So I decided to clean out this closet this weekend. It was an extra closet where things got put when we couldn’t make a decision.

It’s in my husband’s home office and we have decided to use it for storage.  And I admit, I got carried away. I not only organized this closet, I organized 4 closets! Would you expect anything less from a professional organizer??!  Here are four tips to help you when you’re ready to clean out your closet.

Before- a hogepodge of items

Another before view

• Take everything out of the closet if you can

As you remove things, group like items together. Put things that are to be given away in a bag or box.  As you pull things out, some things will be obvious donations while other things you may have to think about or go through more thoroughly. That’s okay, get the easy stuff out of the way.

• Add some additional shelving

Unfinished board

Assess your empty closet, think about the things you just pulled out.  Additional shelves could give you more storage space and/or make things easier to access.  You can make your own, purchase ready made shelves or go so far as to have a closet company design and install them. The shelf I added is just over 3 feet off the floor and was a pre-cut piece of wood from Lowe’s.  I didn’t even bother to paint it.In other homes, I have added an additional shelf above the standard shelf in a bedroom closet.

Add a shelf above the standard closet shelving

• Use like storage products: better fit, cubes, plastic storage drawers

Now that the closet has more shelves, it’s time to put things back. To maximize your space, use containers that are the same. 

Boxes and cubes with the same dimensions will fit better in the closet.  Sometimes you need varied sizes but you can still use similar products to standardize your closet.  Think back to the wooden building blocks you may have had a a kid. Some were rectangles, some were squares but they both worked together. I like to use the plastic storage drawers because they keep things organized and are easy to get in and out of.

Easy access makes this one of my favorite organizers!

• Label as much as you can

Sure, you know where everything is right now, you just finished the closet!  But as the days turn into weeks and your attention is focused on other things, you will be glad you took a few minutes to label.  I LOVE using my label maker and occasionally I get a little creative, but I love the way uniform labels look.  If you don’t have a labeler, put your label on a piece of tape or a mailing label written with a Sharpie. No excuses – label it!

No excuses - label it!

The newly organized closet!

Here’s the newly organized “storage” closet. I can access things in the drawers and on the newly installed shelf without having to move anything.  The boxes on the top shelf are labeled (you just can’t see it in the photo). My file box does not have a lid so that we can easily access it.  The brown tote bag has my books that are listed on paperbackswap.com and my purses are hanging up and finally have a place where I can see them easily and get to them without any hassle!

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