Spring Cleaning! 5 Ways to Organize Your Walk-in Closet
All walk-in closets have the potential to be transformed into an amazingly organized space that you want to walk into. If you put “organize walk-in closet” on your spring cleaning to-do list, you’ll be in closet and clothing bliss–what could be better?
Before you organize your walk-in closet, you need to first purge.
That’s right. A full purge. No holds barred.
Pull out everything from your closet, from the lightest hanger to the heaviest box. Go through each and every item you own, delegating it into one of three piles:
- Keep: Items that are flattering, stylish, worn frequently, and you’d actually buy today
- Donate or sell: Items that no longer fit, suit you, flatter you, or you wouldn’t buy today
- Throw away: Shabby, ripped, stained, or otherwise stuff too sad to wear, donate, or sell
The less items you have, the easier it is to organize.
A thorough purge is followed by a thorough cleaning. This includes scrubbing, dusting, vacuuming, sweeping, or otherwise sprucing up every nook and cranny of the closet that may have not seen daylight (or cleaning fluids) for years.
Then you can get to the fun stuff.
Organize Walk-in Closet Strategies
The actual organization is where it gets exciting, especially if you invest in the right organizational items for the job.
Hanging Stuff
Many walk-in closets already come with hanging rods and shelving units, which you can certainly leave in place. Make the most of the hanging rods by picking up slim, coordinated hangers that maximize your hanging space.
Pepper empty wall space with rows of hooks for belts, scarves, and other accessories.
Shelves, Baskets, and Bins
Use shelf dividers, bins, baskets, and cubbies to create smaller pockets of organized space. You can even place smaller, portable shelving or drawer units on larger shelves. QVC and HSN are both keen on a variety of closet baskets, shoe organizers, and bins.
The Container Store is keen on a variety of closet organizational anything.
Closet Systems
If your closet happens to be an open maw, or if you have no problem removing existing yet useless shelves and rods, a full-fledged closet system can be an ideal solution.
Here you’re treated to a ready-made closet organizer, some of which run from floor to ceiling and even expand to match the closet width. Ikea and Target have good lineups of closet systems, or you can always mix and match any combination of stand-along shelving and hanging units.
View Target coupons, deals and cash back options here.
Coordination Tips
A number of methods can help organize your closet hanging space.
- Color: Follow the ROY B GIV color arrangement of red, orange, yellow, blue, green, indigo, and violet.
- Season: Heavier winter items go on one side, summer items on the other. Spring and fall wear go in between.
- Function: Dressy dresses get a section, as does business attire and casual wear.
Bins, baskets, and cubbies work best organized by item types, such as all sandals or all outdoor gear.
Level Strategy
Organize walk-in closet items further still based on how often you use them. Think of the closet as being divided into three different levels:
- Eye level: Most-used items go here
- Top level: Things you want to keep but rarely use
- Bottom level: Sweaters and other heavy items, shoes, and stuff convenient to store in a bin on the floor
Lighting
Lighting it also important for organizing your walk-in closet. Brightness will make your space look bigger and brighter, giving an instant remodeled look. Browse Home Depot coupons for discounts on lighting.
Mix, match, and adapt any of the techniques to organize walk-in closet stuff in a way that works for you. And whenever you’re ready to do it, head to Shopathome.com for the best deals and cash back before you invest in your walk-in closet needs.