Step-By-Step Guide to Organizing your Primary Closet

Hello friends!

Today we add our second installment of our wildly popular step-by-step series. If you missed our first one, click here. I have been so pleasantly surprised that so many of you have organized your pantries and sent me photos. It has been SO much fun!

For the primary closet, or any clothing closet for that matter, there aren't as many steps as there were for the pantry, but it's still a smallish space that holds a TON of stuff. I'd advise you to make your bed so that you will have a nice place to put things (it also is very motivating to help you finish since you will want to go to sleep eventually).

Step One - Empty The Closet

Are you noticing a theme? Yes, empty is always the first step - some of you are amazing students! Empty your closet of everything. If you share a closet and you are only dealing with your clothes, then empty out your things. This will be motivational to your partner I promise!

Step Two - Organize into Categories

Organize your clothing into short sleeved shirts, long sleeved shirts, jackets, casual pants, dress pants and so on. This way you will be able to see if you own waaaaaay too many black short sleeved shirts 🙋🏻‍♀️. This categorization will also help you to remember the clothing you forgot you had. Grab a donation bag and start with anything that doesn't fit or that you don't love. Keep it if you feel amazing in it and it's in good repair. Toss anything that is too worn out to donate. If you have more than a few sizes in your current wardrobe, I recommend keeping your current size and one size up and one size down. We all know how keeping clothing until we fit into it never seems to work. Our bodies (and styles) change and that's a good thing!

Step Three - Hangers

Decide what kind of hanger you'd like to use. You may already use a good quality hanger. They make a huge difference because they hold your clothes where they belong and they don't stretch out anything. I have a favorite that I use and that's a velvet hanger from the Container Store. They come in many colors and are very sturdy. Other hangers may look like this, but they break easily so be aware of that. Use one type of hanger throughout the entire closet and you will gain more space and create something truly beautiful.

Step Four - Fold Your Clothes

If you have clothing in drawers in the closet or if you have sweaters folded on your shelves, don't forget to take that stuff out and refold them and decide if you want to keep them another season. I prefer to file-fold items in drawers. It helps me to remember what I have and I can fit more into drawers that way too.

Step Five - Deal With Shoes 👠 and Purses 👜 and Guilt 😳

Look through all of your shoes and make sure they fit, feel comfortable and that you love them. Do the same with handbags and any other categories that live in your closet. This feels like a good place to mention guilt. Sometimes people keep things that they paid a lot of money to purchase, but they don't love them and don't wear them. Every time they walk into the closet and see these items, they feel guilty. The money paid for these items are sunk costs - meaning you already paid that. Let's walk forward and not look behind. I promise that if you donate or sell these items, you will banish that bad juju out of your space and you will feel SO MUCH BETTER.

Step Six - Plan The Space And Put It Away

Dust the shelves while they are empty - they won't be empty again for a bit. Lol

Plan the space. Double rods work for separates, and you will usually have at least one area for long hang items, like dresses etc. Plan where purses and shoes go (remember to use the back of the door if you haven't already) and put them into place. If you've given a few things away, you will find that you have more room to store your things. Go crazy and use your stuff to decorate a little. Use purse stuffers (or packing paper) to make your purses sit upright and cute-like. Put every thing back where it goes, keeping the categories separated. Within each category, put the clothes into order from darkest to lightest. This is what will help you find the exact short sleeved black shirt you need.

Step Seven - Maintenance

As you wear something, put the hanger it came from into a central location. When you do laundry, grab all those hangers and take them into the laundry room to hang your clothes on after they've been cleaned. Pop the clothes back into color order. Every so often, you will need to re-organize your closet. It will take A LOT less time than the first time you did it. When you buy new items, establish a place for them. Give them a nice home. Consider using the one in, one out rule if you are tight on space.

Thank you for letting me join you on your closet organizing journey - it's been fun! Make sure you send me before and after photos if you use this guide to organize your closet. Tag us on social media @bringpeacehomedfw

And, I would be remiss if I didn't say that if this seems overwhelming to do yourself, give us a call and we will come to you. We love closet organizing SO MUCH!

Have a great week friends - next week I will walk you through the steps of organizing your home office! 🗄