Spring Cleaning: Mastering Closet Organization With Self Storage

A young woman looking at her full wardrobe.

When spring cleaning season comes around, one of the best things to do is to declutter our closet. It helps us decide which items we want to keep and continue wearing and which ones we’re ready to let go of, whether we donate them or pass them along to a friend or family member.

After decluttering and creating a bit more space, we can evaluate our closets to ensure that the clothing and accessories we keep are arranged, well-kept, and clean so that essential pieces can last for years to come. Whether you have excessive or limited closet space, it’s necessary to utilize these storage spaces well to maximize their use and keep your wardrobe in good, working condition. Transform your cluttered closets into efficiency models with our expert closet organization tips.

How To Organize a Small Closet With Lots of Clothes

Even after decluttering a wardrobe, a small closet can seem like insufficient space to house the items that made it through the cut. However, there are many tricks to utilizing all of the space that a small closet has to offer. 

1. Use Empty Space

Many closets contain a single shelf with one to three feet of space between it and the ceiling. Be sure to use this space to your advantage! You can purchase matching closet organizer bins, baskets, containers, or crates holding various items, such as socks, undergarments, and bulky accessories like purses and belts. These containers can often stack upon each other to use the space more fully. 

You could also purchase or build closet organizing shelves to fill the space more fully. These are great options for storing pairs of shoes, hats, or bulky sweaters that take up a lot of room on the rack. 

A close-up of a hanging shoe organizer.

2. Hanging Closet Organizers

For closets with little rack space, a great hack is to switch out single-item hangers for ones that can hold multiple clothing items. If you’ve got a lot of space between the bar and the floor, these handy items can make quite a bit of room on the rack, allowing for more space for things like a collapsible hanging set of drawers. These can help organize items like undergarments, bathing suits, and accessories while making them easily accessible. 

Walk-In Closet Organization Ideas

Even if your closet is larger than the average clothes closet, it’s essential to use that space wisely to ensure that items are organized, easy to find, and remain in good condition. 

Utilize Furniture

There is usually ample room between any racks, shelves, or bars built into a walk-in closet. If there is space, consider moving in a piece of furniture like a bookshelf or dresser. Using these pieces can result in a less cluttered bedroom and allow all your clothing and accessories to be out of your eye line, resulting in a relaxing space. 

Storage Racks

Installing shoe racks can be a great way to keep pairs of shoes together and upright to ensure they remain in good condition. It also keeps shoes off the ground, which is great for keeping floors clean and dirt-free. Similarly, for people who have a collection of hats and caps, a rack is a great option to ensure that hats remain in good condition, as they won’t be prone to damage or crushed by other items in the closet.

A young woman pulling out an organized drawer in her closet.

General Closet Organization Tips

No matter the size of your closet, several general tips will help you utilize space effectively and maintain an organized wardrobe. 

Tri-Fold Drawer Items

For shirts, pants, pajamas, and other drawer-bound items, consider folding them in thirds. This folding method keeps your items organized and easy to find when you open a drawer. 

How to Organize Closet by Color

A recent trend has been to organize apparel by color. This is pleasing to the eye and makes it easy for people to find specific items, which helps them design outfits and ensembles. Sort similar items together, such as pants with pants, shirts with shirts, etc.

Decide in what order you’ll sort by color. Some choose to follow the order of the rainbow. Others choose neutral colors like white, beige, and brown on the left, with more vibrant colors like red, blue, and green on the right. Try out a few options and see which order appeals to you most. 

You can also choose to use hangers that match the various colors in your wardrobe or replace mismatched hangers with a consistent one for all items. Wooden or velvet hangers can be great options for consistency and create a clean, uniform look in your closet. 

Utilizing a Storage Unit for Excess Clothing

When spring cleaning, you might pack away bulky sweaters, scarves, and jackets to be set aside until winter rolls around again. Perhaps there are items that you want to pass on to your children once they’re older but don’t have the storage space.

Or perhaps you’ve got boxes of baby clothes that your kids have grown out of but want to save them to pass on to friends and family members who could use them in the future. In these cases, utilizing a storage unit to hold onto these items without cluttering up the closets you just finished organizing can be helpful.
Contact The Storage Center, where we can help you find a storage unit to keep your wardrobe secure until you are ready to use it again.

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