Didn’t you find it easier to get dressed with the clutter gone from your closet? Now let’s find efficient, elegant ways to organize the remaining contents. Remember, you start every day facing this closet, and you deserve to have that start be uplifting.
Guideline #1 – Hang every item, so it’s visible and accessible. It’s easy to forget garments stored in drawers or knock over a stack of stuff on a shelf. ( Replace any wire hangers; they tangle, droop and don’t support your garments. Plastic tubular ones are a big improvement for as little as a dime each. I prefer the flat plastic style with swivel hooks. My client Sue outfitted her closet with luxurious options from www.hangers.com. Take your pick, but get those darned wire ones into the recycle bin and out of your closet.)
Even your sweaters can hang safely. Lightweight sleeveless or short-sleeved styles don’t usually require any special handling. For long-sleeved sweaters, add peel-and-stick foam strips to the hanger to grip the shoulder area and prevent those little stretched-out “wings”. If you can't find the sticky foam strips, email me and I'll send you a dozen. No charge. It's a Valentine from me to you.
For heavier sweaters, fold the garment in half along the center front/center back so one sleeve lays on top of the other. Place a hanger across the upper body area, with the hook extending from the underarm area. Fold the sleeves down over the top edge of the hanger, then fold the body down in the same way. Isn’t that slick?
Guideline #2 - Hang each garment separately. Grouping a whole outfit on a single hanger keeps you from seeing all the other coordination options. (It’s okay to bend this rule for a suit or two-piece dress if you would never, ever, ever wear the garments individually. Or if you ned to distinguish the pants to your navy suit from all the other navy pants in the closet)
Guideline #3 - Organize your garments by category (jackets together, pants together, skirts together…) Plan categories that fit your lifestyle. You might group all pants together, or segregate career trousers from casual jeans and cords – it’s your call.
Within each category, arrange garments in color order: neutrals first, light to dark. Group colored pieces in rainbow order – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. And by the way, you’ll also want every garment facing the same direction. I know it sounds geeky, but I proise you'll love it.
One subscriber shared that her closet looks and feels much roomier with the skirts and pants hung on the top rod and blouses an jackets (which take up more depth) hung on the lower rod. I re-did my own closet in that arrangement the same day, and it really made a difference.
PAYOFFS: No more early morning searches. Find your light blue blouse in the “tops” section between greens and darker blues.
The rainbow effect is so soothing and relaxing - a real "invisible luxury". Just look at the contents of Toni’s closet below (photographed on a garment rack because I couldn’t get a good camera angle inside the closet – sorry.)
And most amazing, everything you see in her “after” wardrobe was already there in her “before” closet. You just couldn’t see it – and neither could she – because it was hidden by all those other pieces that didn’t work for her. (Like the ones you weeded out of your own closet last week .) Less really IS more, isn’t it?
So enjoy the “more” in your closet and next week we’ll see innovative storage options for shoes, hosiery, jewelry and other fashion accessories. Meanwhile, it’s bragging time. I’d love to see pictures of your organizing strategies and successes. Email me at NancyNRice@hotmail.com.
