Have you always struggled to keep your closet tidy and organised?
Do you forget what clothes you have because they’re hidden under some other clothes, and you forget they exist if they’re not in your field of vision?
Do you often have the desire to organise and declutter your closet but always get too overwhelmed and procrastinate?
If any of those answers are yes, then we understand each other! I am just the same!
I am able to keep just about anything tidy except my clothes and my closet. Idk what it is about it but having to pack away your clothes every time you wear them etc is such a chore for me! I’d much rather throw my clothes in my closet and be done with it but we all know that creates a monster closet.
Recently I’ve been buying a lot more clothes for myself and I’ve found that I have no space to put them anywhere, so they’ve been created into a mountain of clothes!
I decided this could not go on any longer so my husband and I took a trip to Ikea where I was able to find some really helpful products that will help me keep my closet organised (hopefully). And I thought I might as well share some tips in case anyone out there is as lost as me!
Here are some tips and products that will help you to keep your closet organised
- The very first tip for organising your closet is to analyse your closet space. Is it cramped? Do you have space to section your clothes? Or do you need to invest in a saving space contraption like I did? If you have the space but you’re just not making use of it, I recommend (if you haven’t already) sectioning your closet into sections that make sense to you.
For me, I have a cardigan and jumper (sweatshirt) section, a Pjs section, a top section and a bottom section. Your sections will depend on how many compartments your closet has, how many items you have in each section (you may be able to double up e.g. tops and bottoms in the same place) and how many clothes you need to hang up.
- Now that you have your sections in mind, the best tip I’ve found that actually works is to queue up your favourite songs/podcast or put a comfort movie/show on and get stuck in! It’s really great to add a distraction (like the podcast/movie/show/music) because it adds something else for your brain to focus on while you do the menial tasks of folding your clothes etc.
In fact, I can’t do my chores or really anything without having some sort of audio stimulation. I even need to put a show/podcast on to shower!
- This is where the game plan comes in. My favourite game plan when organising my closet is to take it section by section. Make sure to make your bed because that will become your worktop or you can use the floor! Grab the clothes that belong in the section you decide to start with and fold them nicely or put them in the wash if they smell weird (some clothes smell sort of mouldy when they’ve been kept in the back of the closet too long lol). Now you’ll just keep folding them until you’ve finished your section, and you have some piles of folded clothes. At this point you can just place the folded clothes into your closet section neatly and you’ve already completed one section!
- This game plan works the best for me because if I take it one section at a time, I don’t have to tackle the entire wardrobe if I don’t want to. I can take it a section a day if it gets too overwhelming (I’ve done many times before). And each section usually only takes about 20 mins to complete so if you can put on a quick episode and get a section done a day, you’ll have an organised closet in no time!
- The last tip of the day for organising your closet is to keep a bin bag on hand. You’ll probably realise through the whole process that there are a lot of clothes you don’t have a need for anymore. The decision then needs to be, will I donate it or sell it? If you know you won’t be able to sell or donate some clothes (maybe they’re really old and worn), maybe see what else can be done with it? Can you cut it up and make a scrunchie or a baby tee etc? Or even just use it as a rag!
Now onto the tools I acquired!
- The first product I found was this hanger with a bunch of holes attached to it. I decided to use it as a “Master Hanger” so I could hang a bunch of stuff from the same hook, but you can also use it to organise your belts, scarves, jewellery etc. And the best part was that it only cost £3!
- The second product that helps immensely if you don’t have any sections for your folded clothes in your closet or like me, you’ve run out of space is hanging compartments. This product is basically 6 compartments that you can hang in your closet. I got the grey version and it only cost £9! I’ve always used these types of contraptions because even when I went to uni we got the tiniest closets and I have always had a lot of clothes!
All you have to do with these products is loop the Velcro straps around your rail in your closet and that’s it!
- The last product I got from Ikea were just their wooden hangers. I don’t like having plastic in my home if I can help it and the plastic hangers always break on me, so I like to buy the wooden ones from Ikea. And another trick is that you can put way more than 1 item of clothing on a hanger. I usually like to put dresses on the hangers as usual and then I like to add skirts to the go over the flat section and then over all of that I place coats on the “shoulders” of the hanger. That way you don’t waste any of that precious space!
