Organize Your Bedroom Closet for Next to Nothing

Whether it’s your New Year’s Resolution to become a more organized person or just something you want to do to help yourself save time on a daily basis, becoming organized doesn’t happen overnight, but with a little bit of effort, you too will be on the path to a less stress induced life. Staying organized saves not only time, but money because if you know what you have, you eliminate the risk of buying things you already own.  The hardest step is the first one.  You can do this by starting with organizing something small, such as your bedroom closet.  The smaller the project, the faster it will be for the gratification to follow.  Let’s begin. 

< ! - - - - [if!supportLists] - - - - >-       Purge.  Note three boxes or sections in your bedroom for this project.  Price (either in your mind or on a piece of paper) one share the Keep pile, one for Giving Away and one labeled Throw It Away.  Just as it sounds, the Hold pile will consist of items going back into your closet such as your favorite pair of jeans and that tee shirt you wear on a weekly basis.  The Giving Away pile will be for shoes and pieces of clothing that are still in really advantageous condition, but you just don’t seem to ever wear.  Giving Away covers the gamut of items that go to a local tax deductible charity, pieces that you’d like to sell on Ebay and recoup some of your monetary investment on or to a friend that may want it.  The Throw It Away pile is self exclamatory.  Items that have seen better days, like your passe tank top you used to wear back in college that’s now so thin, you can see accurate thru it go into this pile. 

Decide on each item you pick up right then and there.  A general rule in organizing clothing is, if you don’t purchase wearing the allotment within a 12 month timeframe, then chances are that you’re not going to wear it ever again.  Set it in the Giving Away pile and move on to the next item.  The longer you physically hold onto something, the easier it is to become more emotionally attached to it.  With that being said, you might want to have a close relative or friend over while you’re purging your closet as an fair set of eyes that will tell you his or her thoughts on whether that pink and brown striped wool jacket really does look good on you or not.  Just because you bought it on sale for 85% off the unusual retail price, collected seems as though you’ve spent blueprint too much money on it if you’ve never even feeble it.  Do you really need 5 pairs of black pumps?   Wouldn’t just one or two sets suffice?   Do those knee high hot pink boots with rhinestones along the edge really go with anything else in your wardrobe?   Probably not, so place them in the Giving Away pile and move on to the next item.

If you rep yourself holding onto things for sentimental reasons, give yourself permission to withhold a few pieces that actually have a colossal deal of meaning for you and stow them neatly away in a Rubbermaid brand type of container.  Keep the container either in the back of your closet or in an attic or basement clearly labeled on the outside with what the contents are on the inside. 

Once you’ve filtered through everything in your closet and established what you’re keeping, it’s time to begin putting it back in.  Only this time, let’s accomplish a system.  Take a trip to your local superstore such as Target, Kmart or Wal-Mart and lift up enough hangers for all the pieces that you have that will be returning to your closet space. 

< ! - - - - [if!supportLists] - - - - >-       Buy all one type of wooden or plastic hanger in the same shade or color tone and rid yourself of those pesky wire hangers that do more damage than good to your clothing.  For many of us, we need to feel inspired, in order to not only become, but stay organized.  Whether you treat yourself to nice wooden hangers like I did or the el cheapo 12 white plastic hangers in a pack for $2.49, you’ll begin seeing your closet come together by making this small investment. 

< ! - - - [if!supportLists] - - - >-         < ! - - - [endif] - - - >Add sizable cup hooks to the inside wall of your closet to hang belts, scarves, ties, necklaces and bracelets.  This way they are easily accessible and they don’t become one tangled mess.

As you put the pieces back into your closet, decide on a system and stick with it.  Whether it be organizing your closet by color, which is my preferred method of closet organization – have one side begin with all white pieces and by the time you get to the end, store all your dark or black pieces, or organize by clothing type – all sweaters are grouped together, then all slacks and jeans, followed by coats and jackets.  Remember that you’re in control here.  Organize in the fashion that best works for you.  The key is to stick with it from here on out.  If you aren’t motivated enough with the system from the start, then you aren’t going to be able to stick with it long term. 

When you place your shoes back into the closet, one suggestion is to expend a book shelf to store them on instead of piling them in the corner of the closet floor.  I purchased a couple of 2 shelf bookcases at a local overstock store for under $20 a piece.  Shoes fit perfectly on the shelves and if you want to go the extra step for a more uniformed look, pick up some plastic lidded shoeboxes to store your shoes in.  They also fit great on the shelves of the bookcase and protect your shoes from scuffs.  For those of you feeling ultra motivated, take photos of each pair and hot glue or tape them to the outside of each lidded shoebox so that you can easily refer to what’s inside without removing the lid.  Though I like to judge of myself as a motivated, organized individual, I have yet to take on this project!

< ! - - - - [if!supportLists] - - - - >-         < ! - - - - [endif] - - - - >In and Out.  Get rid of one item from your closet for every one item you add to it.  Donate to charity, sell on Ebay or give to a friend the pieces you trade out.  Of course this tip might be easier said than done. If you at least attempt this philosophy, some exertion is better than no effort.  Just remind yourself of how mundane it was to organize and sort through everything in your closet to originate with and that should be motivation enough to follow through with this tip!

Remember, you’re in control.  There is light at the end of the tunnel and starting with a small zone in your home like your bedroom closet is great motivation to see the potential effect being organized can have on your life.  Congratulations on taking steps to lead a more fulfilled life.  Elated organizing to you!