You’ve pulled everything out of your closet, and you made your decisions on what to keep-sell-donate. If you haven’t done that yet, read my previous post here http://reneholiday.com/closet-101-how-to-decide-what-to-keep-donate-sell/for help. Time to organize! Create a closet (no matter the size) that is easy to shop and more importantly stress free. This is the post where we colorize and organize. I by no means have a huge Walk-In closet. It’s just a regular closet. After living in Brooklyn for so many years, I learned how to optimize the space blessed upon me. I’m more than happy to share my organizing tips with you! So let’s go!

With everything out of your closet (or at least one section ex: blouses) organizing will be much easier. I suggest placing the pieces that you wear the most, in the easiest place for you to reach. I own several blazers/jackets. Depending on the season, their rotation is not consistent. Therefore, they don’t get prime real estate in my closet. Dresses are  a “Go to” for me, so they get about 1/3 of my closet.

I’m going to start with Tops/Shirts. That’s something relateable to both men and women. Group “Like pieces with Like pieces”. For ex: knits with knits, and wovens with wovens. This is where the rolling rack comes in handy again. Once you have the categories separated, then separate by sleeve length. Start with sleeveless end with long sleeve- keep it simple. Everything in between will fall right into place. Once you have this completed, then you want to colorize. I use a method I call ROYGBIV (prounouned roy-gee-biv). It is a made up word from a previous retail manager that I worked for, but it WORKS and it’s easy to remember. It literally stands for:

• Red
• Orange
• Yellow
• Green
• Blue
• Violet

It’s to help you colorize from light to dark. Starting with your whites, and ending in your blacks. That’s it, that’s all. You can variate this, however you like, with whatever makes you comfortable. Again, the goal is to create a shoppable, stress free closet… I use ROYGBIV for every category in my closet. Dresses, pants, EVERYTHING! If I’m looking for a “Blue Blouse”, I can go straight to my blue wovens and shop! Repeat this process in every category of your closet.

Another important piece to organizing your closet is hangers. Personally, I’m a fan of velvet slim hangers. You can buy them by the dozens https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/s/velvet-hangers?ta=typeahead&flyout=true They really do allow you to get more pieces into your closet. You can also buy waterfall hooks to hang off of them, that help layer your pieces. Making for even more room in your closet. If you have the typical NYC size closet, you need all the space you can get! I like crystal hangers as well, they usually have a hole in the top to easily layer your pieces. I just find that they break easily.

Pants: Please, please, please invest in actual pant hangers. Properly hanging your pants not only gives you more space in your closet, pant hangers are kinder to the fabric of your pants. And… you can easily find some that waterfall! Giving you more space in your closet. Don’t forget to colorize- ROYGBIV!

Skirts: Keep it simple… Hang and organize the same as your pants. I like to use the following hangers pictured below. You can hang four skirts at a time. Creating more space in your closet.

Blazers/Poncho’s/Cardigans: This is the category where I prefer to use wooden hangers. Wooden hangers help keep the shape of the blazers. Again, separate “Like with Like” and colorize. If you own quite a few pieces, I recommend buying waterfalls. As I mentioned before, wooden hangers take up valuable space. The waterfalls will help with that.

Dresses: I organize my dresses similar to my tops/shirts. “Like with Like”, sleeve length, then colorize. I have my sleeveless as one category. With sleeves as a category. Maxi length as a category. Each category is organized by sleeve length. Again, dresses are a “Go to” for me, it helps that I can shop them with ease. You may not need that many steps. Gage your inventory to decide. Do what works best for you.

Organizing and colorizing your closet may start off feeling like a chore, but it WILL pay off. I recommend committing to a set amount of time either daily or weekly. But stick to whatever you decide to commit to. Once you complete fully complete the process, maintaining your closet is easy. As I mentioned in my previous post, I do this once a season. Being able to see your clothes makes it easier to decide what to keep*sell*donate.

Remember, this is just a basic guide to get your closet organized. You may find other ways, through this experience, that work better for your closet and lifestyle. If you do, please share them in the comments below! If you get stuck somewhere in the process, please comment as well- I’m here to help!

Next post we’ll tackle folding techniques. I’ll teach you how to fold like the pro’s…

#closetorganizing, #closettips, #clost101, #organize