Organization

Closet Organization for Two

In any couple it is bound to happen, one is the epitome of organization and the other specializes in organized chaos. Chances are there are many areas of your home where the organizer takes charge and makes sure things stay neat and tidy. But what do you do if you have to share a closet with a partner who does not share your love of everything in its place? Dont despair; you have a couple of options available to you.

Option one is to never allow anyone into your closet except for you. This is a sure fire way to insure nothing gets misplaced or starts to get messed up. But it is not a very practical solution. You would have to pick out and put everything away, unless this appeals to you option two is probably the way to go.

Option two is to organize the closet in a sensible way that makes finding items and putting them away just as easy as dumping them on the floor (well, maybe not that easy). Make sure everything thing has a home and that your partner knows where that home is. Remember that a system that works for you may not work for someone else; you need to get their buy-in too. If they are fine to leave the planning and organizing to you, investing a bit more time to label shelves and bins with the correct contents may save you some big headaches down the road.

Be prepared to do some damage control once a month, make sure the system is still working and weed out anything that isnt. Like anything in a relationship, sharing a closet involves a lot of give and take. Just dont take it too seriously; your love of organization shouldnt get in the way of your love for your partner.

Closet Problems & Solutions

A messy closet is a problem a lot of people have and they arent sure how to fix it. The messiness can come in many different forms but the root cause is most likely a lack of organization. If you start out organized it is much easier to stay that way. Here are a few common closet problems and some solutions that can be implemented at any time.

Are your hangers a tangled mess or do your clothes constantly slip off? Sounds like you have wire hangers hanging in your closet. To prevent tops from slipping off and falling to the floor or the dreaded hanger crease in the middle of your pant leg, invest in some wooden or plastic hangers. Not only are they functional, it is more attractive to have a uniform type of hanger in your closet (all wire hangers do not count).

If you are consistently looking for a mate to the pair of shoes you want to wear you need to put a system in place to organize your shoes. There are many options for shoe organizing, you can purchase a hanging canvas shoe rack that goes on your hanging bar, a shoe tree, or install some shelving in the bottom part of your closet. This is a quick and easy job, something that can be accomplished in under 2 hours (set-up and organization).

Chances are there are many things you can remove from the closet that doesnt belong. Put your spare blankets in a linen closet or under the bed, and take the clothes you have been meeting to drop off at the donation bin out to the car so you wont forget to do it another day. Find the proper home for whatever else is living in your closet when it shouldnt be.

A Place for Everything

A closet needs a system in order to function properly and stay organized. Your system can be as complicated or as simple as you like but the common factor in all closet organization is having a place for everything. Once this is accomplished, the next step to master is to put everything in its place. This has to be done consistently to make your system work which will take time, practice and a little self-discipline.

For instance if the bottom of your closet is a sea of unmatched shoes and you have to conduct a scavenger hunt to find a matching pair you need to find a home for every pair of shoes you own. This will probably mean investing in a shoe tree or a similar organizational helper. Before you buy, do some research find out what is available in your price range and where you can find it. Make sure that there is enough room for your entire shoe collection and be forward thinking leave room for future growth. If you dont do this you will end up in the same situation as before but with less money in your wallet.

After you have found a home for all of your clothes (or shoes) take the time (each and every time) to put them back in their new spot. But dont stop at just your shoes! Keep going, pick the next problem spot in your closet, you will know what it is by the level of frustration you experience as you try to find something. It could be belts, ties, workout clothes, socks, whatever it is find a home for your items, put them there every time and soon it will become second nature and you will never have to conduct a search in your closet again.

Give Your Closet a Makeover

If you get a headache each time you have to find something in your closet, it is time to give it a long overdue makeover. Before you begin to take everything out and start to reorganize, decide what you want your closet to look like and what type of storage systems will work best for your things. Some considerations are what is working in the space now and what isnt and why isnt it working. Maybe you dont have enough room for your dresses because the double hanging bars arent spaced out enough or you dont have room to hang everything in which case a double hanging bar is what you need.

The first step is to start with a list of things that should be in your closet and make an inventory of what storage systems you already have. After step one, make a sketch of what you want your closet to look like when you are done, bring it to the hardware store and find what you will need to supplement what you already have. Some tips for every closet:

* Install a double hanging bar but leave room for long hanging items such as dresses or full length coats.
* Shoe storage, this can take the form of a hanging rack, a shoe tree, or lined-up neatly on the floor.
* Shelves for sweaters that cant be hung up or small items such as purses or belts.
* Utilize small baskets and boxes for hats or jewelry.
* Install hooks to hang ties or bathrobes on.

A closet that is organized with enough room for the future growth of your wardrobe is a closet that will stay organized. Invest in quality storage solutions that you can add to as your wardrobe or closet grows.

Organizing Your Closet Where to Start

Maybe it is time for spring cleaning or you just cannot stand another day hunting through your closet to find something to wear but the time has come to organize your closet (again). It is inevitable that there are belongings in your closet that need to go – maybe into the trash or a donation hamper but a new home has to be found for them either way. Before you start organizing, you need to start purging.

Every closet organizing session should start with some time spent deciding what you still wear and what can go elsewhere. Some questions to ask yourself when trying to decide if you should keep an item or not are:

* When was the last time I wore this? Unless it is a seasonal item, if you havent worn it in six months it is time to let it go.
* Does it fit me properly? Clothing that is too big or small should not be kept for what-ifs. Donate it.
* What condition is it in? Spills, tears, wear if your shirts or pants are showing any or all of these it is time to let them go.

To make this first step easy on you in terms of emotions and work load, follow these guidelines. Make quick decisions and once you decide dont go back and change your mind. Touch everything once, choose its fate is and move onto the next item. Set-up boxes and bags for the cast-offs. Garbage bags for the over-used belongings that cannot be donated and boxes labeled and ready to be donated to a charity, thrift store, or a friend.

Once the bags or boxes are full, take them to the car and get them to their new destination as soon as possible so you can carry on and enjoy your newly organized closet.

The ABCs of Closet Organization

A is for assess. Before you begin to organize your closet, you need to assess your space and your goals. Do you have enough room for everything you own and more importantly do you wear it? If the answer to these two questions is yes, then you can skip the step of having to purge and sort your closet contents. But if you are like most people, there are many items in your closet – uncomfortable shoes or skinny jeans you hope to fit into one day that can and should go. Before you begin, decide if you need to just organize or if a de-cluttering session is necessary.

B is for basics. The next step is to decide how you want to organize your closet. The possibilities are numerous and you need to find a system that works for you because organizing is about making things easier. Some suggestions for different closet systems are to sort your clothes by items group all of the pants together, shirts, sweaters, skirts, and so on; sort by occasion work, around the house, gym, evening, or other types of clothing you own; or sort by color you can use this tip in addition to the previous two or on its own.

C is for consistency. Be brutal with yourself once you have taken the time to organize your closet, make yourself stick to the system you implemented. You dont want all of your hard work to be for naught without a little bit of discipline and consistency your closet could revert back to its former state. After a couple of weeks of sticking with your new closet management system (whatever one you decide works for you), it will be second nature to put your clothes back where they belong and make it easier for you.

Organizing your Linen Closet

A linen closet is a great place to get your organizing feet wet. It is usually an easy to complete task that can give you the satisfaction of a job well done in short order. That is of course if all that is in your linen closet is linen. If your linen closet has to play double-duty as a towel, cleaning products or anything else storage too the first step is to decide if there is really room for everything you want to put in there and if there is a better place for any of the items.

Once you have determined what role the linen closet is going to play, decide on what type of storage system is going to work the best. Most closets of this nature function best with a series of shelves, but some hooks and small baskets can help keep smaller items from getting lost or looking cluttered. But a combination of shelves and a small hanging rod can be functional too.

Keep the most used items at eye level for easy access such as bed linens or towels that are used daily or weekly. Other common things to store in a linen closet are out-of-season coats or blankets. It is best to store these in proper containers or bags to keep them fresh.

If you are also storing cleaning products and appliances in your linen closet (iron, ironing board, or a vacuum cleaner), where you put them will depend on whether or not you have young children. If you do have little ones around, put the cleaning products up high and out of reach or better yet, install a safety latch on the door.

A nice touch to add to your linen closet is to hang lavender sachets or another scented item to keep your bed sheets smelling nice and fresh.

Closet Organization on a Budget

Do you drool over the closet organization systems that are available longing for a closet that looks like the ones in the advertisements? You know that your mornings would be less stressful and harried if you could just find what you needed when you need it in your unorganized closet. But you dont have to invest your savings to achieve the benefits of a closet organization system. There are tips and tricks you can utilize to get the same effect without the high cost.

The key to low-cost closet organization is creativity and using the resources available to you. Hang hooks on the back of your closet door or any other vertical surface for a plethora of uses from purses, belts, hats, bathrobes, or any other item you can hang. Plastic storage drawers are inexpensive and available at most hardware stores are useful for the bottom of your closet, again to group and store small things or ones that you dont typically hang up such as your pajamas. Shelving is a must, where you dont hang a hook put up a shelf. After your shelving is up, invest or repurpose some baskets or other small receptacles to store items in. If you dont, the shelves are destined to become messy and cluttered. This is a few of the low to no cost items you can use to organize your closet.

If you have a bigger budget, find a picture of a closet organization system that catches your eye and see if you can recreate it on your own with lower cost supplies found in your hardware store. Plastic shelving, extra hanging rods, and hooks are all that you need to create an organized closet. Invest in enough hangers too; make sure you have enough for all of your clothes to make picking out an outfit easy.

Organizing your Coat Closet

The family coat closet can be the most chaotic place in the house. It is a small space the entire family stores some of their bulkiest items. The same principles that you would use to organize your bedroom closet apply here too. The golden rule of closet organization is a place for everything and everything in its place. Make sure everyone in the family knows where their stuff belongs and encourage them to take part to keep the coat closet neat and orderly.

A family typically owns a lot of shoes and most coat closets arent big enough to accommodate them all. Keep one or two pairs for each family member in the closet that is worn on an almost daily basis. Out of season footwear or pairs that are reserved for special occasions should be stored in the individual bedroom closets of the owners. The same for coats keep the daily or seasonal coats in the coat closet and either rotate the rest to the back or if there is not enough room store them away until the season or weather turns.

On the top shelf is where the hats, mittens, gloves and other accessories are stored. Keep a basket for each member of the family to store their items. If there is room, this is also an ideal place for things like bicycle helmets, knee pads and other safety gear that needs a home.

For younger children who might not be able to reach or manage the hangers consider installing hooks at the back of the closet where they can hang up their own coats. This will foster their independence while teaching them how to take care of their belongings.

Once a season, go through everything in the family coat closet and decide what should be thrown out or what can be donated.

Storage Closets

There are so many different names and categories of closets. There are bedroom closets, pantries, hall closets, linen closets, and storage closets. The storage closet is the one that can quickly become a catch all as it doesnt have a defined purpose other than to store things. A plan is needed to keep your storage closet neat and the items stored accessible at all times. The big decision you will have to make is what are you going to store?

When you decide what you are going to use your storage closet for, think about how often you are going to be using the items inside and if there is a better place for them first. For instance, it might be tempting to store your Christmas decorations there, but is there a place in the garage where these once a year items can go? If there is, that will make room for other more frequently used belongings such as suitcases, camping gear, sleeping bags, or winter blankets.

Space is also a consideration and shelving can help solve this if it is a problem. If the closet is big enough but you dont have enough floor space, install some shelves to get bigger and lighter items off the floor. Try and make the most commonly used items the easiest to get. If it is the summer time, the sleeping bags should be at the front and move the winter blankets to an out of the way place for now.

Be careful not to throw anything into the storage closet that you arent sure what to do with. If you dont have a home for the item, is it really something you want to keep? If it is something worthwhile you will find it a home of its own without making the storage closet a dumping ground.