How to Properly Arrange The Clothes in Your Closet

Adam Bender | September 9, 2021

Opening your closet door to a world of mess can start your day off on the wrong foot. Properly arranging and organizing your clothes, shoes, and accessories takes away the stress of clutter and makes picking out your daily ensemble 10x easier!

When arranging the clothes in your custom closets properly, start with a few things before diving in. First, empty them out and sort your clothes into categories (i.e. sweaters, jeans, etc.). Before putting everything back, declutter each category. Try on everything to make sure you aren’t keeping that cashmere sweater just because it fit 10 years ago.

Although the task of putting everything back in a way that makes sense might be daunting, never fear! Continue reading for a number of effective tips to avoid cluttered chaos!

Arranging Your Clothes: Hanging Versus Folding

Everyone knows storing clothes isn’t always simple. Certain pieces will get ruined on a hanger, while others will wrinkle if not hung. When it comes to hanging or folding your clothes, it's best to have a mix of options.

For example, blouses, jackets, suits, and dresses should be hung, while sweaters should be folded to avoid stretching them out. When it comes to jeans, T-shirts, and scarves, it’s up to you and what works best for your closets. Looking for the easiest rule to determine what to hang and what to fold?

If it wrinkles easily, hangs it up. Typically, clothes on a hanger are pieces worn in the workplace, on special occasions, and sometimes in the classroom (especially if you have kiddos who wear uniforms). The clothes you are going to want to fold are usually made of heavier materials. Using the right storage technique will ultimately help you preserve your wardrobe for many years.

Organize Your Clothes

Now that you’ve figured out what pieces need to be folded and what pieces need to be hung up, next is where to place them. There are dozens of ways to organize clothes! Here are two suggestions to get you started:

Organize by Season

If you have a smaller closet, you may want to only keep the current season’s clothes in there. But with bigger closets, winter and summer clothes can end up mixed – making it frustrating to quickly find what you need for your day.

Those piles you already decluttered and separated by category? Now you can go through and group them by season. Depending on where you live, spring might call for more sweaters and jeans. The best part of this process is customizing it to match your lifestyle and local weather.

Organize by Color

The next step is organizing within the categories you went with, whether it’s all staying in your closet or not. One way to organize and simplify is to group by color. All white sweaters, tops, and long sleeves will be together – the same goes for your blue and red pieces. When using this technique, try grouping according to the colors of the rainbow.

Once organized by color, you can take it a step further and hang up items from shortest and lightest sleeves to the longest and heaviest materials.

Don’t Forget Shoes and Accessories

Most people use their closets to store more than just clothes, but shoes and accessories as well. Not sure how to store these pieces? Check out these tips:

Shoe Storage

In What Accessories Are Available for My Custom Closets, Closet Solutions and Organizers suggest storing shoes on a shoe tree, a simple shelf, or perhaps an adjustable shoe rack. Seeing the detail helps you make a confident choice on the pair that works best for each day & outfit.
Just like your clothes, store shoes by season to simplify the hunt each morning. You could even group them similarly (boots with boots, sneakers with sneakers, dress shoes by other dress shoes).

Storing Accessories

Finding the perfect place for your belts, scarves, and purses can be stressful – or a fun adventure! See below for suggestions on different storage options:

Slide-Out Baskets: Larger ones can hold sweaters that cannot be hung, while smaller ones can hold accessories such as purses and wallets. Be careful of the texture – you don’t want a wire basket to ruin your favorite sweater.
Drawers: Add dividers to organize and store jewelry or sunglasses. Drawers are also a great addition to your kids' closets!
Accessory Rods: Add these to your closets to hang belts over or even scarves.

Conclusion

It can be overwhelming to overhaul your closet spaces, but all you have to do is take it one step at a time. Arranging your wardrobe and accessories effectively can make a world of difference! Maybe you don’t want to pick out your tops each morning based on color. Organize by sleeve length if that’s what works best for you. The best part is that all of the above tips can be customized to perfectly suit your needs!