Everyone wants a primary bedroom closet that in tidy and organized.
An organized closet reduces stress because everything is easy to find and looks pretty.
Whether small, large, or somewhere in between, here are some basic organizing tips, tricks, and ideas that professional organizers use that will help almost everyone organize their closet.
photo courtesy of Brent Eckley flickr.com/photos/96831183@N08/34848911222/Purge
Before starting to organize your closet, you must purge what you have.
Remove everything from your closet and put it in piles.
The first pile is for clothing, shoes, purses, and other items that you want to keep and plan on wearing sometime in the coming year.
The second pile should contain items that you want to give away, such as out-of-style clothing. Also put in this pile shoes that hurt your feet but you have trouble getting rid of because they were expensive, anything that does not belong to you, anything you love but has a set in stain so it is unwearable, and clothing that does not make you feel good when wearing it (unless it is required for work). Put these items in a different room or in your car to remove from your home.
The third pile is for items that need to be repaired because they have a slight rip or are missing a button. This pile will be moved to a location where you are more likely to take them to be repaired or repair them yourself.
Take this opportunity to thoroughly clean all of the shelves and other hidden spaces in your closet.
Here is a professional organizer trick - after your closet has been cleaned, return the items in the first pile to your closet, but hang the coat hangers on the rod backwards. After you wear the items, launder them, and return them to your closet, hang the coat hangers on the rod the way you normally do. After a while, you will be able to easily see which items you have worn and which items you have not worn by how they are hanging in your closet.
Professional organizers know that you should purge the items in your closet every 3 months to ensure your primary closet stays organized.
In order to simplify and beautify yourself and your closet, consider creating a capsule wardrobe, which is a very small collection of clothing that can be mixed and matched to create different combinations. All of the clothing in your capsule must be items of high quality that you absolutely love and feel great wearing. You should have a small capsule wardrobe for each of the 4 seasons, but pieces can be worn in multiple seasons. Capsule wardrobes help simplify getting dressed in the morning because there are fewer options and you look great in everything. The only down side is that you have to do laundry more frequently and your clothing may wear out sooner because it is being worn more often.
Calculate Storage Requirements
After purging the items in your closet, you should calculate how much space you need for long hanging items (dresses, long coats, or pants that are not folded), short hanging items (shirts, short jackets, or shorts), folded clothing, shoes, purses, neck ties, hats, scarves, and other items you wish to keep in the closet.
Consider the width and height needed for each section of clothing. A profesional organizer trick is to determine whether you can hang your clothing differently (such as folding over pants to be short hanging instead of long hanging) or fold shirts and put them in a dresser instead of hanging them.
Analyze your current closet configuration to determine whether it works well for your storage needs. You might decide to reconfigure your closet storage or purchase a closet system #ad to better utilize the space you have in your closet. You can go the DIY route, hire a contractor, or hire a professional closet organizer to rework your closet storage.
A professional organizer tip is to consider the entire height of your closet since some closet systems allow for a 3rd clothing rod #ad to hang very high towards the ceiling but have a pull down rod for easy access.
Identical Hangers
The easiest and often cheapest way to get a cohesive look and feel in your primary closet is to invest in matching coat hangers.
A lesser expensive option for new hangers is to use plastic hangers. Most stores sell these hangers in a white color for about 10 to 20 cents each.
If you would prefer a more colorful hanger, plastic hangers also come in fun colors, but make sure to get all 1 color instead of a mixture of colors. You should buy extra colorful hangers because the fun colors are harder to find. Also get hangers with clips if you require them.
High end designer closets typically have wood coat hangers #ad. Luckily, the price of wood hangers has gone down and some are around $1 each.
Another idea is to invest in specialty hanging organizers #ad for items such as belts, folded clothes/linens, shoes, ties, scarves, jewelry, a double closet rod extender #ad, or purses.
Professional organizers know that many dry cleaners will recycle wire hangers, so don't just throw them in the trash.
Identical Storage Containers
Towards the top of your primary closet you can store random items in storage boxes.
A professional organizer tip is to use identical storage boxes to make the top of your closet look neat, tidy, and cohesive.
You can store old photo albums, memorabilia, Christmas decorations, extra linens, old sentimental toys, collections, and anything else you need to hold onto but don't want displayed.
Hook for Outfit
A popular idea when organizing a closet is to add an outfit hook.
The outfit hook is a great place to temporarily hang all items needed for an outfit when selecting an outfit for now or later.
The hook can be out all the time, or it can be a retractable hook that you pull out only when needed.
A Place to Sit
Add a bench or ottoman to sit on if your closet it large enough.
The seat will be very helpful when putting on shoes or having a place for a friend or child to sit while you are in the closet.
Lighting
Proper lighting is important when designing a primary bedroom closet. Professional organizers know that if your closet does not have an abundance of light, you should add more. Try to eliminate shadows wherever possible.
You can add lighting in the ceiling using recessed can lights or a pretty chandelier. You can also use wall sconces and shelf lights to ensure proper lighting of the items in your closet.
Other Closet Options
If your closet is large enough, there are many other extra ideas that people like to include in their primary closet. Some of the extras include a makeup vanity, a washer and dryer, a freestanding island with drawers, a place for jewelry and sunglasses, a hidden safe, a laundry hamper, a floor length mirror, and an ironing board.
Also consider the decor of your primary closet. You can decorate the ceiling with decorative molding or a fun pattern and your floor can have a unique rug.
