Organize according to height- Joe can reach up there, but I can’t!

My mother never quite understood me.  “How,” she asked, “can my daughter’s room look like a bomb went off, but her closet and drawers look like they were organized by an obsessive compulsive neurosurgeon?”  Mom, I’ve never quite understood it either.

No matter how filthy my floors, how weedy my lawn or how nasty my sink, most every closet in my house is neat and tidy.  That is, until I got married.  My illustrious husband Joe is smart, sexy, witty and successful, but organizing is not his strong suit.  Since we moved into our new home, his corner of the closet has started to resemble a 2-headed clotheszilla, ready to attack at any moment.  When begging and pleading failed, I waited for sexy Joe to go out of town and organized the damn thing myself.

It’s no dream closet, but it’ll have to do until our renovation reaches the master bedroom.  Until then, here are some quick-tips for a one day closet make-over:

Organize according to height: It may sounds obvious, but my 6’4″ husband wasn’t making use of the top shelves he could easily reach

Lose the wire hangers: Not only will your closet look better, but your clothes will move on the rod easier, hangers won’t get tangled and you’re less likely to get shoulder bumps

Use individual hooks: You can buy plenty of mounted hooks and hangers, but I prefer to purchase them individually.  You can space them out how you’d like and they have a sleeker finished result

Baskets are decorative and useful: They work great for tiny things like lingerie and bikinis, or on the floor for dirty clothes or shoes

Organize your clothing by type: My tops are sorted by camis, tanks, blouses, button-ups, long sleeves, cardigans, sweaters and blazers.  It saves time getting ready and small items like camis don’t get lost in the fray

Show off your pretty stuff: You paid a fortune for those stilettos, so there’s no need to hide them

Change out clothes for the season: It’s amazing how much more space you’ll have when July rolls around and you aren’t searching through sweaters.  Vacuum bags work great to store those off-season items