How To

Clear Closet Clutter

People tend to wear 20% of their wardrobe 80% of the time. Try applying these tips to help control the clutter in your closet.

• Clearing the closet will give you a fresh start. Before putting anything back, ask yourself, Does it fit? Do I really love it? Has it been worn in the last six months? Does it match my current lifestyle? Can it be worn with other things in the closet?
• Think quality not quantity. Get rid of garments that need mending, stained, lost their shape or uncomfortable, including shoes.
• To help determine what to eliminate from your closet start with the items you seldom wear. Turn all your hangers so the open part of the hanger faces you and as you return clean but recently worn items face the hanging towards the back of the closet. In a few months you will have a better idea what pieces you haven’t worn. The garments on hangers facing you can be tossed.
• If you feel you can’t part with a garment try putting it in another closet for 6 months. After 6 months revisit it and remind yourself that you only want things in your closet that you absolutely love and that makes you feel good, then let it go. Donate it and let someone else enjoy it.
• Remove any unnecessary items that don’t belong in your closet. For example, photo albums, books, magazines, electronic and exercise equipment should be moved to more appropriate storage areas in the home.
• Invest in the right hangers that give your clothes good support. Having the same type of hanger in the closet will also help keep it looking neat and tidy.
• Organize items into zones, for example, pants, blouses, skirts, suits, dresses, etc. Organize by color, darker to lighter and long sleeve to short etc.
• Do you like keeping shoes in boxes? An easy way to determine what shoes are in the box is to take a picture of your shoes, print the picture and glue it to the front of the box.
• Flat shoe shelving is preferred to maximizing space. Slanted shelving, although attractive, takes up more space when angling shelves. If doing a full tower of shelves consider slanting the top 3 shelves. This will allow you to get both the benefit of seeing the shoes stored higher on the shelf and still maximizing your storage with the flat shelving below.
• Install a valet rod for extra empty hangers so they don’t take up valuable space between your garments.
• Having trouble determining if a garment is black or blue? Fluorescent lighting makes it difficult to determine color. Brighten up your closet with good lighting such as recessed or LED lighting.

Be sure to read our other tips and guides:

Comparing Closet Providers
Building and Remodeling Tips for Closets and Storage
Selecting Closet Providers

We hope these tips are helpful to you as you shop and compare. As a closet provider, The Closet Solution is dedicated to providing the highest quality standards in the closet industry, in both materials and service. As the saying goes “measure twice, cut once”, and The Closet Solution wants you to do it right the first time.

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