Monthly Archives: October 2010

Custom Closet DIY

Everyone has a unique array of belongings that they need to keep in their closets. There is no one-size-fits-all design that suits everyone’s tastes and needs. Some people only use their closets for clothes and their shoes. Others may use it only for storage. You could keep important items put away or out of a child’s reach. No matter what you use your closet for, you should find a way to keep it organized so that you can find what you need when you need it.

Shelves, drawers, bins and other containers can help you get your closet organized. Small shelving can usually be added on one or both sides of the closet. These are great for small storage items like jewelry ties, socks, underwear, and shoes. They are also good for keeping miscellaneous items that would otherwise cause clutter. Some people keep photo albums, cameras, sports equipment, duffel bags and craft supplies stored in their closets. Making a place for everything will help you keep the closet neat and organized.

Using shelves can help you to quickly and easily create versatile storage areas. You may find that you need less hanging space if you have more shelves. Try some different designs on paper before you decide what you need. A pants hanging bar or pants tree can be installed at the side of the closet, eliminating the need for a long hanging bar. Shelves can be mixed in with shorter hanging bars, making it easy to keep things separated and utilizing wasted space.

You can also eliminate the need for a lot of hanging space by using specialty clothes hangers. Suit hangers allow you to hang pants, shirts, and jackets together in one spot. Other cascading hangers allow you to hang multiple skirts or pants on one hanger. Coordinate hangers allow you to match up tops and bottoms so that you double the space in your closet. Hang your coats and suits on coat hangers or wood hangers that are designed to hold them properly. Other items can be hung on hangers that save space.

Use baskets, bins, buckets, whatever you need to get the shelves organized. When everything has a place, it is easy to keep things straight. You can even have a special bin for things that you decide to give away or sell in a garage sale. This will help you to be selective about what you keep. If you try something on and there’s something that you just don’t like about a garment, get rid of it. If you get organized and realize that you have multiple white shirts, get rid of your least favorites. Keeping things coming out of the closet will help you to avoid clutter and make getting ready a simple task.

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.

How to Choose the Right Hanger Type

Deciding which hangers will work best in your closet can be tougher than you thought! There are so many styles to choose from and each style has its own types and features. Each type of hanger is designed with a specific purpose in mind, making it even more difficult to decide which is best. We’ve created this guide to help you determine which clothes hangers will make your closet the organizer’s dream that you’ve been hoping for.

Hangers for Suits and Coats: Coats and suits need to hang right to keep their shape. The shoulders of these types of garments are often made with unique materials that can bend and lose shape over time. The wider shoulders and curved design of suit and coat hangers give these garments the support that they need to stay in shape. Many wooden hangers are made this way, as well as cedar hangers and specialty suit hangers. Even if you’re looking to save room in your closet, you should at least hang coats and suits on these larger hangers. It’s better to use a little more space for them and then use space saving hangers for your shirts and pants that can be kept in a more compact space.

Non-Slip Hangers for Shirts and Pants: Nothing is worse than finding your clothes crumpled up on the floor when you need them. Hangers with non-slip grips or clips that don’t crease clothing are great to have. Additionally, your closet can look sloppy if everything is not staying in place.

Hangers for Delicates: Some fabrics can be easily stretched out at the neck or snagged by hangers with protrusions. Z-Hangers are perfect for delicates because they allow you to slide the shoulders of shirts around the neck, avoiding stretching and pulling. Satin hangers are also great for hanging delicate fabrics and look nice in your closet.

Hangers for Accessories and Storage: Specialty hangers are great for organizing belts, scarves, and ties in your closet. You can also get ones that are made to hold sheets, table cloths, quilts and comforters, making organization easy for you.

Hangers for Saving Closet Space: Space saving clothes hangers have a flat design so that you can hang your garments close together. Sometimes they also have clips and hooks that you can add on. Clips are great for pairing shirts and pants together on one hanger. Hooks go over the neck of the hanger and allow you to drape other hangers from the first one. Using these space saving marvels can double or triple the space available in your closet.

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.

How Displays Affect Pricing

The displays in your store are an important piece of the retail puzzle. Customers’ opinions are affected by everything that they see. You want to control what the customer thinks as much as possible. Here we will discuss some of the dos and don’ts of retail displays. Following these guidelines will help your customers to feel like your prices are fair and hopefully increase your sales.

The first rule is pretty basic. You don’t want your store to look like a mess when customers come inside. Using too many tables and shelves for displays can make your store look disorganized, because customers will invariably need to rummage through folded stacks of clothes to find their size. Even if you have sizes separated by shelf, customers will still have to unfold to get a good look at the garment and will put it back on whichever shelf is most convenient.

Use wall space and display systems like slatwall to keep the store looking neater. You can use garment racks to hang extra clothing and keep the store looking neat. Be careful not to crowd garment racks. You do want the customers to have plenty of space for maneuvering about the store. They don’t want to be back-to-back with other customers or staff.

Also, using too many garment racks can make the store look crowded and bland. If the customer can’t see what you have without sifting through, then they’re not likely to look around for long. Make sure that you utilize three dimensional displays to keep the customer interested. Hanging mannequin forms are great for creating feature displays on garment racks and slatwall displays. You can also display hanging outfits on top of your garment racks. Customers that can see how clothes look and stay interested as they make their way through the store.

Another thing to keep in mind is that customers tend to shop at eye level. Make sure that the focal points of your garment rack and shelving displays are where they will get customers’ attention. Every display should have a point of focus and should be designed to make the customer want to slow down and investigate. The longer a customer spends at your garment racks or feature displays, the more likely they are to spend extra money.

People associate the quality of an item with the way that it is displayed. Cheap, plastic displays communicate discounted, lower quality merchandise. People expect sunglasses on a checkout rack to be a lot cheaper than sunglasses in a glass display case in the same location. Price things according to the display quality and you should increase your sales and minimize the amount of merchandise that you have to clearance out.

About the Author: John Garvey is on the staff of Only Garment Racks, a leading online source of garment racks including clothing racks. Find a high quality garment rack or clothing rack at http://www.onlygarmentracks.com.