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.

Keeping organized once you get that way can be terribly frustrating! It takes a lot of time, effort, and schedule adjustments to get things organized. Nothing is more infuriating that getting it done and then seeing it almost immediately back how it was; cluttered and disastrous. Use these tips for tackling problem areas and implementing habits that will help you stay organized all year.

1) Getting it done right the first time is important. If you’ve somehow found the time to tackle an area, then you’re not likely to do it again anytime soon. Therefore, make sure that you do it right. Don’t focus so much on getting it done quickly as getting it done correctly. Dumping everything into a box that you’ll “go through later” is only masking the problem.

2) Find a specific place for things. If you think about it, you can categorize everything in your home. For most people, it becomes difficult when it’s time to organize random items, like the kids’ school work, old photos, knick knacks, souvenirs, and even sentimental clothing. If you actually make a list of what you own and divide it into categories, this category would probably be called “miscellaneous”. Ban the miscellaneous category from your life and you’ll begin to see things in an organized manner.

3) Miscellaneous just means that you haven’t thought about it or made an effort to compartmentalize these items. That’s why they build up and cause problems. They’re like the virus of your organized home, taking hold wherever you let them touch. Some things may seem like junk, but they are actually very precious to you. Take the kids’ school and artwork, for example. This is something that would be great to keep, so you make a stack. Eventually the stack has to be thrown away because it’s just mixed up with a lot of other junk. Fix this one problem by making a specific place for all of the kids’ work to go. A portfolio for each child will fix the problem. When you’re looking through their work and see something you want to keep, toss it in the portfolio. If it’s filed, it’s not junk, but the keepsake that you had hoped it would be. Make the file easy to access so that you actually use it.

4) Think conservatively. Only you can set boundaries for yourself. If your house is really full, then you’ve allowed yourself to own more than you need. Clothes can become a big problem because we’re constantly updating our style, size, or simply adding to what we own. Get your closets in order using special clothes hangers, like wood hangers, to keep them nice and neat. Get rid of something every time you bring something in and it will stay organized.

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 a closet yourself can be easy and fun. The results can be even better than a professional closet organizer, because you are more capable of determining what will work best for you. If you’re having trouble determining where to start or what to do next, these tips can help. You don’t have to spend a whole lot of time or money organizing your closet. With a few simple adjustments, you can have a closet that you are happy to use every day.

First, determine the most prevalent use of your closet. Do you use it more for storage, to keep your suits, coats and dresses, or do you use it to keep all of your clothes? The types of things that you keep in the closet will help you to determine what types of spaces you will need. So, start with your most basic use of your closet.

If you only keep work clothes and dress clothes in your closet, then you should invest in some clothes hangers that will keep these clothes safe and wrinkle free. For suits, coats, and dresses, contoured hangers are often best. They help your clothes to keep the shape at the shoulder. There should be no taught edges and you shouldn’t have to stretch the necks to get these garments on the hangers. If your hangers seem too large, look for petite sized hangers. If they’re not big enough and your suits sag over the shoulders, look for extra large hangers, or plus sized hangers. Adjustable hangers are great for garments that don’t really fit well on any type of standard hanger.

If you keep all of your clothes in your closet, then separation is your goal. You will need shelves, bins, and probably multiple levels of hanging space. You will need one long hanging space for longer things, like dresses. For everything else, you should be able to hang them in about three feet of vertical space. A small hanging bar is often sufficient for hanging dress shirts and pants. Shelves are useful for folded t-shirts, pajamas, and bins designated for socks, tights, underwear, swimwear, etc.

If you need storage in your closet, check out the ceiling. Vertical space is too often ignored and it goes wasted. Think about moving your shelves and hanging bars up closer to the ceiling. This can free up space near the bottom of the closet or create more usable space in the center.

Determine which closet accessories will help you most. Specialty hangers are great for getting ties, belts, and scarves out of the way. Wood hangers are often best for hanging heavy coats and suits. Choose clothes hangers that are meant for what you are using them for. Pants hangers with non-slip bars, skirt hangers with non-staining clips, and cascading hangers that save space can all be very useful in a closet. Getting your closet organized is not as hard as you may have imagined!

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.