If you’re going to tackle your closet organization, I would suggest NOT doing it all at once. It’s best to avoid organizational burnout. Start with one section (maybe one shelf, for example) or one type of item and focus just on that section/item until it’s done.

As you work through your own closet, bit by bit, maybe the answers to some of these common closet organization questions can help:

What order do you hang clothes in a closet?

There are a few different directions you could go with this. But first up, let me say that I keep all of my clothes hanging in my closet all year round. Here in the Midwest, at least, I find that it is not very practical to put seasonal clothes away. There have been too many times where I thought we were done with Winter, only to have a really cold day pop up in April!

Personally, I like to organize the clothing in my closet by color. You might prefer to organize by type of clothing, but I really like the visual appeal of a rainbow-ordered closet. If you want another easy way to up the visual appeal of your closet, I will let you in on a little secret: matching hangers! You’d be amazed at how big of a difference it makes to use all matching hangers. Super easy to do; really nice results.

What is the best way to organize a small closet?

Currently I have a fairly large closet, but that has not always been the case. If you only have a small closet space to work with, don’t despair! There are a few things you can do to maximize space and still be organized.

First of all, add a second bar for hanging clothes underneath the first. Some of the most unused space in any closet is vertical space. By adding a second hanging bar, you can hang twice as many shirts!

I also recommend utilizing blank wall space in the closet by putting up command hooks. I love these crystal command hooks for hanging jewelry. You can get a little creative here and try hanging lots of different items! What about hair ties, scarves, or masks?

If you really just don’t have the space for everything in your closet, you might consider a little decluttering first. Check out this post where I go into more detail specifically on decluttering clothes.

How much does it cost to have a closet organized?

While it’s true that you could easily spend a lot of money on a fancy, custom-built closet organization system, I am happy to report that that’s really not necessary. Now if you WANT to purchase a fancy, custom-built system and you have room in your budget, then go for it! You can really get some fantastic closet organization going with those!

But for a lot of us, that’s just not going to happen. Thankfully, there are still solutions that don’t require a lot of money. There are actually only a couple of organizational items that I recommend purchasing for your closet organization – maybe you even have some of these on hand already!

• Decluttering bin: I like to have one bin in my closet for clothing that just isn’t right for me anymore. If you try something on and decide it doesn’t fit right or really isn’t your style, toss it straight into the bin! I like to use this one because it’s not see-through, so I don’t have a chance to second-guess my decisions.

• A closet inbox: You could purchase something fancy here, or this could literally be a cardboard box. I regularly find myself bringing new items home that need to go in the closet (make-up, clothing with the tags still on, other toiletries, etc.) but I don’t have the time immediately to put them away. Into the closet inbox they go! Then, once I’ve got several items collected, I can take the time to put them where they go.
• Our Bins from the Container Store. These are so versatile and key to my closet organization. I use them for shoes as well as for some of the more unconventional closet items (razors, band-aids, etc.).

If you need even more closet organization help and inspiration, I’ve compiled some awesome closet examples in this post: What are your favorite closet organization tips? Let me know in the comments, because I’d love to hear them!