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Happy Closet, Happy Life
Happy Closet, Happy LifeThe only thing I love more than cleaning my closet is organizing my closet. Weird.. maybe?
I like to look at it in the same way that you style your outfit to highlight your best features, you should do that with your closet by keeping it organized so it functions well and looks appealing.
Over the years I’ve contained my clothes in closet of all sizes. My current living space actually has no closets so I’ve gotten creative by taking over a small converted office. While it’s technically a walk-in closet, I still organize it like a small space and utilize vertical storage as much as possible.
Organizing a closet doesn’t have to take a lot of time or money. Just a few dollars (or none!) and a few minutes can make your closet you look brand new and function better!
My tips below might not give you a Pinterest-worthy closet but it’ll be pretty darn close.
What’s In Your Closet?
First things first: you should clear out any unnecessary rummage. I’d encourage you to read my closet decluttering tips so you’re not wasting time organizing something that would be better off in a donation bin.
Next, evaluate what you have in terms of items to store and decide what you’ll need.
I created this post with small closets in mind that don’t require a big budget (or any money!). And, if you’re anything like me, they’re also the perfect options for rentals and won’t require tearing up your room!
Affordable Closet Organization Products
Before we dive into the actual organization, I have a few product recommendations. These may be things you already own but, if not, are inexpensive investments that will make a big difference. Most can be thrifted or bought online using my links!
• Invest in non-slip hangers. My closet is filled with these hangers from Amazon! They make my closet look so stylish and, hey, my clothes don’t slip off.
• Milk crates. Milk crates.. in a closet? Stay with me! You can use ordinary crates that are easy to thrift or pick up some cute and colorful modern bins from Amazon. I’ll share some awesome hacks down below of how these can be used!
• Shoe organizer. The type of shoe organizer that you get will be entirely dependant on how much space you have.
Your options are an over-the-door pocket organizer (which can be reused to store a plethora of other things), a floor shelving unit, or even a shoe carousel that hangs out with your clothes.
• Caboodles Case. I would be remiss not to mention the potential of a Caboodles case. I’m a long-time fan and previous paid partner of the brand so you know I love ’em!
• Pocket jewelry organizer. This is another item that I highly recommend because it can do so much more than the name implies.
Jewelry, sunglasses, and other small accessories fit neatly into these and can be hung flatly in your closet! Get yours on Amazon.
• Over-the-door hooks. These simple products can do more than meets the eye. Dollar Tree offers them for really cheap!
Don’t sweat it if you can’t get these things. You can easily modify my tips to fit with what you already have available!
What To Put On Your Hangers
Hangers have so many possibilities beyond keeping your clothes wrinkle free! Basically, you can hang anything if you know what you’re doing.
Here’s a few ideas to get your started by achieving a streamlined look with your clothes:
• Arrange your clothes by length. Sort out your clothes by sleeve and hem length and then arrange them by hierarchy of progression. This is great at creating a gap under your clothes and adding space for more storage solutions.
• Arrange your clothes in groups. Group your like-items together so they’re easier to track down. Need a dress? Go to the dresses!
• Arrange your clothes by color. Line your clothes in a rainbow sequence or another order that makes sense for you. (Light to dark, for example) Doing this is not only visually appealing, but makes it easy to see what you have in your closet and what you should try to find more of.
If you want to take it one step further, arrange your clothes by length, group, and rainbow. Do not attempt this if it’s your first time organizing your space!
• Hang clothes together. Every small closet owner needs to know this. Don’t be afraid to shove a bunch of clothes on one hanger! Works best with cardigans and jackets but feel free to get creative.
But wait, there’s more…
• Use safety pins to hang up jewelry. Safety pins fit nicely over non-slip hangers and help to show off necklaces and bracelets.
• Hang up your scarves. Layer up your scarves on a hanger so they’re easily visible when getting dressed!
• Display tights. You can choose to fold tights over your hanger or tie a loose knot so they don’t slip off. See more of my tights collection and tips for wearing them in this post!
• Store sunglasses. Can we agree that storing sunglasses is hard? This is the easiest solution I’ve found so far!
What To Put In Milk Crates
Milk crates might seem like a strange idea until you start throwing everything into them and your closet instantly looks tidy.
Here’s some other clever hacks that you might not have thought of:
• Turn multiple crates sideways to create a DIY shelving unit. So I guess IKEA isn’t the only way that can make cool shelves!
• Use sideway crates to display shoes. If you can’t afford a shoe organizer just yet, using milk crates turned on their sides works in a pinch. It’s especially great if you don’t have a huge shoe collection!
• Stack crates to hide purses. For your cheap purses that can take some wear-and-tear, use crates to store them and then stack the crates as you normally would. This hides the clutter in a pretty way!
Bonus: add an over-the-door hook to the crate and hang a few favorite purses from it on the outside. It’s a two-in-one deal!
How To Use Over-The-Door Hooks
I use over-the-door hooks for a lot of things in my closet. These are a few ideas to get your creative juices flowing:
• Hang your OOTD on it the night before. I almost always plan out my outfits far in advance and then hang them up on a hook. You can stash your pre-planned outfit in your closet but I tend to forget it’s there, y’know?
• Hang up your hats. Line-up multiple hooks along your door and hang your hats on them! Obviously better if you don’t have a lot of hats.. or you have a wide door.
• Hang up purses. Once again, line up some hooks and hang your favorite handbags on them!
• Hang up closet organizers. Of course you can use these for their intended purpose… but where’s the fun in that?
Ready, Set, Organize!
Organizing your closet really is an art form and once you get going with the ideas in this post, I’m sure you’ll come up with tons of other ideas on your own!
I hope this post helped you out and left you feeling inspired. Please Pin it for later or share it to a friend who could use it!
