Closet Tips
Read these 4 Closet Tips tips to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. Each tip is approved by our Editors and created by expert writers so great we call them Gurus. LifeTips is the place to go when you need to know about Home Organization tips and hundreds of other topics.
The High Point of Your Closet
Are you maximizing the storage at the top of your closet? Storage bins and baskets are the key to mastering the upper parts of your closet.
Measure the height of your closet shelf and choose wisely - smaller stackable storage bins or tall baskets that can hold hats, sweaters, or miscellaneous personal stuff that wouldn't normally work on a shelf. Not only will this look much nicer than the hodge podge of stuff you have crammed up at the top of your closet, but you'll be able to fit more up there too!
A great closet organization tip: label your bins clearly so you don't have to pull each one down to assess the contents.
When Clothing Becomes Clutter
Do you hang your clothes up on the floor? Are you always picking up your dirty clothing and you can't seem to put your clean clothes away and keep them that way? You probably have too much.
You may not want to hear it, but you either need more storage or fewer garments. To get started clearing away the clothing clutter, try everything on. If you hesitate on the fit, the color or the style, immediately put the garment in the "no" pile. In some cases, you may have something with sentimental attachment or historical signifigance, you can keep these things, but they don't need to be in your every day closet.
Once you have your keep pile and your discard pile, go through and pull out the more valuable garments like business suits, designer dresses or even jeans. These should go to your local consignment shop if they are in good condition. If you don't have a consignment shop, sell them at your yard sale. Otherwise, take the rest of the clothing to the goodwill and get a receipt for your tax return.
Label Your Linen Closet
Linen closets can be a home organizer's nightmare. This is because of the sheer variety of items found in the linen closet — from sheets and towels to cleaning supplies and sewing items. Here's a quick and easy home care tip to help organize this space: labeling.
Clear labels can help you to organize your linen closet, right down to sheet and towel sizes. Place labels on the shelf directly in front of your stacks of items to make it easy for you to identify what you need every time you go in and out of your linen closet.
Also, many people store larger items towards the bottom of their linen closets. A good thing to store in the bottom of the closet is a pet bed. Just be sure to brush your pet bed before you store it in your linen closet, so that extraneous hairs don't make their way onto your sheets and blankets.
The Imelda Syndrome
Do you have a passion for shoes? It's ok to admit it - we all have something we love and shoes are always great fun! But have your shoes taken over your closet? Do you have…Mount Shoe? If you do, you should really consider getting some proper shoe storage because, really, you aren't taking good care of them if they are in a big pile, and how can you see what you have? There are a couple of options depending on your space and type of closet. You can get shoe storage that hangs on a hook over your closet door. These hanging shoe holders usually have plastic sleeves or pockets in which you can store a pair. These are great for summer shoes and "skinny" shoes, but won't work for boots or bigger shoes like Doc Martin's for instance. You can also get a shoe shelf for the bottom of your closet allowing for several levels of shoe storage (you can put your boots on the top shelf). Finally, shoe storage is now a part of many wall storage units - basically a bin that can be pulled out with room for several pairs of shoes within. These are typically somewhat flat and ideal for wall mounting. No matter the storage solution, you have no excuses not to conquer Mount Shoe!
| Guru Spotlight |
| Jennifer Mathes, Ph.D. |
