I Am Bored! Now What? Organize Your Closet! Part IV

Phase 4: Reconstruction

You’ve made it to the final step! You’re almost there! Now it’s time to put it all back together again.

Step 5: Organize Your Clothes, Shoes, and Accessories

This is where you put everything back together in a way that makes sense to you, utilizes all of your available space, and is attractive enough to motivate closet maintenance. Think about where it makes sense to store each category of clothing and then think about the easiest spots to reach in your closet.

• · Group like with like: Gather belts, sweaters, long-sleeve shirts, work pants, dresses, button-down shirts, jeans, shorts—you get the idea—and decide the best place to store each item as a group (i.e. hang pants in closet, fold and stack sweaters in a bureau). Working in groups of items will help you figure out how much space you need and the best way to store each type of item.

• · Properly utilize prime real estate: Reserve the front and middle of your closet for clothes you wear most often. If you have to get dressed for work each morning at 6 a.m., make sure your work clothes are at the front of your closet. Lesser-worn items like formal wear and out-of-season should be stored toward the back and on the upper shelves.

• · Tuck away your least-used items: Use the very top of your closet for out-of-season items and stuff you only wear a few times a year, such as Halloween costumes and super-fancy shoes.

• Accessories and shoes should be stored separately from your clothing (in other words, don't lump scarves in with sweaters), but keep the prime real estate rule in mind. If you wear a pair of shoes all the time, don't store them in the back of your closet.

And that is it! Now you have a clean, well-organized, easy-to-navigate closet.

By: Rosemary Grooms