Q&A for How to Organize Your Closet

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  • Question
    How do you hang clothes in a closet?
    Joanne Gruber
    Professional Stylist
    Joanne Gruber is a Professional Stylist based in Los Angeles, California. She has worked in the fashion and style industries for over 10 years, specializing in educating people on the art of re-purposing existing clothing to freshen up a wardrobe. Joanne opened The Closet Stylist in 2007, a personal style service combining wardrobe editing with organization.
    Professional Stylist
    Expert Answer
    Arrange your closet based on the seasons. Hide those big winter coats away in the summer and store all your shorts and flip-flops in the winter!
  • Question
    How long does it take?
    Sarah Flores
    Community Answer
    Depending on how big your closet is, and how deep of a clean you want, it can take from half an hour to a full day to finish cleaning your closet.
  • Question
    What do I do if I share a closet?
    Sarah Flores
    Community Answer
    Split the closet in half, or between however many people you're sharing with. Use multiple trunks or boxes to separate the clothes, or have a standing drawer for each person and organize your clothes that way.
  • Question
    How do I organize purses and bags?
    Community Answer
    You can attach a hook inside the closet and hang your purses and bags on it. You can find hooked organizers that can go on the backs of doors, or can go on the same rod you hang your clothes on in various stores.
  • Question
    What do I do if I have a lack of clothes, but a huge closet?
    Community Answer
    Buy more clothes or put other items in your closet such as bags, shoes, towels, jewelry, or anything else you need to store. Another idea is to fill the empty space with thing to decorate it such as a mirror or other stuff like that. Depending on how big it is, you could also put a mirror inside, or even a vanity.
  • Question
    What if I have a super small closet with no extra compartments?
    Community Answer
    Use a dresser or utilize the space under your bed by placing out of season clothing in a box to maximize hanger space.
  • Question
    How do I make my closet look eye-appealing without a door?
    Community Answer
    Try installing sheer curtains or keep your closet very organized and neat.
  • Question
    How do I clean a closet that is full of toys, clothing, bedding and knickknacks?
    Community Answer
    Keep the toys in a toy box, and keep the toy box in another area of the house. Bedding should be in the linen closet or in the laundry room. Determine if you still use the items. You can donate or sell them.
  • Question
    Where should I store blankets that are not often used?
    Community Answer
    You can put them in vacuum sealed bags and store them in a guest bedroom or spare closet. You can also fold them up and store them in boxes.
  • Question
    What can I store in the hallway closet?
    Community Answer
    I would suggest keeping your linen, towels, blankets, and cleaning cloths there. You can also just use this for extra storage for anything that won't fit elsewhere, depending on the size of your closet.
  • Question
    Are there any jobs in sorting out people's wardrobes?
    Community Answer
    Only if you think more broadly, such as designing and fitting closets, decluttering a person's bedroom space or home or being a personal shopper for time-poor and wealthy people. A maid or a cleaner might also organize but only if specifically asked so or else you'd be expected to leave the wardrobe alone.
  • Question
    How can I cover my closet?
    Community Answer
    You can try using a curtain or installing floating cabinets in the closet to store things in.
  • Question
    What if I have a bunch of clothes and just a medium closet?
    Community Answer
    You could get rid of some of the clothes you don't enjoy as much. You could also invest in a dresser to hold clothes that don't have to be hung, but can be folded, such as jeans and t-shirts along with pajamas and undergarments. That way, your closet could be used only to store dress clothes, jackets and shoes. You could also put a hanger on the back of your door for jackets, belts, scarves, hats and bags.
  • Question
    What about storing hats?
    Community Answer
    Place hats in bins or small boxes, and stack on closet shelf or on the floor of the closet.
  • Question
    How do I organize my closet if I have to keep things I won't ever wear again?
    Community Answer
    Why do you have to keep things you won't ever wear again? If you have extra storage somewhere else in your house, use it. If not, store the garments in the long plastic bags that come from dry cleaners and push them to the back of your closet.
  • Question
    I have a really small closet, but I have a lot of hand-me-downs from my sister. How do I fit them all in there?
    Community Answer
    Donate, sell, or throw out your clothes if you don't need them. Get rid of anything you don't wear anymore, don't fit into anymore, or you don't think you'll wear in the future. You don't have to keep everything from your sister. Of course, you should make sure this is okay with your parents first.
  • Question
    How do I organize a closet that has a lot of shelves?
    Community Answer
    Have designated shelves for your items, such as one for t-shirts, one for long-sleeved shirts, one for jeans, etc. You can keep smaller items in plastic bins and store the bins on your shelves.
  • Question
    Out of sight, out of mind. How should I display my hats?
    Community Answer
    You can get some small hooks at a hardware store (you can get hooks that stick to your wall if you don't want to put holes in your wall) and hang them in your closet or a wall in your room for decor.
  • Question
    What should the inside of my closet look like as a kid?
    Community Answer
    Designing is all up to you, no matter your age. You might consider consulting with your parents to see if they have ideas going along with your lifestyle. Just keep it simple, maybe labeling areas around your closet and making sure everything is neat and tidy. Just make sure your closest appeals to you and shows what you want to see!
  • Question
    What if my mom hated how I organized my closet?
    Community Answer
    You should ask her how she would like it to be. Maybe you could organize your closet together as a parent-child-activity. Alternatively, you could show her this article to convince her how you organized your closet is a good start.
  • Question
    What do I do if I have other people's stuff stored in my closet that I can't remove?
    Community Answer
    First of all, ask the person if it’s okay to move their stuff that’s inside the closet and if it’s a yes, then you should split the closet. If no, then have a designated area for their things and try to work with the space you have left. If it isn’t that much stuff, you could place it in storage bins and put the bins at the bottom of the closet so you have more hanging space. Or, if you have overhead shelves and they don’t use this area often, you could place their stuff there because it’s harder to reach and it will be more out of your way.
  • Question
    What do I do if I have a lot of clothing and a small closet?
    Community Answer
    Try to put all your dresses on one side of the closet. On the left side of the closet, get a shoe sorter and roll or fold your shirts into it. On the right side, buy an other shoe sorter to put your pants and shorts there. Now you have room for blankets, shoes, belts, etc. Also, you'll need to resort to only hanging seasonal clothes in the closet and putting all off-season clothes in storage under the bed or somewhere else; this frees up a lot of space.
  • Question
    Should I fold pants or should I put them on the rack?
    Community Answer
    Fold them, so they don't get wrinkles and take up less room in the closet.
  • Question
    What do I do if I find it really hard to let go of stuff? I’m a hoarder.
    Grace Wasacz
    Community Answer
    If you can't think of the last time you wore/used the item, it does not need to be kept.
  • Question
    What if I do not have any drawers but a messy closet?
    Rockysloth_21
    Community Answer
    Follow the instructions you read about in this article. Use Sterlite plastic storage containers that you can see through, and if you want, buy one that is your favorite color. Use masking tape to label the boxes "Seasonal" or "Socks", or whatever. Stack them very neatly in one area you could see when you open your closet, but make sure that you could see each box's label.
  • Question
    What kind of storage items should I use for a closet?
    Kyle Chan
    Community Answer
    You may want to use a box to store some of your unused items. Put the unused items away (separate from the closet) or if you can't, put it somewhere else where it's not really used (example: a top-shelf) or donate it. Then, try a dresser to help you. Put some of your clothes there. Hang up your other clothes.
  • Question
    Can I move all of my clothes (I have a dresser) into my closet? How?
    Phuong Tran
    Community Answer
    The answer depends on what "all" means. A minimalist may have less than 10 pieces of clothing whereas a hoarder could potentially have more than 100. Another factor to consider is the size of your closet - how much room you have to work with.
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