How you organize your closet will differ slightly based on the space you have, the amount of clothes you own, and the kind of life you lead. However, these 5 basic, universal steps can be applied to any closet and any wardrobe.

Step 1 – Prepare

The first step to efficiently organize your closet is ensure you have the right tools and supplies on hand. Have the following ready-to-go before you begin:

• Shopping Bags: Sturdy bags to transport clothes to the donation center, tailor and dry cleaner. If you don’t have bags, boxes and bins will do in a pinch.
• Tape Measure: To measure shelving and hanging space. Don’t forget a notebook and the writing utensil of your choice to jot down your closet’s measurements.
• Full-Length Mirror: In order to decide between “toss” and “keep,” make sure your mirror can accommodate your entire image.
• Catch All Basket: Loose change, papers, rubber bands, hair clips, wads of cash (score!) and assorted receipts you’ll find in pants pockets. You don’t want to have to stop in the middle to file these small items so just put them aside for now into your catch all basket.

Gathering these items before you begin will allow you to to hit the ground running and you’ll be ready to dive into cleaning out your closet.

Step 2 – Clean The Closet

You need a clear, clean space to plan and visualize how you’re going re-organize your closet. Take everything out of your closet including:

• Clothing;
• Accessories (i.e. shoes, handbags, scarves, etc.); and,
• Closet organizers such as shelf dividers, trays, baskets, bins and hangers.

Then, give your closet a good 3-step cleaning:

1. Dust the shelving and hanging rods.
2. Run the vacuum or Swiffer the floor.
3. Wipe down any baskets or bins that could be collecting dirt and dust.

At this point in the process, I am already feeling pretty accomplished because I’ve cleaned something—and more prepared for the steps ahead.

Step 3 – Sort Clothes

Closets are finite spaces so choose wisely when giving up valuable real estate and be prepared to separate your clothes into distinct piles:

• Toss
• Keep

It’s important to focus on what you want to “keep” at first rather than what you want to “toss.” Be a brutal critic here–if something is just so-so, you will probably not wear it, therefore it’s not worth the closet real estate.
Ask yourself these 3 questions:

1. Do you love it?
2. Do you wear it?
3. Does it project the image you want to project?

If the answer is YES to all 3, then you can confidently place that item into the Keeper pile. Congrats to that item!

Step 4 – Plan And Purchase A Closet Storage Solution

This is where you put everything back together in a way that makes sense to you, utilizes all of your available space and is attractive enough to motivate closet maintenance. This is also the step where you get to buy storage products your closet may need.

1. Group Like with Like: Belts, sweaters, long sleeve shirts, work pants, dresses, button-down shirts, jeans, shorts–you get the idea–and decide the best place to store each item as a group (i.e. hang pants in closet, fold and stack sweaters in a bureau).
2. Utilize Prime Real Estate: Reserve the front and middle of your closet for clothes you wear most often. Example: If you have to get dressed for work each morning at 6am, make sure your work clothes are easily accessible at the front of your closet. Lesser worn items like formal wear and out-of-season should be stored towards the back and on the upper shelves.
3. Spend Wisely: Measure the space, asses what you already have and then plan your closet accordingly. Our closet kits will do the job.

Working in groups of items will help you figure out how much space you need and the best way to store each type of item. Don’t forget to measure a space 3 times before buying a new storage item. Nothing is worse than carting something home and finding it’s just a smidge too wide.

Step 5 – Maintain Closet Organization

Rule of Thumb: The more often you work on closet maintenance, the less time it will take. Go through your closet and complete a quick makeover (or make-under) once a month, and tackle the full re-organization process twice a year.You can also follow one of these schedules:

• By Season: 4 times in the Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer or 2 times in the Fall and Spring.
• By Date: Choose an important date like your birthday or New Years and make a habit of re-organizing at that time each year.
• By Event: The next time you can’t find an important piece of clothing, that’s a good sign you need to re-org your closet.

I like to be fear driven: If the phone rings in the middle of the night and I need to immediately pack for a trip/get ready for a job interview/dress for a cocktail party with 20 minutes notice, (this happens on TV dramas all the time, so it’s bound to happen to me at some point, right?) do I know where the pieces I would need are?

It seems as though it’s hard to believe every year. For as seemingly endless as winter can feel in many parts of the country, summer flies by faster than you can say ‘don’t forget the sunblock!’ And then, the advertisements start to flood into newspapers. Commercials take over the television. Store-front signs remind you at every turn. Yes, it is that season that stretches parents’ pocketbooks to the brink of breaking and leaves kids stuck in a mix of being sad that summer is almost over, but excited to see their friends and get new things. It is…Back to School time. And it’s almost here!

While kids can float through summer wearing just about whatever they find on their bedroom floor, when the time comes to head back to class, it is also time to clean up their wardrobe act. Popsicle-stained tees and torn shorts aren’t going to pass dress code in most schools, and your kids probably wouldn’t want to wear them to class even if they could. But when I think back on hurried school mornings of my youth, and remember the times I had to throw on something seriously less than stylish because my choices were to find what I really wanted to wear or actually catch the bus, I am struck by how much some simple closet organization would have made my mornings better. Don’t let your kids make the same mistakes I did! Help them get their get their closets back to school ready!

One of the fastest, most affordable ways to turn a closet from cluttered to an organized dream is with Rubbermaid closet systems. At Home Storage Inc. we offer a wide array of Rubbermaid closet organizers to suit everyone’s unique space and wardrobe needs. We can’t promise a closet organizer will keep your kids clothes off the floor 100% of the time, but speaking from personal experience I can say that once I had a system in place that worked for me – as opposed to a single hanging bar – my closet never went back to the way it once was.

Once you have decided which system is right for you or your children, and the closet organizer is in place, help your son or daughter decide how they will make the most of it. They may already have ideas in mind, so hear those out and offer feedback. Perhaps they’ll designate space at the beginning of the week for everything they plan to wear over the next 5 days. This will ensure it’s all right at their fingertips so they don’t forget anything or misplace anything when they need it most. Or, if they’re sports players, they might dedicate some space just for sports necessities – socks, shorts, tees, headbands, etc. These little things can be tricky to find in a rush, but forgetting them can make for very uncomfortable practices or games, or not being able to play at all. An organized closet helps make everything easy to grab while also making it obvious if something is missing.

We hope our Rubbermaid closet organizers can play an important part in helping you or your child start every morning fresh and relaxed as we head back into the school season, and always!

While I enjoy many television shows, including everything from Project Runway to the various incarnations of Law & Order, there are no other shows on television right now affecting my actions quite like A&E’s Hoarders and TLC’s Hoarding: Buried Alive. While I am not and never have been a hoarder, I do often have a difficult time parting with things. And while I do watch these shows with my mouth agape in disbelief much like others I’ve talked to who watch, I also feel a profound sympathy for the majority of people on the show.

A word that is used time and again, episode after episode, is “overwhelmed”. We have all been there – overwhelmed – whether at work, in school, or in a more general way, from stress and obligation. But the overwhelming feeling these hoarders have is so tangible, so harshly judged, so seemingly insurmountable at times. And with my sincere sympathy for all they are literally and emotionally up against comes a personal call to action – to never let that happen to me.

It is highly unlikely that most of us will ever wake up to a home as filled to the brim as the home of a hoarder without an ongoing awareness of what was happening. After all, a floor to ceiling pileup of goods doesn’t happen overnight. However, it does happen one item at a time. One pair of shoes, one Christmas decoration, one expired can of soup at a time. Luckily, ridding yourself of things and the possibility of ever becoming overwhelmed with physical goods also happens one item a time. One pair of shoes, one Christmas decoration, one expired can of soup at a time. And that is exactly how I pare my things down to ensure I never wake up to more things than I can use, enjoy, store, or quite simply, handle.

I don’t say this to downplay the mental, emotional aspect of what hoarders are dealing with, as I am certain there is something very strong at play that prevents them from being able to part with items as easily as most of us can. But as someone who does feel a sense of loss at letting go of certain items, I am increasingly aware of how important it is that I not let that sense of loss win. And the reward for reigning triumphant above it is far-reaching and fantastic. By keeping only what I love, I get to enjoy it more, whether it be a knickknack or a pair of well-fitting pants.

Each week, after watching an episode of Hoarders or Hoarding: Buried Alive, I tackle a new clutter project. These projects are usually small, such as going through all my socks and tossing those that I no longer wear, or those with holes. Each of these projects amounts to small changes that become big changes. For one, I never accidentally wear a pair of socks with holes in them again! For another, the basket in my wood closet that holds my socks is no longer filled to the top, making finding a matching pair a tricky task while detracting from the attractiveness of my closet itself. It’s an all-around win!

If you’re like me and you feel what I’ve termed “The Hoarders Effect” kick in after watching one of the many clutter shows on television – you know, the desire to throw everything away! – I invite you to join me on the journey to a life of less unnecessary stuff, a greater appreciation of the things you do love, more breathing room, and a neater, more functional home. I hope you’ll love looking into your wood closet full of only your favorites as much as I love looking into mine. And I hope you’ll take time to really grasp that getting organized and investing in things like closet systems is about making your home and your things work for you instead of against you. All while wearing a pair of socks without a hole to be found.