The
professional organizer's mantra is that an organized
closet can save you time, aggravation and money. A sense
of order in your closet can also give you peace of mind.
Here are some tried-and-true suggestions to get you
in the frame of mind to create your sense of order in
the closet:
1. Make
sure that you can see what's in your closet. That way
you know what you have and won't buy a duplicate when
shopping.
2. After
sorting your clothes and determining what to keep, group
by length. There are four basic types of storage in
closets: long hang, short hang, shelves and baskets.
They can be further grouped by color and print.
3. Clothes
can also be separated another way by type: casual, dress
and seasonal (or out-of-season). Out-of-season items
can be placed on hard-to-reach top shelves in clear
bins or garment bags. To keep moths out, put some cedar
sticks in with your clothes. More frequently used items
should be kept on easy-to-access lower shelves.
4. A
word about clothes hangers: Specialty wood hangers are
the premium hangers for keeping your clothes at their
best. However, many prefer inexpensive tubular plastic
hangers because they can also be used to drip dry wet
clothes or dry damp clothes from the dryer. In any case,
the recommendation is to get rid of the wire hangers!
They bend, get tangled up, don't support your clothes
and leave wire lines as well. Many dry cleaners will
be happy to take your wire hangers and recycle them.
5. Love
your shoes? A shoe rack (or two or more) can be your
best friend. Hanging shoe racks that you can hang from
the back of your door are perfect for a small closet.
Or you can find pouch-type organizers that hang specifically
from a closet pole or wire shelf. They're not only good
for shoes but for accessories like scarves and belts.
Some diehards still prefer to keep the original shoe
boxes to store their shoes and stack them on shelves.
With scanners and digital camera, it's easy now to take
a picture of one shoe and attach to the box.
You can also stack shoes on the floor, but they'll
get dusty. If you insist on using the floor, point each
pair of shoes in a different direction. It will give
you more room.
6. Speaking
of scarves and belts, there are accessories you can
add to keep them organized. Tie and belt racks. Need
we say more?
7. A
valet rod (or two) enables you to stage clothing the
night before and saves valuable time in the morning.
One valet rod goes a long way.
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