Organizing a Bedroom Closet
Survey Your Domain
Face it: Your closet may look like those featured on those home improvement shows for a few minutes, but no perky young organizer or television crew is going to hang around to keep it in stasis during hurried workdays, schooldays and lazy weekends. Eventually it will look just the way it does now unless you take stock and determine what kind of space you actually need for everyday living and how best to design your closet. The best organization is that which makes clothes, accessories and shoes easy to find and to put back in their proper place. Not many of us are fortunate enough to have room-sized storage, but, frankly, few of us need it. The first step in organizing is always to root through the area, separating clothing, shoes and other items into piles of things to be kept and those that should be given away so they can be used by someone who will actually use them. Worn-out or hopelessly damaged items should be discarded.
Decide How the Space Should Be Used
If weekday mornings are like gangbusters at your house, your closet should almost hand you your robe or clothing in the morning. Plan to put weekend or formal wear somewhere that requires more time for access. Keep a diary for a few weeks of what you get from your closet each morning and where it ends up each night and use that information to design your space. Decide how much of that stuff that hangs in the closet could be stowed in drawers if you had them---a stack of open baskets might be a good idea. Save the upper racks for storage boxes containing out-of-season or infrequently used items. Rather than stacking shoes in boxes on a top shelf or tossing them under a row of hanging clothes, invest in a rack that can hang on the back of the door. The idea is to make things you need accessible and put those you use infrequently where you can find them when you need them. If you need a place for dirty laundry but also need a place to put dry cleaning or shirts, build a "mail sorter"-type frame out of PVC and hang two laundry bags rather than just one hamper.
Execution and Follow Through
There are dozens of companies such as The Container Store and Easy Closets that sell complete organizer structures. If that's not in your budget, though, most local home stores sell components for storage made by companies like Rubbermaid or Closet Maid that can be assembled one part at a time. Whatever your budget, design your own storage space to meet your needs, and use all available space, including the space above that one overburdened shelf. Try stacking two short hanging racks for shirts and slack hangers and use see-through boxes or baskets. Most importantly, once you've finished, make adjustments after a month if your arrangement needs it. And remember to keep giving clothes, shoes and other items away as you acquire new ones.
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