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Closet Organization 101: How to Get Your Closets Under Control

Anthony Cuomo • November 25, 2014

In many homes, what goes on behind closed doors might not be pretty. I’m referring, of course, to the closets! When a storage area only sees the light of day when the door is open, it’s easy to forget about it when the door is shut. In the case of master bedroom closets, kids’ closets and hall closets, however, what often happens is that more and more items get tossed or stuffed in and, little by little, chaos begins to reign. The good news is that there is a solution! Getting your closet organized isn’t as hard as you might think it would be. If the idea of revamping your closet is overwhelming, here are some tips to help you get this area of your home under control:

Purge, purge, purge.
Easier said than done, right? It’s been said that the average person wears only 20% of his or her clothing on a regular basis, but most of us would find it hard to donate or discard four-fifths of our wardrobes! One tip that might help is finding a ruthless (preferably minimalist) friend to come and help you make tough decisions. Another is to box up items that you think you might not want, dating the box for six months into the future. At the end of six months, donate whatever is left in the box to your favorite charity. If even that seems too radical to you, you could try the closet trick recommended on ApartmentTherapy.com: Put your hangers in the wrong way (with the hooks facing you). As you use items and put them back, take care to put the hangers back the correct way. At the end of six months (or whatever time period you prefer), you’ll be able to see at a glance what you have and have not worn. Of course, this tip is not as immediate as some others.
Consider a custom closet system.
Custom closet companies are made up of professionals whose job it is to make sense of your mayhem. With a wide variety of designs, closet accessories and experience, your local custom closet expert can build you a storage system that will perfectly suit your home and life. What makes custom closets different than the type that you can buy in a home improvement store is that they’re completely individualized for each particular client. No matter what your specific storage needs are, and no matter what offbeat features your closet might have, a custom closet builder can help you conquer your clutter.
Try a few tricks that you can do yourself.
If you are unable to have an entire closet system built, you can still make your closet easier to keep neat and tidy. For example, baskets and bins can go a long way toward keeping smaller items under control. You can roll ties and belts and put them in a basket on a shelf, instead of draping them over hangers, where they are likely to fall on the floor and get stepped on. If you do not have a shoe rack, a short set of shelves can nestle nicely against the wall to keep your footwear in good condition. Even something as simple as switching from wire hangers to those made of tubular plastic can go a long way in keeping the hangers from getting tangled or snagging on clothing.

Getting your closet organized isn’t something that you have to do in one fell swoop. You can always go section by section, working on it for an hour at a time over several weekends. Try to think of ways that you can make a dent in this project in order to make the task less overwhelming.

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