How to Organize Your Closet So You Actually Wear Your Clothes

I almost didn’t show you this photo.

My closet was already bulging at the seams, and then life happened. When my daughter hurt her back, Joe and I gave her our bedroom so she’d have a comfortable place to stay while she recovered. I had clothing hanging on the backs of doors and piled on the bench at the foot of our bed, some waiting to be photographed and some that had just been photographed.

To make room for her things, I did what any highly organized person would do. I shoved all of mine into the end of the closet. 😂

Thankfully, my daughter is doing better; we’ve gotten our bedroom back, and now I’m staring at the result. Good grief.

I’m sharing this partly because I know I’m not the only woman whose closet has gotten away from her. Maybe yours didn’t happen quite as dramatically as mine, but clothes have a way of multiplying when we’re not looking.

And when you work with clothing for a living as I do, there’s another layer to the problem. I have clothes that I wear personally, things I’ve photographed for the blog, pieces waiting to be photographed, seasonal items, and plenty of things I probably should have cleared out a long time ago.

My goal isn’t to create one of those gorgeous closets you see online with twelve perfectly spaced beige sweaters and three handbags sitting under spotlights. I like clothes far too much for that. Lol!

What I do want is a closet where I can see what I own, find what I’m looking for, and actually wear more of the clothes I’ve already bought. That’s what I’m working toward.

One quick note before we get started: I haven’t personally used every organizer in this post. These are storage solutions I’ve been looking at as I tackle my own closet. I’m considering how much space they use, what problem they solve, how easily I’d be able to see what’s stored in them, and how practical they would be to maintain after the initial cleanup.

Because an organizer isn’t much help if you need an instruction manual every time you put away a pair of pants. Lol!

Before You Buy Anything, Figure Out What’s Actually Taking Up Space

This is where I’m starting, and it isn’t nearly as fun as ordering pretty new organizers. Before adding more storage, I need to figure out what deserves to be stored.

If you’ve ever bought another black top only to discover three nearly identical ones in the back of your closet, you understand the problem. When we can’t see what we own, we tend to wear the same handful of clothes and forget about everything else.

I like the old hanger trick for this. Turn your hangers backward. After you wear something, return the hanger facing the normal direction. After a few months, you’ll have a pretty good visual record of what you’re actually wearing.

You don’t have to get rid of everything still hanging backward, but it gives you information. And that’s what I think closet organization should do. It should make your wardrobe easier to understand, not simply give you prettier places to hide more stuff.

Get the Shoes Off the Floor

Shoes are one of the first things I need to tackle because once they start spreading across the floor, the entire closet feels messier.

The SONGMICS 5-Tier Shoe Rack uses vertical space instead of lining every pair along the floor. This type of rack makes sense to me because the shoes stay visible. I don’t want to put everything into closed boxes and then have to open seven of them looking for one pair of loafers.

If you’re sorting your shoes, I’d also ask a few questions before putting each pair back. Do they fit? Are they comfortable? Do you still like them? And, most importantly, have you actually worn them? A shoe rack filled with shoes that hurt your feet isn’t much of an improvement. Lol!

Give Pants and Leggings Some Breathing Room

Pants can eat up a surprising amount of closet space. Fold them into stacks, and the pair you want will inevitably be at the bottom. Hang every pair individually, and there goes half your closet rod.

4-Tier Velvet Pant Hanger

The 4-Tier Velvet Pant Hanger lets several pairs of pants use the vertical space of one hanger. I especially like this idea for pants I want to keep visible rather than folded into a drawer.

It could also be helpful while you’re editing your wardrobe. Put the pants you genuinely wear together, then look at what’s left. If you keep reaching for the same five pairs while fifteen others are taking up space, that’s worth noticing.

Volnamal Leggings Organizer

If leggings are your problem area, the Volnamal Leggings Organizer stores several pairs vertically so you can see your options instead of creating another stack. And some of us have enough black leggings to outfit a small exercise class. Not naming names.

Use Matching Hangers to Reduce Visual Clutter

This might be the least exciting suggestion in the whole post, but it can make a noticeable difference.

A mixture of wire hangers, thick plastic hangers, wooden hangers, and random dry-cleaning hangers creates visual clutter before you even look at the clothes.

Velvet Non-Slip Hangers

These Velvet Non-Slip Hangers have a slim profile, and the velvet surface helps keep wider necklines and slippery fabrics from ending up on the floor. I’d rather have a little empty space between my clothes than use slimmer hangers as an excuse to squeeze another forty shirts onto the rod.

Remember, the goal is to see more, not store more.

Natural Wooden Clothes Hangers

I wouldn’t use wooden hangers throughout my entire closet because they take up more room, but the 5-Piece Natural Wooden Clothes Hangers could be helpful for jackets, blazers, and heavier pieces that benefit from more support.

Your entire closet doesn’t have to use one identical hanger. Use what works for the clothing.

Stop Digging Through Drawers

I can organize a drawer beautifully, and somehow, within a couple of weeks, everything has migrated back into one big blob. Surely that’s not just me.

mDesign Adjustable Drawer Dividers

The mDesign Adjustable Expandable Drawer Organizer Dividers let you divide a drawer according to what you actually own. You might create sections for camisoles, T-shirts, pajamas, workout clothes, or whatever makes sense for you.

There’s another reason I like the idea of giving categories defined spaces. The space creates a limit. If you’ve decided one section is for camisoles and suddenly the camisoles won’t fit, maybe you don’t need a larger organizer. Maybe you need fewer camisoles.

I know. That wasn’t the answer I wanted either. Lol!

DIMJ Drawer Organizers

For smaller pieces, the DIMJ Drawer Organizers create individual compartments for things such as bras, underwear, socks, scarves, and other small items. These could be especially helpful in deeper drawers where things tend to disappear underneath each other.

Visibility keeps coming up, doesn’t it? That’s because I think it’s one of the biggest keys to wearing what we already own.

Give Sweaters and Folded Clothes Their Own Space

Some clothing shouldn’t be hanging at all. Sweaters can stretch, and bulky folded pieces can turn into leaning towers on a shelf.

6-Shelf Hanging Closet Organizer

The 6-Shelf Hanging Closet Storage Organizer creates shelf space using an existing closet rod. I’d consider using something like this for sweaters, jeans, sweatshirts, or even handbags, depending on the closet.

The shelves also naturally create categories. One shelf for cardigans. One for pullovers. One for sweatshirts. I already know this wouldn’t work for me, I love sweaters more than anything else.

Give Handbags Their Own Space

I love handbags, so I’m well aware this category can get out of hand.

Stack them and the bottom bags get squashed. Put smaller bags inside larger bags, and you forget you own them. Line everything on a shelf without support, and half the bags eventually fall over.

Clear Adjustable Shelf Dividers

These Clear Adjustable Shelf Dividers might be one of the simplest solutions because they let you create individual spaces on an existing shelf. I particularly like this idea for structured handbags because it keeps them upright and visible without piling them on top of one another.

And if I’m going to own the handbag, I want to carry the handbag. If something has been hiding at the back of a shelf for three years and I still wouldn’t carry it today, that’s probably telling me something.

ZEDODIER Handbag Organizer

If shelf space isn’t available, the ZEDODIER Handbag Organizer offers another approach by using hanging space. I wouldn’t use both systems just for the sake of organizing. I’d choose the method that fits your particular closet.

That’s another trap I’m trying to avoid. Buying organizers isn’t the same thing as getting organized.

Make Use of the Back of the Door

Closet doors can provide useful storage without taking up another shelf or piece of floor space.

The MISSLO Hanging Organizer has pockets that can hold things such as scarves, belts, small handbags, accessories, or shoes. The advantage here is, once again, being able to see everything.

But I’d give each pocket a purpose instead of throwing miscellaneous things into every opening. Otherwise, we’ve just created twenty-four tiny junk drawers hanging on a door.

Put Off-Season Clothes Somewhere Else

This is another thing I need to do better. Why should a heavy winter sweater get prime closet real estate in August? Moving truly seasonal clothing somewhere else can make your everyday wardrobe feel much more manageable.

The Budding Joy Large Storage Bags can hold bulky seasonal pieces that don’t need to be accessible every day. I would be careful here, though.

Don’t put clothes you aren’t wearing into a storage bag simply because you can’t bring yourself to decide what to do with them. Seasonal storage should contain things you’re confident you’ll want next season, not become a retirement home for clothing you’re avoiding dealing with.

That sounded a little harsh, even to me. Lol!

Make Your Closet Work for the Way YOU Get Dressed

This is probably the most important thing I’ve learned while looking at my own mess. Your closet doesn’t need to make sense to Pinterest.

It needs to make sense to you.
If you wear jeans four days a week, don’t put them where they’re hard to reach.
If you change handbags frequently, keep them visible.
If dresses are what you wear most, give them plenty of hanging room.

I usually like clothing grouped by category: jeans together, pants together, dresses together, jackets together, and so on. You can arrange categories by color if that makes it easier for you, but I wouldn’t create such an elaborate system that putting away laundry becomes a part-time job.

And I’m not trying to turn my closet into a thirty-piece capsule wardrobe. I like clothes too much, plus my job requires me to photograph and try lots of them. That ship sailed a LONG time ago. Lol!

But there are a few things I admire about the capsule-wardrobe idea.

You can see what you own.
Your clothes work together.
You genuinely like what’s in the closet.
And getting dressed isn’t an archaeological dig.

That’s what I’m aiming for.

Start Smaller Than You Think

Looking at the mess in my closet makes me want to shut the door and come back sometime around 2029. But I’m not going to pull everything out at once. I’ve made that mistake before.

Instead, I’m going to work through one category at a time.

Shoes.
Pants.
Handbags.
Sweaters.
Hanging clothes.
Keep what I wear. Deal with what I don’t. Then organize what’s left.

And whatever you do, don’t dump the entire contents of your closet onto your bed late in the evening because you suddenly feel motivated. Ask me how I know that’s a terrible plan.

The goal isn’t perfection. I want to walk into my closet, see what I own, find what I need, and wear more of the clothes I’ve already spent money on. I’ll call that organized.

Now tell me, gurls, what is the biggest trouble spot in your closet: shoes, clothes, handbags, drawers, or that dreaded top shelf?