Do you usually organize your clothes, or are you one of those who improvise their storage? In this article, we give you a series of very basic, easy, and quick tips to prevent your closet from ending up "upside down" at the end of the season. You'll have to dedicate a good few hours to this task, but in the end, you'll see how the benefits of keeping your clothes organized are worth it and can even save you much more time than you had invested. Also, what about the peace of mind that comes from seeing everything so neatly arranged?
Let's start with our tips!
1. Find the time: you will need at least 3 hours
We recommend organizing your closet in just a few minutes. This way, you can start enjoying all the benefits of an organized wardrobe right away, without having to sort through piles of clothes. Even if you have a small closet, you'll need to invest at least three hours.
When it's time to organize, start with your everyday clothes. Continue with other items you wear on more special occasions and finish with bags, backpacks, scarves, and beads. This way, if you don't have time to finish organizing your closet, you'll have the basics ready.
2. Empty the closet completely
Unfortunately, emptying your entire closet is a necessary evil. If you want, you can take advantage of the seasonal clothing change to do it—killing two birds with one stone. Once everything's cleared out, take the opportunity to wipe the entire surface with a damp cloth, a task we don't often get around to when our closet is full.
3. Select your clothes for different functions
Put all your clothes on the bed and divide them into several piles. We suggest the following:
- Clothes to donate, reuse, mend, sell, or give away. Choose the second most appropriate use for clothes you know you'll no longer use. However, we ask you to think carefully before throwing them away; there are many new uses for fabrics, including household rags. So, the trash can is always the last option.
- Clothes from another season that can be stored. Unless you have a large closet, you may need to store next season's clothes in separate boxes. This is the time to remove that swimsuit, if it's winter, or that chunky sweater, if it's summer.
- Clothes you're going to wear. These are the ones we'll start organizing and will need to be handy.
4. Establish your organization system
Each person prefers one, although the most common is usually the type of clothing.
Organizing your closet by type of clothing
This is the most common, the "traditional" one. Pants, T-shirts, sweaters...
Closet organization by color
It's the favorite of famous organizing guru Marie Kondo, who suggests organizing from darker colors to lighter colors, so it looks much cleaner. A slightly "pro" idea for organizing clothes, but one you might like 😉
Closet organization by use
If you have a job that requires a uniform or a specific type of clothing, you'll probably use this system. Work clothes go in one place, while the rest of the time clothes go in another. Another example is sportswear, which we recommend storing in a separate corner of your closet.
Combine these clothing organization methods however it makes the most sense for you.
5. Organize with boxes
If you're short on closet space, we recommend organizing with boxes, which can be made of materials like fabric, metal, wicker, or simply recycled cardboard boxes. They'll act as drawers and can be placed either on shelves or underneath hanging clothes. If you're stacking them, don't forget to select different colors or add labels. In the next tip, we'll tell you how to fold clothes.
6. Use Marie Kondo's famous trick to fold clothes with 3 folds
In countries like Spain, the most common way to store clothes is to place them horizontally on the shelves of our closets. This method, with the fold facing outward for easy access, is perfectly acceptable if we have enough space. But when a small closet complicates things, we suggest the alternative popularized by Marie Kondo, which allows you to store them vertically, either in one of your boxes or in a drawer (or even in your suitcase). It's best to see how it's done firsthand:
7. Make good use of shelves
As we've seen, there are more ways to fill our closet shelves than with traditionally folded T-shirts and sweaters. This is a good way to fill them when there's little space between shelves, but if there's a lot of space, we recommend opting for boxes with labels to optimize space or folding drawers.
8. Drawers, the perfect place for underwear
If possible, reserve drawers for underwear, small items that get easily cluttered. You can easily divide your drawer into different sections by cutting a piece of cardboard to size.
9. Use the hangers indicated for each function
Hangers are great allies for maximizing space, so use them well:
- Wooden hangers: for your jackets, blazers, and suits. If they have a horizontal bar, even better, so you can hang a pair of matching pants.
- Hangers with clips: ideal for skirts and pants that wrinkle easily.
- Multiple hangers for scarves, shawls and scarves.
Above all, remember to hang all the hangers facing the same way. The most convenient option is to hang them with the hook facing inward. Also, choose sturdy hangers like wood and metal. While they're not as affordable as other options, they'll last a lifetime.
10. Think about how much clothing you need
And finally, in this wardrobe change, we invite you to reflect on the amount of clothing you need. The textile industry produces millions of new designs of low-cost garments that often fill our closets and we barely use them. And, for us to pay a lower price, there is another cost to the planet and those who produce them.
Believing that things can be done differently in the fashion market, at Elisa Muresan we offer sustainable women's clothing that we design and produce in Zaragoza, handcrafted, locally, and without intermediaries. Our designs, made with sustainable fabrics , are based on timeless, versatile patterns so you can get the most out of them and never feel like they've gone out of style. You can see some of our work in our eco-friendly t-shirts or sustainable dresses sections.
After all, having the right amount of clothing that you really enjoy wearing seems like a perfect strategy for spending less time organizing your closet or thinking about what to wear every morning. And, most importantly, embracing a much more sustainable and environmentally friendly life.
