Do you dream of having an organized closet? Does yours look more like a nightmare than a dream? It’s time to get your closet in order! You may be thinking, easier said than done. Even if you can open your closet door and an avalanche of junk comes pouring out, there is hope. There are ways to make the most of the space that you have by minimizing, categorizing, and making things more accessible.

Start with the things that you use most. This could be your jeans and t-shirts, or your work clothes. These things that need to be accessed most often should be in the front and center of your closet. By putting the things that rotate in and out the most in an easy access area helps to ensure that they’ll go back where they belong when you’re putting them away. If you have to get a box from the top shelf every day to put away your t-shirts, you’ll end up avoiding it and just piling them on the nearest shelf.

As a general rule, put the things that you use least up high, out to the sides, in the back or on the floor. Things that you want to keep organized and that need to be accessed most often need to be in the most accessible place.

Next you should make sure that you have a container, drawer, or special clothes hangers for each type of thing that you keep in your closet. Shorts should go in a drawer, stack neatly on a shelf, be kept in a big basket, or be hung on a special hanger with clips. Socks, scarves, mittens, gloves, hats, shoes, tote bags, robes, ties, belts, purses and other little things should all have special bins, baskets or hooks. You may have to install some shelving to accommodate everything that you want to keep in your closet.

Minimizing what you own makes everything a lot easier. Most of us hold onto clothing for ten or more years. However, a lot of these clothes have been stained, lost their shape, are out of style, or we are just simply never in the mood to wear them. Use the old trick of turning all of your hangers around backwards on the bar. As you wash and wear clothes, hang them back up in the normal fashion, with the hook facing the back. At the end of a year, give away whatever is still facing backwards without thinking twice. This will help you to really get rid of what you don’t need and free up some closet space.

Use specialty clothes hangers to make more space. Coordinate outfits or use hangers instead of bins for little things like belts, scarves and ties. You’ll notice a huge difference in how easy it is to maintain an organized closet when everything has a place that is easy access and when you’ve minimized the amount of clothing that you have to organize.

About the Author: Charlie Hafter is on the staff of Closet Hanger Factory, a leading online resource for clothes hangers. Get all of the closet and clothes hanger accessories you could need at http://www.closethangerfactory.com, which is recognized worldwide for their excellent quality hangers.

Most people can figure out how to organize things around their homes. However, most people also have trouble staying organized year round. Keeping your home in perfect order may seem like a fantasy. If you can’t keep up with everything perfectly, do not fret. Becoming a truly organized person often takes years of practice and many baby steps are taken along the way. Use these organization tips and hints to start getting one small part of your life truly organized at a time. When one is under control, you can move on to the next thing. Your life will continually improve making that dream of being organized and staying that way much more feasible.

1) Doing things right the first time is important. Don’t camouflage problem areas or rake things into a box that you’ll never get to. If you haven’t been able to keep the area organized before now, then simply clearing it off is not going to get to the root of the problem. Figure out why things in this area keep getting messy. Create a solution to the problem so that things don’t pile back up putting you right back where you started. In fact, the focus of organizing shouldn’t be to get things “cleaned up”. Truly think about the fact that you are working on finding a solution to the clutter problem.

2) Develop good habits by training yourself for a few days. As you move around your house, talk to yourself out loud. When you set down your purse, wallet, keys, or cell phone, commentate your activity so that you are not mindlessly making messes everywhere that you go. This practice helps to focus the mind and keep the concentration on taking responsibility for your actions. If you have to say to yourself, “I am laying my jacket on the ottoman” instead of “I am hanging my jacket in the coat closet”, then you’re more likely to do what you’re supposed to do instead of taking the shortcut.

3) If shortcuts seem to be the way things go around your house, then cater to them. If coats come off the second people come in the door, then hang a hanging bar there stocked with clothes hangers, like coat hangers. It doesn’t matter that the coat closet is just a few feet down the hall. If habits die hard and it’s going to cause a daily fight in your home, then it just isn’t worth the stress. Figure out ways to make life easier for yourself when you organize and you’ll be on your way to being an organized person all of the time.

About the Author: Charlie Hafter is on the staff of Closet Hanger Factory, a leading online resource for clothes hangers. Get all of the closet and clothes hanger accessories you could need at http://www.closethangerfactory.com, which is recognized worldwide for their excellent quality hangers.

Fixing up your closet can be fun and rewarding. Because you know your own habits and desires, the results of a do-it-yourself closet job can be better than if you had hired a professional closet organizer. Use these tips and tricks to get you started. There are plenty of things to think of and feel free to use all of your creativity to make your closet one that you will truly love to use. You don’t have to spend a lot to get a lot, either. Closet organization can be a fun, rewarding and economical experience that has a big impact on your life.

1) Determine what you use your closet for most. Some people use their closets mainly for storage while others use them in place of a dresser in their bedroom. Categorizing items in your closet will help you to start to develop ideas about how much space you will need for each type of item.

2) If you’re using your closet for storage, then you need to keep the things inside of it safe. Cedar closet liners, cedar wood hangers, and other cedar products are great for closets. Cedar absorbs moisture, neutralizes odors, and repels pests. Use sturdy wooden hangers for coats, suits and dresses. You may want to invest in some garment bags to protect things from dust. If you don’t want to spend much money, you can get some inexpensive plastic shoulder covers to keep off the majority of the dust that might settle on your expensive coats and suits.

3) If you use your closet mainly for your clothing, then you may want to take everything out and decide how much room you’ll need for each category. You may have twenty pairs of pants, fifteen skirts, eight tank tops, four cardigans, and forty shirts. Arrange things by length to free up some space below the shorter items. You may want to use some cascading clothes hangers to coordinate outfits. You can also use these hangers for hanging multiple pants, skirts, or tank tops on one hanger.

4) Saving space is a good idea because theoretically, you want to end up with about 20% of the closet empty. This leaves you room to maneuver and find what you need when you need it. It also makes space for collecting items that you decide to give to charity, or for new items coming in. Keeping a small stash of out of season clothing on hand will help you to avoid the dreaded mix up of summer and winter clothes.

About the Author: Charlie Hafter is on the staff of Closet Hanger Factory, a leading online resource for clothes hangers. Get all of the closet and clothes hanger accessories you could need at http://www.closethangerfactory.com, which is recognized worldwide for their excellent quality hangers.