Are your clothes closets stuffed? Can you even see your floor?
Here are a few tips to cope with closet clutter:
First buy a bunch of good hangers and toss all those skimpy wire ones. Hang clothes up with the hangers facing in the same direction.
I suggest:
• Plastic hangers with swivel heads and rounded shoulders
• Wood hangers for heavier clothes
• Skirt / pants hangers with clips that hold multiple items
• A tie rack if you need one
Old purses, small or outdated clothes and shoes get donated. Not sure? Try them on now! Torn clothes that you’ve never gotten around to repairing get tossed. Be brutal. Now separate the clothes you’re keeping into categories and keep similar styles of clothes together. Shirts, skirts, dresses, pants, suits, etc. Then sort by color and then by season. Long-sleeved together, short-sleeved together.
Special occasion clothes get a less dominant position in your closet because you wear them less frequently.
If you share closet space with someone separate your clothes from theirs. Sort purses on your shelf by color, style and size — formal versus informal. If you pile sweaters on a shelf, sort them by style — lightweight versus heavy. If you need to keep other stuff in your closet because you don’t have anywhere else to store it, use labeled, clear plastic containers so you can find them easily. Again, keep similar things together.
Also you should get some sort of shoe rack (stand-alone preferred) with shoes sorted by style.
For belts, install hooks or use nails on an empty wall space. If you need a place for hats, umbrellas and perhaps even purses or canvas bags, consider hanging a couple of hat racks on the inside of your closet door.
For accessories like scarves, panty hose and even jewelry you can use a hanging shoe bag.
Don’t stuff things so tightly that you can’t access them easily. One rule of thumb is if you buy a new piece of clothing or a new accessory, get rid of an older piece.
Bob Farkas is The Clutter Wizard, a “hands-on” home and office professional organizer serving The Santa Clarita Valley. His website, www.theclutterwizard.com , has many great hints and tips for staying organized. Bob can be reached via email at theclutterwizard@gmail.com or by phone at 661-298-9100.