4 Principles of Closet Organization
Closet organization can feel tricky; clothes have a way of piling up on the floor and on the rack, shoes find the way everywhere, and in the end, it’s just a struggle to keep up with it all. It doesn’t have to be this way though! Learning a few solid principles into which to organize your closet is critical. Once learned, the only thing that separates you from having a tidy closet is simply the application of these principles dealing with sorting, storing, and grouping items together. Let’s take a look at four principles for closet organization.
1. Grouping like items together in one place. This means having all your sweaters together, all your black pants together, all your summer t-shirts together, all your dress shirts in one place, and so on. When items are organized according to this principle, finding them is a breeze. If you currently don’t group like items like this, it surely takes much longer to put together an outfit.
2. Place the items you access the most within easy reach. This principle relates to storage organization in general. What is meant by “within reach” is that the easiest and best place to store items for easy access is for them to be within the space in front of you that corresponds to the points between your shoulders and your knees. When items are outside of this space, it requires bending over or reaching up to get them. This principle relates then to storing items out of the way that are infrequently accessed, and keeping items you get out everyday within easy reach. Specifically, this could mean keeping shorts and t-shirts within shoulder height while placing sweaters in storage cube on the floor because it’s summer and you won’t wear them for awhile.
3. Store items in order of first or last use. This principle relates to placing items near where they will be first used or where they will be last used. For instance, placing the dirty clothes near the laundry room instead of on the closet floor, because that’s the last place they’ll be before they are washed. Another example is placing socks and underwear to be accessible first when opening the closet because that’s the first thing you’ll put on when changing clothes.
4. Liberal use of storage containers and organizers. This is the key to storing items that aren’t actively used. For instance, what’s the point of keeping a seasons worth of winter clothes out in the closet during the summer? They benefit no one and only take up space. It’s recommended to place clothes out of season in breathable storage counters. This can be placed on the closet floor, or ideally, out of the closet but close by, such as underneath the bed. Don’t forget to clearly label each and every container!
Closets will absolutely get messy if there is no thought given into their design and organization. The good news is that it’s relatively easy to get things organized once you apply the principles above.