Small Walk-In Closet Organization

Last week I helped my mom clean out and re-organize her clothes closet. Her closet is what I would say is a small walk-in closet. I know some of you will look at the pictures and say you wish you had a closet this big. But, as far as walk-in closets go, this one is a little on the small side in my opinion.

Mom had been storing all of her clothes, shoes, and purses in this one closet. She decided that she wanted to move her Spring/Summer clothes out to their guest room closet.

Before we began this project, she purchased new hangers from Bed Bath & Beyond. She bought the Real Simple Slim Line Hangers that I’m so crazy about. You have checked these out, haven’t you? 🙂 The wire hangers she was using before did not hold up well. Shirts were slipping off and lying in the floor.

When I arrived and began taking “before” pictures, I soon realized what a good decision it was to have the new hangers. You can tell from the pictures that the closet is not really jammed full. It just looks messy because of all the different types of hangers and the clothes are not hung in any sort of order.

 

 

My mom, my daughter, and I set up a system to make things run more smoothly and quickly.

I would take a large amount of the clothes out of the closet for my mom to sort through. She would make one of three choices to go in the appropriate pile. We had piles for Spring/Summer, keep in the closet, and give away.

If my mom chose keep, my daughter would take the item off the hanger and hand it to me so I could put it on one of the new hangers. If she chose to give the item away, my daughter would put it in a separate pile. And my mom kept the Spring/Summer pile by her.

We went through this process until all the clothes had been sorted.

I put the clothes back in the closet and sorted them by type and color. The shirts went on the top bar, the pants on the bottom bar, and the skirts and jackets on the bar for longer hanging clothes.

My daughter helped my mom go through her shoes and purses to determine what should be kept and what should be given away. Then I helped to get the purses back on the shelves in the top of the closet.

 

What do you think? Doesn’t it look great?

Here are a few takeaways from this closet organization project:

• Hangers do matter. Choose slim line hangers to make the most of your space and to keep it looking organized.
• Hanging clothes by type and color greatly simplifies getting ready each morning. If you know that all your white shirts are hanging together, you can quickly find the one you need for your outfit that day.
• To keep your closet looking neat and organized, hang all empty hangers together. Don’t just take an item off a hanger and put it back exactly where it came from. Gather all unused hangers in one place in your closet so you can easily find one when you need it.

I want to leave you with one last picture. My parents just had their master bath renovated. They removed a huge garden tub that was never used to make room for a spacious walk-in shower. Isn’t it beautiful?

 

What closet organizing tips can you share?