How to Properly Arrange The Clothes in Your Closet

Dave Kushner • May 12, 2021

Whether you’re a fashionista who craves the latest trends or a person who takes a more functional approach to your wardrobe, your custom closets can easily become overcrowded with clothes you never wear. In fact, career explorations guide, The Muse, cites that most people wear only 20% of their wardrobe.

In order to make your custom closets work as hard as you do and keep your apparel and accessories in great shape, you need to properly store and arrange the clothes that you do wear. To do that:

Empty and Clean Out Your Closets
Sort Your Clothing by Category
Pare Down Your Items
Assign a Home to Each Category
Know What to Fold or Hang
Use Coordinated Hangers
Color Code
Properly Store Your Shoes and Accessories
Take a Digital Inventory

1. Empty and Clean Out Your Closets

Start by clearing out clothes you haven’t worn in two years or items that no longer fit. Gently-worn apparel can be donated.

After you’ve donated or gotten rid of the clothes you no longer wear, it’s time to organize the ones you do don. To make organizing and arranging your clothing easy, you need a clear, clean space to visualize how you’re going to store your items. Dust off your shelves and hangers. Sweep, mop, or vacuum the floor. Wipe down baseboards, walls, and drawer interiors with an all-purpose cleaner. Run all of your clothing through the washer before moving onto the next step.

2. Sort Your Clothing by Category

Once everything is clean, begin sorting your clothes by category. Lump work apparel, including slacks, blouses, and work-appropriate dresses together. Make a pile on one area of your bed for sportswear, another pile for casual clothing, and yet another pile for special occasions or seasonal wear. Group all belts, scarves, shoes, and other accessories together. Even your camis, socks, and undergarments should be sorted.

3. Pare Down Your Items

After everything is categorized, take a close inventory of your clothes and accessories. You may discover that you own multiples of the same style or item. Do you really need four white t-shirts or two of the same designer dress? This is your opportunity to further pare down your wardrobe to maximize space, especially if you have a smaller closet.

4. Assign a Home to Each Category

When assigning a “home” for your apparel and accessories, consider the other storage spaces in your bedroom. Can your underwear or socks “live” in a dresser?

Closely inspect the inside of your closet and designate a rod, drawer, or shelf for every category. Utilize your real estate for the clothes you wear most often. For instance, if you have to get dressed for work every weekday before 7 am, place your work apparel at the front of your closet. Lesser-worn items, such as seasonal clothes and formal wear, can be stored in the back.

5. Know What to Fold or Hang

To extend the lifespan of your clothing, you need to know what items need to be hung, stacked, or stored in drawers. This will also make it easier to choose a proper place for every clothing category. The Spruce provides several helpful tips for folding not only clothes but linens as well.

Sturdy, fancy, and delicate clothes need to be hung. These include items like suits, structured coats, expensive dresses, and delicate lingerie. To easily figure out what hanging clothes you wear the most, turn those hangers backward. You can also tie pretty ribbons around the hangers to identify your most used items.

You can stack thicker items, denim jeans and bulky sweaters for example, on shelves. Neatly fold sportswear, pajamas, and t-shirts and store them in your drawers. Use drawer dividers for smaller items like underwear and socks.

6. Use Coordinated Hangers

Nothing destroys the aesthetic of an organized closet more than a collection of unattractive neon or wire hangers. Streamline your closet and create a sleek look by investing in high-quality matching hangers. Not only will they support your clothing better, but they’ll also look great as well.

7. Color Code

This organizational tip is optional but totally worth the effort. Color coding your clothing can be tedious but is a great hack for visual people. If you want to be super precise, organize your clothes by the colors of the rainbow (think ROYGBIV). Color coding your closets will also add visual appeal to your bedroom and allow you to truly savor your space.

8. Properly Store Your Shoes and Accessories

Now that your clothes are taken care of, it’s time to tackle your shoes and accessories. Place a shoe rack in the dead space between the floor and the hems of your hanging apparel. Group your shoes into categories, including workout sneakers, seasonal boots or sandals, work shoes, and casual footwear.

Hang your scarves on a scarf-friendly hanger. You may even be able to store multiple scarves on one hanger. This will keep them free of wrinkles and easily accessible.

Keep rings, bracelets, and earrings in jewelry drawers or a jewelry box. You can take a DIY approach to your necklaces by using pretty pushpins and hanging them on your closet wall.

Get a hanging storage bin to house hats, gloves, and other miscellaneous accessories.

9. Take a Digital Inventory

After your closet is organized and your clothes are neatly arranged, take a picture with your smartphone to keep a digital inventory of how you like your closet to look. Routinely check that area to ensure that everything is in the right place.

Conclusion

By properly arranging your apparel and accessories, you won’t ever have to waste time getting ready in the morning. Everything will be neatly stored and you can easily identify your most-used items by keeping them front and center or reversing the hangers. Organized closets eliminate hassle, headaches, and ugly clutter.