4 Practical Solutions for an Organized Closet

Getting your closet organized is one thing—keeping it organized is a whole other beast. If you can’t afford to hire a professional to come in and completely overhaul your closet Marie Kondo style, here’s what you can do to ensure your closet stays organized for longer than a week.

Install a second rod. When it comes to maximizing closet space and making sure everything you need to hang fits in your closet, a second rod hung lower than your other rod works wonders for hanging shorter items like skirts and shorts. The more space you have to hang items, the less likely they will end up in a pile in the floor.

Purchase double or triple hangers. Yes, we all have tons of standard single hangers in our closet, but have you considered double hangers? In the same amount of space you can hang an entire outfit, both shirt and pants—not only saving space but making it faster and easier to find items that go together. You can even step it up to another level with triple hangers for fancier outfits with multiple pieces.

Use shelf dividers for the top shelf. Rather than just randomly throwing items up on the top shelf, use it as an extra drawer space by installing shelf dividers. Then you can use different sections to store different items—sweaters in one section, tees in another, and so forth.

Purchase (and label) bins. Living in Canada means we get to experience all four seasons, and all the various weather patterns (and clothing options) those seasons provide. The best way to keep your closet organized is to routinely move seasonal items in and out of their appropriately labeled bins every season, so you know where everything is and are only using up your precious closet space for items you are actually currently able to wear.

Use the space in the back. The back of the closet is easy to ignore or to just shove items in because it’s hard to reach, but it is precious real estate and if you use it properly, you have that much extra space in your closet. Using it properly can mean many different things depending on how large or deep the space is, but a good rule of thumb is to install a shoe tidy or even a roll-out shelving unit that you can move forward when you need to access it.