Pittsburgh Closet Organizing: Closet TipsDeciding What Enough Is.Visit our Closet Design site for more information THE CONTAINER RULEYour house is a container. Every room is a container with a function. Your closet is the same way. Your refrigerator is a container for your food and your closet is the container for your clothes. You have to purge when the refrigerator is to full or things go to waste. Think of your closet the same way. It is simple to stay organized when the quantities of the things that you have are consistent. It is when there are big sways in different categories that systems fall apart. The one-in-one-out-rule is helpful to keep things consistent. SEASONAL CHANGESMaking that seasonal swap gives you a chance to really purge what you don’t wear. Be honest and remember the last time you wore it. If it has been over a year think hard about why you are keeping it. Ask yourself, “Do I really love this item”? You deserve to live with your best. Spending too much money on items that you truly don’t like is not a great reason for keeping them. BACKWARD HANGERSA true test to identify what you really wear is too place everything on hangers back on the rod backwards and simply replace those items you use correctly. At the end of the season you can really see what you use and don’t use because items you did not use will still be on the rod backward. Closet Design72 INCH RULEWhen the width of your closet is less than 72” place the hanging on the back wall instead of the sides to create more space and avoid the corridor effect. DRAWERS AND SHELVES IN THE MIDDLEThis is the most aesthetic design and the most functional and allows you to open the drawer and have a place to stand. LESS USED ITEMS IN THE BACK OR CORNERSAn example would be to arrange items so that the tall hanging pieces (or more formal clothes) might be in a rear corner that is harder to reach. ADD LIGHT AND COLORPainting the walls a bright color and adding lighting go a long way to make a closet more enjoyable to use. Maintaining an Organized ClosetTHREE HOOK SUCCESS (R.E.D.)There are three wardrobe changes that happen daily and should have a foolproof one step system that you can rotate through with ease. TURN SHELVES INTO DRAWERSBins can containerize what is on a shelf and make it feel more like a drawer. Things don’t collapse and fall off the shelf when they are binned. GO VERTICALClosets are screaming for creative ways to use space. Look for vertical space solutions by using your walls and doors for storage. LOSE THE SHOE BOXESOrganized does not equal “perfect” in my book. It means ease of living and having all my shoes in boxes doesn’t sound easy. I think it is perfectly fine to have an area in the closet for everyday “kick on and off” shoes. Then I like shoe bags or shoe shelves to store the rest. If you buy extremely high-end shoes and want to save the box or bin them, make sure to label the box so you can easily see what shoes are inside. STACKS OF FIVE OR LESSSweaters typically loose their shape on hangers so it is great to have a shelf or drawer to store them in. Be careful of creating giant piles that are hard to manage. A good rule of thumb is no more than five in a pile, three is better. LABELS ARE A CALL FOR ACTIONCooperation can occur when everyone knows where things go and labels are helpful to get everyone on the same page when new systems are put in place.
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