Cleaning your closet
Even if you hate cleaning, there is something rather euphoric about the end result, and we cannot deny that some areas of our homes simply need a good clean out and re-organizing. One of these many places is our closets. These are areas in our homes that we use so often but fail to actually keep clean most of the time.
However, you do not need to go completely crazy to give your closet a good organizing. It can pay off to invest in some new bits and pieces that can make the whole job a lot easier, though, but we will get into that later.
If you are the type of person who loves cleaning and enjoys sorting through items, then this is going to be a fantastic time for you. We all love it when we start cleaning and organizing things and find old items from the past that we forgot even existed, and that can even happen in your closet. Those shoes you forgot you had, that shirt you loved three years ago. It’s all in there, you just need to organize it to find it.
Why should you?
We keep so many areas of our homes spick and span, however, our closets often get left behind, and we forget to pay any mind to them. But it is worth paying attention to them, we regularly forget to clean them, and when we do, we lose track of all the clothing and accessories we own and end up with way more than we will ever wear, as well as a tonne of stuff that does not even fit us anymore!
So, it is high time you clean out your closet and organize it, so you know what is in there!
Simple steps to organizing your closet
We won’t make this complicated, it is super simple, and you will find it can be done really quickly and easy. Let’s get to it. Time to organize your closet!
1. Take it all out
The first step in this journey to an organized closet is to simply clear everything out of there. Just take everything out, no matter what it is; shirts, pants, shoes, dresses, that bag you forgot was in there, a coat from four winters ago.
Taking everything out allows you to start with a clean slate, and make it less easy for you to cling on to old cleaning habits that got you here in the first place.
If you cannot deal with such chaos as you organize. You can take it one section at a time. Do it as you feel comfortable, the main requirement here is that every single item in your closet comes out and gets assessed. Regardless of whether you lump it all out at once, or do it section by section.
2. Create piles
Now it is time to sort things out. You can do this as you want to. You could pile them into groups based on occasion or function, or by item type such as; tops, jeans, shoes, etc. Followed by subcategories. It is really up to you how you do this, but organizing them into piles will help you to better understand how much of each you have. This gives you a better general overall view of how many clothes you have and how prepared you are for each dressing occasion.
3. What stays, and what goes
We often forget this bit, but it is vital. Take one of the piles you made earlier and lay them all out. You might find you have duplicated. Take a look at it and ask when you last wore it, if you love it, and if you wear it. If you say no to any of these questions, it is worth putting it into a separate pile. A good question to ask yourself with general clothing is ‘have I used this in the last year?’ If not, donate it.
Donating is better than throwing away, and so many places will take donations, so at least you know that someone will get plenty of joy out of the clothing you have no use for anymore.
If you struggle to do this, ask a family member, or a friend to help. It can be hard to throw away items that give you nostalgia, but if you do not wear it, there is no point in holding onto it.
4. Time to scrub
While you have all the items out of the closet, give it a good scrub. Deep clean it so that it and all your clothes will be smelling fresh. Dust the shelves, wipe them down, vacuum the floor and buff out any scuff marks. If it is wood, give it a good polish too. It will make it feel brand new.
5. Think about space, and how to use it
As your closet is empty right now. Evaluate the space in it. How many shelves do you have? What is the hanging space like? Will your groups fit in those spaces? Do you prefer to hang or stack? Remember, you can add in shower rods, clothing rackets. Shoe storage is also great, or you can install shelving on the wall.
Don’t forget that vacuum packs for some clothing items are available to buy, and there are other types of organizers too. Get creative.
6. Closet Tetris
It is time to put your clothes back in, hollow your new system, but feel free to make tweaks along the way if you see a better way to keep it all organized.
7/ Don’t leave it
Once you have been using your new closet style for a little while, go back and reevaluate it. Is it working? Are you sticking to it?
Consider if there are ways that you could improve on your original idea to make it even more suited to your needs and habits. Additionally, it is worth decluttering every few months or so, simply remove items that you may have outgrown or do not have a need for anymore, and donate them.
There is no use in keeping something you do not need, it is taking up room that something better could be used.
How to store and organize difficult items
We all have different items in our closets beyond traditional clothing items. Some things are harder to store than others.
If you have purses, for example, storing these may not be easy. So, as you look at your space, you might think ‘I wish there was a guide on how to store purses’. Well, there are plenty online, but there are plenty of storage solutions for purses and bags, you can get shelving units, you could even use shoe storage units as a purse and purse storage unit. Remember to always protect purses and bags before you store them, though.
Another item that is not easy to store is jewellery. While it is not always a closet essential, many may like to store their jewellery in the closet. You can use jewellery organizers for this, putting them on shelves. If you have earrings and necklaces, you can get hangers for these, some of which will attach to doors, walls, and the insides of shelves that display them without taking up other space that can be used for bigger, more difficult to store items.
Remember, even if you are super organized and clear out plenty of items, closets might not always have enough space, so get creative and use the space available best you can. Do not forget to look up space-saving folding techniques online, some of these are incredibly useful!
