How to Organize Your Closet Like a Pro

Taking down the seemingly mountainous task of organizing your closet can be daunting. You probably have years worth of clothes you never wear, boxes of who knows what, shoes stuffed in the back, and old gifts that you never used. Your house may be in perfect order, but that closet is just not on your to do list. And why should it be? Well, how many times have you opened up your closet doors to grab something and not felt a twinge of “I really need to get to that”?

Clearing out your closet and getting rid of things you don’t need or use brings such a feeling of freedom. And having it off your mind and “need to get done” list is a huge relief. Having a cluttered home and/or room, workspace, etc., does not benefit your mind or efficiency in accomplishing your goals either. It can be something that’s always at the back of your mind, hindering you from living more freely because you’re tied down to so much stuff, and really just a burden on us. Let’s not let material things keep us from living abundantly!

I noticed that when I went through my room and purged everything, just getting rid of anything and everything that didn’t have true value or necessity to me, I felt so much more care free, focused, and at peace.

I guess you could say this is partially a post about minimalism. Actually it’s a lot about minimalism. You really can’t successfully de-clutter and organize your home until you understand and believe in why you’re doing it.

Minimalism is basically what I’ve been describing: taking out everything that has no true value or necessity in your life, and just being free of it. Not having to search through piles of clothes to get to the only shirt you ever wear, or feel bad about keeping things you don’t want. It’s about being content and happy with what you have , and finding the beauty in simplicity. It’s not necessarily about having less, just having less of what doesn’t matter.

I’ve gone through my closet so many times organizing it but not de-cluttering it. I just organized the mess and still had tons of stuff that just sat there being useless. That’s why I kept re-organizing it, because it just didn’t seem right. Then my mom and I watched the Netflix series “Tidying up with Marie Kondo” and it was so insightful. She showed how to de-clutter and organize, and how to let things go that aren’t benefiting you. After that I went into my room, opened up my closet, and pulled out everything. I threw it on the floor and started to purge. Stuff was thrown everywhere and I worked on my closet and then my room for half of the day. At the end of the day I had a huge give away box tightly packed and I felt satisfied. It helped me to understand that living fully doesn’t mean living full of stuff.

This may take you a couple hours, a full day, or a couple days to accomplish depending on the size and amount of things in your closet. Don’t let that stop you from doing it though! Set your mind to it, and bring out that inner organizer. Put your hair up, put some music on, and open up that closet. Trust me- it’s gonna be worth the hard work!

Step 1. Clothes

I know that as ladies, we can get pretty attached to a lot of things, and that especially goes for our clothes. Just a reminder, your clothes are not your life, nor do they define you. They help to define your taste, personality, and style, but they don’t define who you are.

So, put on your determined mindset and open those closet doors. Take everything out, starting with clothes. Place your hanging clothes stacked on your bed or floor and then take all the other clothes and just dump them out on the floor- don’t worry we’ll fold them all again 😉. Pick up a piece of clothing and look at it intently and ask yourself ,”Do I love this?”, “Is this me?”, “Do I see myself wearing this soon?”, “Is this something that I need, or do I have five others that are practically the same?”, “When was the last time I wore it?”. If you answered truthfully ( and I mean TRUTHFULLY ), “yes, yes, yes, yes, and very recently”, then put it aside as the start of your “yes” pile. If you answered “Not necessarily, ehhh, maybe, and I can’t remember”, then gratefully put it aside into a large cardboard box, which is your “no” pile.

I want you to do this with all of your clothes, scarfs, and whatever else you wear. Do it with a mindset of “I’m making room for what matters and I’m not going to let material things control me”. Now, if you have something that is a keepsake that you love, a meaningful gift, a precious item from your great great grandmother who gave it to you on her death bed saying, “keep this and remember who you are”, then by all means, don’t throw it away! This isn’t about getting rid of everything you own, it’s about making room for what you love!

After you’ve made your “yes” and “no” piles, it’s time to start folding. I know that doing laundry is probably not your favorite pastime, but you might actually enjoy folding your clothes the KonMari way. This method for folding is simple, efficient, and such a space saver! Because I don’t have a dresser, I store my clothes on shelves in my closet and using this folding technique makes much more room in my closet and keeps things looking neat and tidy. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll be folding like a pro in no time.

KonMari folding method + organizing for:

Shirts, bottoms, and underwear 👇🏻

More detailed video for shirts 👇🏻

Bras 👇🏻

Socks 👇🏻

Depending on how your closet looks, whether you have a closet, shelving unit, or bins, use that method for folding your clothes and organizing them and then neatly store upright in your dresser/bins/shelves. Don’t worry, I didn’t forget your clothes on hangers! After going through those too, hang neatly back on the hangers and hang in your closet. I like to hang mine categorized into dress, shirt, and bottoms section, then hang them in their categories with their like colors. If you have very small closet space for hanging your clothes, try this easy hack! You should now have enough room for them to comfortably and roomily hang! You’re done with your clothes! 👏

Step 2. Bags, jewelry, shoes, hats & accessories

For me, this is one of the easier stages of organizing because there is no folding and it’s a little bit easier in my opinion to let go of these things rather than it is with clothes. For this part of de-cluttering your closet, ask yourself the same questions as you did with the clothes. Make a “yes” and “no” pile (box) too, and be honest with yourself. After going through these things, it’s time to put our organizing skills to the test by finding creative ways to store them.

For bags, leave out the one you want to use, then take your largest bag of all and place all other bags and purses inside of each other in it. Place on a shelf or on the highest shelf at the top of your closet.
For jewelry & accessories, I love using a plastic, wooden, or glass organization compartment. It fits into my bathroom drawer perfectly, but it will also work just as well on a shelf inside of your closet. I put my rings, earrings, bracelets, hair accessories, makeup, and more in it but necklaces can get a little tangled in it. Another cute idea is to put a small mirror on the wall inside your closet, then put your jewelry container below it. As for necklaces, a small square cork board nailed into the closet wall with little hooks in it is perfect. This necklace hanger/mirror and necklace/bracelet stand from Urban Outfitters is also something I’ve been eyeing for my closet- I haven’t bought them though so I can’t say for sure how well they work.
For shoes, simple storage boxes for storing the shoes that are for different seasons or for special occasions work great. I put my summer shoes ( i.e., sandals, flip flops, flats, and wedges) in small storage boxes and placed them on the highest shelf of my closet for when summer comes again. A shoe rack is also a cute option for those of you who have more space.
For hats, stack on top of each other and place up on a high shelf, or in a small box. If you want to display them, you can hang them on little hooks on the closet wall.
For odds and ends, things such as electronics, stationary, and the like, use the KonMari method by neatly placing them in boxes, bins, and also containers/drawers to organize. This stackable organizer with drawers is great for all those little miscellaneous things.

Step 3. Blankets, books, and seasonal clothes storage

Storing blankets is pretty simple. If you have a lot, then you can just use a large storage bin and place on a shelf or tucked in the corner of the closet. If you just have a few, something a little more aesthetically pleasing would be to keep them in a cute basket on the floor of your closet or even in your room.
Adding a laundry hamper to your closet can also be a big help for your dirty laundry and easy to keep out of site. A woven one, metal wire one, or simple fabric one are all cute and useful.
Seasonal clothing and items; have a bin for each season and just store neatly folded and packed down in a storage bin and tucked away on a shelf.
Books; I have a bookcase in my closet where I just stand my books up on, but if you don’t you can use a wall shelf or bin.

If you have anything else in your closet that I didn’t mention, simply use the same technique for organizing and de-cluttering it. Once your closet is finished and aesthetically pleasing to you, stand back and take a sigh of satisfaction. You did it! 👏👏 You should be super proud of yourself and happy with the hard, yet totally rewarding, work that you did!

Pin this to have on hand and keep for future reference! 👇🏻

Let me know in the comments if you’ve been needing to organize your closet and if this blog post motivated you to!