There’s nothing like a good, consistent morning routine. Doing yoga. Making a healthy breakfast. Showering. Reading the news. Thinking to yourself, “wow, I really need to organize my closet.” Yes, everyone dreams of having a better organized closet. But now’s the time to actually do it. And here’s how to make the process easy.
Closet Organization For The Minimalist Soul
Minimalism and closets are a match made in heaven. All too often the closet is treated like a black hole where all clothing and miscellaneous items are left for dead. Here are some great minimalist organization tips!
The KonMari Method: Also known as “that weird thing your coworker was rambling on about two years ago”, the KonMari Method is one of the most effective methods for cleaning out your closet. Created by Marie Kondo, the concept is very simple in theory, but very difficult in practice. All you have to do is hold up each item that you own and ask one question: “does this item spark joy in me?” If the answer is “no” then the item doesn’t belong in your home, let alone stuffed in your closet. Do this for all of your clothing and all of the other strange items that have found their way into your closet and you’ll be amazed by how much you can eliminate right away.
Project 333: OK so you’ve cheated your way through the KonMari Method and found that you still have way too much stuff in your closet. So what now? Now it’s time to get serious. Project 333 is the boot camp of minimalist closet conversions. The rules for Project 333 are simple: you choose 33 items of clothing and accessories that will be the only items you’re allowed to wear for the next 3 months (and no, underwear doesn’t count in the 33 items. I know you were wondering about that.) Every other piece of clothing is then boxed up and hidden away so that you’re not tempted to cheat. At the end of the 3 months you’ll see how little you actually need and feel a true sense of liberation.
Other Nifty Tricks
So you cheated your way through the 3 months of Project 333 and your closet is still a wreck. What now? Now it’s time to try out some other nifty tricks. Start off by rotating your closet inventory by season. It makes no sense to have a full year’s worth of clothing made for all different temperatures rubbing shoulders next to each other on your limited clothing rack. If it’s summer then pack away all your winter coats and bulky sweaters. If it’s winter then put those sundresses in a box and tuck them away. Another great idea is to hang all of your clothing one direction in your closet. Once you’ve worn an item you switch the direction it hangs. After a year has passed you can safely get rid of any of the clothing that’s still facing the original direction!
Closet Organization For The Person Who Has It All
Some people are simply never going to be able to have a minimalist closet. And that’s OK. But it doesn’t mean that the closet needs to be a certified Superfund site. Here are some other simple methods for helping better organize your closet.
R-E-C-Y-C-L-E: Recycle! There are dozens of clever ways to use old items to create better storage in your closet. For instance, old shoeboxes are perfect for organizing miscellaneous accessories and smaller items (even shoes!). They can also be easily stacked. Wine boxes are also the perfect size for shoe storage. Need to double the space on your clothing rack? Remove a soda can tab and hang it around the hook of a clothes hanger. Now feed another hook through the other loop on the soda can tab and voila! You have a second offset hanger that won’t take up as much room on your clothes rack. If you’re a jewelry fiend then you can even use ice cube trays to keep all of your accessories separated and easily accessible.
Hang Everything: Seriously, if the walls of your closet are barren then you’re missing out on some huge opportunities for storage. Put a hook anywhere and everywhere you can. Hang your bags! Your suitcases! Your hats! Take it a step further by installing peg board on your wall. Hooks for days! Hang organizers on the inside of your closet door for shoes or for any of your other accessories. Hang. Everything.
An organized closet is like a breath of fresh air every morning. You’ll be amazed how much better you feel each morning when you no longer have to silently beat yourself up about it. Seriously, you’ll thank us later.