Get Joyganized: How to Organize the Clothes Closet

Welcome to May! Hopefully, this is the last month we’ll be quarantining at home. In any case, at some point we’ll be out and about again. So, in preparation for the day when we’ll be dressing to be in public and not just dressing from the waist up for Zoom calls, I’m starting the How to Joyganize series with the grandmother of organizing projects: the clothes closet. Here’s a step-by-step guide to tackling it.

Time Required: depending on closet size and how long it's been since you've purged your stuff, this can take anywhere from a few hours to the better part of a weekend. (Not that there’s such a thing as a weekend anymore!)

Prep: make sure that dry cleaning has been picked up/delivered and that most of your laundry has been done. You don't want to spend a ton of time organizing, sit back and admire your work, only to realize there's dozens of items that still need to be sorted and put back.

What You’ll Need:

Vacuum or Dustbuster
Step stool to reach higher shelves
Swiffer or damp paper towels or cloths
Donation bags or boxes
Garbage bags
Ideally, someone you trust to give a kind but firm opinion on whether something should be kept or tossed/donated. This can be done virtually, too!
A clear surface—typically your bed—where you can sort your Keep, Toss, Donate, and “Not Sure” items
Space where you can stash your donation bags until you can get them out of your home

A friendly warning—everything will look much worse before it looks much better, so don’t be discouraged by the chaos of clothes and stuff everywhere.

Okay, let’s get started! Turn on some music, pour a glass of wine (or whatever) and try to have fun with it. Just don’t spill on anything you want to keep!

Start by clearing the floor—this makes it easier to access your clothes and gives you a sense of the space

STEP 1: CLEAR THE CLOSET FLOOR AND SHELVES

Take everything that’s on the floor and get it out of there. Find a spot away from foot traffic so you don’t trip over anything. Clearing the floor first helps you make sure there are no stray clothes on the floor or stuck behind bins and boxes. It also gives you a better sense of the space you have to work with. Carefully hop on the stool and clear the shelves. **When you pull things from the closet, group shoes together, even if they were stored in different areas.**

STEP 2: CLEAN YOUR NEWLY REVEALED CLOSET FLOOR AND SHELVES

Vacuum or dustbuster, including the baseboards. If you have non-carpeted floors, follow up with a Swiffer or damp cloth. Wipe down the shelves, too. You want to start with a clean slate—literally!

STEP 3: SORT THE HANGING CLOTHES

This is where a second opinion helps. If you don’t have someone to weigh in, don’t worry. In the end, the decisions about what to keep or toss/donate have to be yours.

Don’t overthink this step. Go hanger by hanger and make a quick decision to keep, toss, donate, or review. Remove each item from the hanging bar with the hanger still on, and stack on the bed or in whatever space you’ve dedicated. If you’re like most people, you’ll have a lot of things in the Review pile. That’s okay. But you should also find that you’re very clear on your tried-and-true “Keep” items and you’ll likely be surprised by some of the things you’ve held onto but shouldn’t have.

Get motivated by bagging the discard and donate items first

STEP 4: START ON THE PILES OF SORTED CLOTHES

Once you have the four piles in place—Keep, Toss, Donate, Review—give yourself an immediate sense of accomplishment by dealing with the easiest piles first: Toss and Donate. Remove the toss items from their hangers and put them in a garbage bag. Remove the Donate items from their hangers, and as you go, quickly fold and sort them. Why? Folded items take up less room in bags and boxes, and sorting is a good way to see what you might need to replace or what you had too much of.

Years ago, I helped a friend purge her wardrobe and she was shocked that she had been holding onto 17 pairs of black work pants, which either didn’t fit or were way out of style.

STEP 5: DEAL WITH THE ORPHANED HANGERS

Don’t spend a ton of time on this. Any hanger that’s bent, broken, or banged up should be thrown out. If you have any kooky outliers like a plastic hanger in a weird color or a flimsy hanger from the store that you were going to use “temporarily” (four years ago), either toss or put in a donate bag. Set the hangers aside.

If you need to take a break—either for the day or for a meal or snack—now’s the time.

STEP 6: RESTED AND READY? DIVE INTO THE REVIEW PILE

Normally I tell people to dress in something that’s comfortable and easy to slip on and off. But during these quarantine days, I think you’re probably already in sweats, yoga pants or a bathrobe. So, carry on!

Try on everything in the pile. Chances are, once you put it on, you’ll know right away what to do with it. If you’re still not sure, that’s where the (kind) second opinion comes in.

Guiding principles: when in doubt, donate or toss. Don’t keep anything because it’s the only one you have, you paid a lot for it, or someone gave it to you. Also, if it’s two sizes or more too large or small, let it go. If you can’t let something go for sentimental reasons, put it aside, but make sure that pile doesn’t get too big. And don’t take up valuable hanging space on sentimental items. Concert tees or grandpa’s cardigan can be stored in specialized containers and tucked away someplace less prominent. That said, sentimental items are a separate organizing project!

STEP 7: SORT THE ADDITIONAL KEEP, TOSS AND DONATE ITEMS

Toss the discards, and then fold, sort, and bag the donations.

Step 8: Consider your hangers. Aim for a uniform hanger style within each clothing category

STEP 8: HANGER HARVEST

Most people need two to four hanger styles to accommodate different clothing types: a standard hanger for shirts, dresses, and tops; hangers with clips for skirts and/or pants; and sturdier hangers for suits. Each hanger style should match. This saves space, makes it easier to see what you have, and makes the closet look much better. I could write a whole blog about hangers, but the idea is to achieve uniformity as much as possible. So, look through what you have and see if you can hang each clothing style on matching hangers.

Hanging shorter items together creates space beneath for storage

Step 9: Return the clothes to their roomier home

I recommend grouping like with like: pants, shirts, button downs, skirts, dresses, ties, suits, etc. Within those categories, sort by use: work, casual, and dressy/formal are good starting points. Try to group by length as well, as this helps open up space below the hanging bar for taller things that you need to store on the floor, such as a chest of drawers, a file cabinet or vacuum cleaner. **You can sort by color, too, but I find that putting similarly colored items together, while it looks pretty, actually makes it harder to see each one.**

Step 10: Sort through the items from the floor, except the shoes

This can get a little hairy but do your best. Pick up each thing, dust it off, and decide if it’s something you need to keep. Toss what needs to be tossed, box or bag the donate items and then consider what’s left. If you’re like most people, you’ll have boxes or bags of items that need to be sorted. Don’t do this now. One box of CDs, photos or old paperwork can take hours to go through!

Of the things that are left, consider these questions: Does it absolutely belong in this closet? If it doesn’t absolutely belong in this closet, is there any other place you can put it? Once you’ve pared down to the items you need and can’t be stored somewhere else, take some time to look at it all and figure out a way to put it back in the most space-efficient way possible. If there’s anything you access regularly, like a shoe rack, put it where it’s easy to get to. Lesser used items can be tucked in the back of the floor or on the highest shelves.

If there are boxes or bags of things to be sorted, you might want to leave those out so you don’t forget to go through them when you have time and energy. If you put them away, they’ll probably stay there indefinitely, taking up space that could be freed up or used for something you need.

Step 11: Quickly consider the shoes

Shoe storage and sorting is typically a separate project. For now, quickly review each pair and get rid of any that don’t fit well or are beyond repair. When considering what to do with each pair, apply the same guiding principles as you did with clothes. Return them to the closet.

And, you’re finished! While it may not be perfect, I bet your closet is so much more organized and better looking than before. Enjoy your newly Joyganized space!

Not the do-it-yourself type? Need help now that you’ve gotten started? Check out our services and then contact us to talk about how we can help.

I’d love to see photos of your finished projects. If you post them on your social accounts, please tag @joyganize or use the #joyganize or #getjoyganized hashtags on Instagram. Or email them to pamela@joyganize.com. I’ll never share a photo without permission.