Everyone we spoke with stressed that the first step to creating an efficient, organized closet is to take stock of what’s inside, and to get rid of anything you don’t love or use regularly. You don’t need to dramatically pare down your wardrobe, but try not to let items you never use take up valuable closet space. Naeemah Ford Goldson, founder of the National Association of Black Professional Organizers, suggests a quick rule of thumb for bidding farewell to items that might have outlived their welcome: If you haven’t worn it in a year, donate it. And if something doesn’t fit or reflect who you are today, donate it. Our experts also offered the following tips for organizing closets of any size:
- Consider your goals: Ask why you’re taking this on, whether it’s decluttering, saving time, or aesthetics. “Once you know the reason why you want to become organized, it’s easier to find a method that will work best for your needs,” says Goldson.
- Take stock before you buy: Once you’ve gotten rid of what you don’t want, take a hard look at what remains, and make a plan for the best way to store it. Organizer Beth Penn told us that until you’ve taken inventory, you won’t know what kind of storage you’ll need, and you may end up buying bins and boxes that don’t actually work for you.
- Choose streamlined organizing tools: Especially for a small area, invest in the most space-efficient storage tools you can find. Look for items like slim hangers and shelf dividers, rather than bulky wooden hangers or bins with drawers that take up more space.
- Keep things visible and accessible: Debbie Harwin told us she recommends choosing organizers that make it simple to see and access everything in your closet. For example, it’s easier to see sweaters when they’re separated by shelf dividers, as opposed to stacked away in boxes. Try to give everything a place to live, especially items like shoes, which can get overlooked.
- Take advantage of “found storage”: Julie Morgenstern suggested using hooks inside doors, to gain more hanging space, and grouping long-hanging and short-hanging clothing together, to free up a chunk of floor below the shorter pieces.
- Utilize vertical space: Not everything that you’ve been hanging must be hung, says Katrina Green. Sometimes folding and storing in shelving will free up valuable space for what does truly need to live on a hanger.
- Dress rehearse: Green suggests testing out new methods of storing for at least a couple weeks before buying products for a new organizing system. That might mean folding shirts away into cardboard boxes before investing in new bins, for instance. “If you find that it is causing you more stress than relieving you of it, then it’s time to look for another system,” she says.
- Be patient: Getting organized is a process, and it takes time, says Goldson. “Don’t be too hard on yourself. The clutter didn’t accumulate in a day, so it will take more than a day to get it under control.”
- Be loving: Organizing can be stressful, and it can bring up a lot of emotions. Rebekah Bashorun, founder of Organize for Love, says to be compassionate with yourself and where you are in your organizing process, and to “give yourself grace.”
Last but not least, Bashorun says not to delay organizing just because you feel like your current living situation is temporary. She says she’s lived in her share of less-than-ideal situations, and it taught her to treat every space she’s in with the same care. She advises getting started, no matter how short-term your situation may seem, since the habits you form now can carry over—and disorganized habits rarely flip as soon as you move to your dream home.