In summer, I live in dresses only. A few weeks ago, I moved them all front and center to the middle of my closet and sorted them by color and I LOVE it. It’s a lovely semi rainbow (blacks to pinks, purples, blues, green and my one yellow dress). I now see what I’m drawn to and where the holes are when I thrift.
I also hang everything. I keep my shoes in the original boxes and that makes them easier to stack and dust free. I can use a hanger to pull the box off a high shelf too. It’s been great for shoes I only wear in summer have a place to go the rest of the year that’s out of the way.
I’m also team hang everything! I like the aluminium hangers from Muji — they’re thin but incredibly strong and I’ve yet to have one that’s bowed or broken, and this is including the times I’ve hung a dripping wet 7mm thick wetsuit on them to air dry. And I recommend padded or thick rounded hangers for jackets and coats so that they don’t damage the shape of the shoulders.
I also like putting hooks (like command hooks) on the inside of closet doors to hang my belt and things like bras that I’ve worn once and plan to rewear. My fantasy is to have space for an airing cupboard for clothes I’ve worn once and want to rewear, because I don’t like mixing worn clothes with clean clothes, but I also want them to be out of sight and not visually cluttering up my room.
I have tried a few places/systems for the clothes I've worn once but can wear again, and nothing is close to perfect. It's a recurring question for me how to handle this. I love the idea of an airing cupboard!! Now it will be my dream too.
I group things in my closet by type and then within those groups by color, because that’s how I look for things and it also helps me evaluate my clothes as a set for purchasing decisions (for example, I currently can clearly see that I have plenty of black dresses but am low on the dark green that is my favorite color to wear).
I rotate through my clothes - I take (where possible) the next blouse from the left, grab appropriate skirt/pants, and I'm set. When I replace things after a clean or press, they go on the right.
This way I can see what I'm avoiding, and figure out why; doesn't it fit, do I hate it, is there nothing to wear with it, or does it just look wrong where I'm currently working? For example, I have a posh cream silk blouse that looks wrong in all but the most formal office.
I just learned about that sweater hanging tip and it’s so helpful! I have these weird cubes in my closet that are a mishmash of kid stuff and extra stuff, but I managed to use one to fold and stack my sweaters in the winter. It helps to see them and they don’t take up too much room in my very limited closet space.
I have a tiny closet (maybe 2.5 feet of hanging space on two sides), and I have found that the Marie Kondo folding method really helps with the things I have to keep in drawers because they’re not stacked on top of each other and I can see which are which.
I am wondering from the adhd crew if putting formal things in a garment bag away means forgetting about them? Bc I can see myself forgetting I own these items since I wear them so rarely. Or maybe that means I should give them away or sell them and rent something if I need it? Though that feels harder in plus sizes.
Honestly, I think my ADHD is part of why I like to have the things I want to wear very visually apparent. I go through all the off-season and stored garment bag stuff every time the weather changes or if I am dressing up, I will go and look and see what I have, so I don't find I forget about things.
This post is so timely. My closet is a debacle again and I was just wondering the other day....I wonder how Dacy organizes her closet? (Seriously...uncanny)
I really like the layout of your closet/designated spaces (mine just has one hanging rod and a shelf above) -- did you do it yourself? The best investment we made was to have our front closet designed with help from the Container Store and Elfa products but I don't think we can do it for all of our closets right now.
I’m always searching for a new trick in how to utilize my small closet space in the best way. I hang my jeans on the wall by shower clips hanging from a mounted curtain rod. It saves a ton of room for those thick, heavy jeans.
One thing, if you don't have a true difference between casual and work clothes (or 2 other categories), you can semi-sort them. For example, I sort my shirts by tank, short sleeve, long sleeve, then color, then by "formality". So my black t-shirts, which I have a LOT of, go from a chill crop top to rock t-shirts to a silk t-shirt that I can easily wear to work. That way, if I'm going for a more dressed-up look, I can look from right to left, and if I'm feeling more casual, I can go left to right.
For me, it's great because I usually know if I'm trying to dress something up or down (or go full dressy/casual) and what color or non-color I want to wear, and it narrows it down to about 3-4 shirts.
My husband and I joke that separate closets is one of our “marriage savers”. I’m neat and he’s a little messy, so closets in different rooms cuts down on any annoyances…until his dirty wash is puking out from his closet onto our bedroom floor…
I’m on team Hang Everything but I’ve never seen that sweater trick before, thank you! I use clip hangers for bottoms, they take up a bit more space but it makes it so much easier to see everything. My other tip is keep a bag on the floor of your closet to immediately toss in anything you try on and decide doesn’t fit/look good! Every month or two I go through the bag and decide what to donate, resell, etc.
In summer, I live in dresses only. A few weeks ago, I moved them all front and center to the middle of my closet and sorted them by color and I LOVE it. It’s a lovely semi rainbow (blacks to pinks, purples, blues, green and my one yellow dress). I now see what I’m drawn to and where the holes are when I thrift.
I also hang everything. I keep my shoes in the original boxes and that makes them easier to stack and dust free. I can use a hanger to pull the box off a high shelf too. It’s been great for shoes I only wear in summer have a place to go the rest of the year that’s out of the way.
I’m also team hang everything! I like the aluminium hangers from Muji — they’re thin but incredibly strong and I’ve yet to have one that’s bowed or broken, and this is including the times I’ve hung a dripping wet 7mm thick wetsuit on them to air dry. And I recommend padded or thick rounded hangers for jackets and coats so that they don’t damage the shape of the shoulders.
I also like putting hooks (like command hooks) on the inside of closet doors to hang my belt and things like bras that I’ve worn once and plan to rewear. My fantasy is to have space for an airing cupboard for clothes I’ve worn once and want to rewear, because I don’t like mixing worn clothes with clean clothes, but I also want them to be out of sight and not visually cluttering up my room.
I’ve never heard of an airing cupboard but now I need one. I regularly struggle with the rewears!
I have tried a few places/systems for the clothes I've worn once but can wear again, and nothing is close to perfect. It's a recurring question for me how to handle this. I love the idea of an airing cupboard!! Now it will be my dream too.
Yeah I reckon it doesn’t have to be huge! Just full length (for coats and dresses) and maybe the width of a locker.
Genius!
I group things in my closet by type and then within those groups by color, because that’s how I look for things and it also helps me evaluate my clothes as a set for purchasing decisions (for example, I currently can clearly see that I have plenty of black dresses but am low on the dark green that is my favorite color to wear).
Yes that’s awesome!
I rotate through my clothes - I take (where possible) the next blouse from the left, grab appropriate skirt/pants, and I'm set. When I replace things after a clean or press, they go on the right.
This way I can see what I'm avoiding, and figure out why; doesn't it fit, do I hate it, is there nothing to wear with it, or does it just look wrong where I'm currently working? For example, I have a posh cream silk blouse that looks wrong in all but the most formal office.
Good system!
not to be a shill for velvet hangers but if you're a person with small closets (I live in Europe) they're super thin and save a lot of space
I just learned about that sweater hanging tip and it’s so helpful! I have these weird cubes in my closet that are a mishmash of kid stuff and extra stuff, but I managed to use one to fold and stack my sweaters in the winter. It helps to see them and they don’t take up too much room in my very limited closet space.
I have a tiny closet (maybe 2.5 feet of hanging space on two sides), and I have found that the Marie Kondo folding method really helps with the things I have to keep in drawers because they’re not stacked on top of each other and I can see which are which.
I am wondering from the adhd crew if putting formal things in a garment bag away means forgetting about them? Bc I can see myself forgetting I own these items since I wear them so rarely. Or maybe that means I should give them away or sell them and rent something if I need it? Though that feels harder in plus sizes.
Honestly, I think my ADHD is part of why I like to have the things I want to wear very visually apparent. I go through all the off-season and stored garment bag stuff every time the weather changes or if I am dressing up, I will go and look and see what I have, so I don't find I forget about things.
I love your necklaces hung in the your closet !
This post is so timely. My closet is a debacle again and I was just wondering the other day....I wonder how Dacy organizes her closet? (Seriously...uncanny)
I really like the layout of your closet/designated spaces (mine just has one hanging rod and a shelf above) -- did you do it yourself? The best investment we made was to have our front closet designed with help from the Container Store and Elfa products but I don't think we can do it for all of our closets right now.
I’m always searching for a new trick in how to utilize my small closet space in the best way. I hang my jeans on the wall by shower clips hanging from a mounted curtain rod. It saves a ton of room for those thick, heavy jeans.
i love that idea!
One thing, if you don't have a true difference between casual and work clothes (or 2 other categories), you can semi-sort them. For example, I sort my shirts by tank, short sleeve, long sleeve, then color, then by "formality". So my black t-shirts, which I have a LOT of, go from a chill crop top to rock t-shirts to a silk t-shirt that I can easily wear to work. That way, if I'm going for a more dressed-up look, I can look from right to left, and if I'm feeling more casual, I can go left to right.
ooh, i like that
For me, it's great because I usually know if I'm trying to dress something up or down (or go full dressy/casual) and what color or non-color I want to wear, and it narrows it down to about 3-4 shirts.
My husband and I joke that separate closets is one of our “marriage savers”. I’m neat and he’s a little messy, so closets in different rooms cuts down on any annoyances…until his dirty wash is puking out from his closet onto our bedroom floor…
yes, we eventually did this too!
Look at all the color!!
i know, it's wild to me!!
I’m on team Hang Everything but I’ve never seen that sweater trick before, thank you! I use clip hangers for bottoms, they take up a bit more space but it makes it so much easier to see everything. My other tip is keep a bag on the floor of your closet to immediately toss in anything you try on and decide doesn’t fit/look good! Every month or two I go through the bag and decide what to donate, resell, etc.
That bag tip would have helped me avoid the gigantic pile on the floor in front of my dresser! :)
yay for team hang everything 🎉 yes, the donation bin/bag/basket is key!