Our closets are one of the most used spaces in the home. It’s a place where we choose who we want to be and remove who we were. For this reason a lot of times our closets suffer the most. Because of this, I wanted to tell you some things you shouldn’t do when organizing your closet which will help get your closet organized.
If you’re interested, keep on reading!
USE WIRE HANGERS
I’m sure many of us probably have at least 2 wire hangers in our closet now. From our dry cleaning to random wire hangers mysteriously appearing, wire hangers are everywhere and need to be destroyed! As you can see I despise them and there’s a reason for it.
STORYTIME
It was a bright and sunny afternoon. It had to be a weekend since the incident occurred during school hours. I was helping my mom hang clothes and as I was hanging a shirt, the hook of the wire hanger went through my eyelid came out of my eyebrow and came out within a span of 3 seconds. I now have a scar on eyebrow for the rest my life (Check out the scar here). After that traumatic experience, I knew when I got older I would never use wire hangers. Therefore, when I made one of my first checks at my high school, I replaced my entire closet and will never go back. '
Other then them being weapons, they misshape and distort clothes, they tangle up together and make the most agonizing noise when they move along the closet rod. Yikes! If you do have wire hangers in your possession now, go to your closet, gather them together and send them to the dry cleaners. The great advantage with this is, the dry cleaners can re-use them which will keep them out of the landfills.
KEEP SHOES ON THE FLOOR
Placing shoes or anything on the floor heightens the look of clutter. This is the thing, when your floors are bare, it will automatically give you the illusion of an organized space even if everything else is unorganized. Since we’re talking about shoes, there are various shoe organizers that can help maintain your shoes. In the below link you will find a few options I believe are the best for small closets.
Link here: Hanging Shoe Shelves
USE A LOT OF ORGANIZING PRODUCTS
One of the misconception about getting organized is you need to add a lot of organizing products to a space to get it organized. Though I get the logic, it’s incorrect because in order to be organized, you must declutter your space before even considering any kind of organizing product. Also, it’s important to understand by adding organizing products to a room you will be giving up necessary space - space that can be used to house other items. For example, lets say you had a bin on a shelf with specific items in each. If you were to take the items out of bins and place them on the shelf, you will notice how much space you still have to place more items on the shelf.
You get what I mean.
Because the desired result is not to add more stuff into a cluttered space because that’s what organizing products do, you must be mindful of the amount of products you bring into your space especially when minimizing clutter is the goal.
HOLD ONTO OLD UNWORN CLOTHES
There’s a thin line between clothes we love and clothes we actually use and sometimes we tend to confuse the two. This is a dilemma I see with a lot of clients and it’s something that can make the purging process a bit challenging. If you haven’t worn something in the last 2 years, I'd suggest letting it go. You’ve probably read or heard “if you haven’t used or worn an item in 6 months then you should get rid of it”. Though I think that’s a great idea, it may not be as realistic for many of us which is why I suggest 2 years as the minimum. You’ll notice that the items you haven’t used or worn are probably the ones that don’t spark joy or you truly love. Once you do get rid of them you will notice the large amount of space you will have for more important things.
An organized Master Closet
STUFF YOUR CLOSET
Similar to holding onto old clothes, stuffing your closet is another caveat when holding on to unworn clothes as well as over buying new clothes. Typically the unworn clothes never get used and the new clothes increases therefore overstuffing the closet and causing spillage (excess clothes that can no longer fit in a space therefore they spill out into another room). Therefore the goal is to prevent this by using the 3:1 method which is for every 1 new item that comes in 3 items will need to come out. You have to be very honest with yourself when decided which items will be leaving your space because its the honesty that’s going to help you combat the clutter and get your closet organized.
AVOID USING LABELS
Labels are like the cherry on top. Though it may not be necessary when organizing a closet, it does make all items in the room easy to find. If organizing your closet is the goal, adding labels to any area of the closet will enhance the space and help cut down the amount of time you spend in your closet.
DON’T CREATE CATEGORIES
Categories are designated spaces or sections in your closet that belong to a specific clothing item/style. That means when you create categories in your space you will know the exact amount of clothes and items you have in your closet therefore making it easy to know what you don’t have.
As you see there are many things you shouldn’t do when organizing your space and what I’ve provided are just a few. Remember organizing your closet is all about following your current lifestyle because that’s what determines what you’re actually wearing.
If you’re looking for a simple and better way to organize your closet Rescue My Space can help you achieve your home goals today. We’re happy to help!