How to conveniently arrange things in a closet?
Your “Nothing to Wear” has nowhere to put it!
A phrase that every husband will subscribe to.
I have written more than one useful article about wardrobe revision and analysis! Today we’ll talk about whether order in the closet is achievable and exactly how you can arrange and hang all things and accessories on shelves and hangers so that all the necessary clothes are always at hand!
Every girl is familiar with Narnia. And he knows exactly where this very Narnia is. In her closet with clothes. That’s for sure - a magical world in which it is unclear what goes where and where everything is. In the most severe cases, unable to withstand the pressure of magic from within, the doors of the closet fall off or the shelves collapse. This happened to me with my shoe closet.
How many times when going through your wardrobe do you say: “Oh, what a cute blouse-skirt-sandals! Wow, I completely forgot about them!” Or, having acquired another new thing, you remember that somewhere in the depths... on the farthest shelf... the new is the well-forgotten old, yeah. Now in duplicate.
Sorting and placement
A convenient option for many consumers is pre-sorting of clothes:
- by color to make it easier to choose the right set for a particular look and style;
- according to the materials of manufacture, when cotton items are in one place, and silk or knitted items in another;
- for outer and lower clothing, when T-shirts, T-shirts, blouses and sweaters are on the upper shelves, and pants, trousers, skirts and shorts are on the bottom.
How to properly arrange things in a closet if there are few shelves inside? In this case, you can purchase transparent organizers, boxes and storage baskets, available in a wide range of stores. For convenience, the box can even be signed. Shoes can be stored directly in the boxes in which they were purchased, placing them at the bottom of the closet.
VISIBLE SPOT
The saying “out of sight, out of mind” also affects memory when it comes to wardrobe. If you don't see a thing, then, as a rule, you don't remember it. And the result is the same sets of things that are constantly in sight. Boring. All you have to do is arrange things so that they can be seen. This, in my opinion, is the main purpose of organizing your wardrobe.
A clothing dump can bring another unpleasant surprise: suppose you suddenly remember a beautiful cardigan that hasn’t been worn for a hundred years. And we decided to take him for a walk. And when they took it out of the deposits, they discovered that it was all crumpled and there were no buttons. It’s good if you have time to put it in order and a button, but what if not? In this case, the item is very often sent back to the pile, where it will lie until it is thrown away or given away. And you could wear it with pleasure.
Do you think this is a rather bleak picture?
So, let's begin to restore world harmony within the framework of a single wardrobe. First you need to determine in what position each item will be stored. Will it hang on a hanger, put it on a shelf, or be stored in a box? The storage method depends, first of all, on the purpose of the item, the type of material and frequency of use.
Storage Tips
- Before folding clothes made from natural wool, you need to ventilate them well, and when storing, use fragrant sachets that repel moths.
- Knitted clothing that is put away for the season is placed in its pure form in plastic bags.
- Long dresses can be thrown over the bar of the hanger and stored in the closet in this form.
- Belts, ties or women's jewelry can be stored in organizers or on hooks hung on swinging closet doors.
- Choose non-slip silk clothes hangers to prevent them from falling off.
- The interior of the wardrobe should be ventilated at least once every 2-3 months, and the shelves should be wiped with a damp cloth to remove dust.
- The clothes you wear most often should be stored on shelves that are easiest to access.
- Store fur items in covers to prevent dust and insects from getting on them.
How to arrange things in a closet with few shelves? Since the doors of such a cabinet do not open, but slide apart, it is impossible to hang organizers on them. Therefore, the best option here is boxes or baskets stacked on top of each other at the bottom, under the hangers. But in such a closet, which occupies space from floor to ceiling, there is a corner for storing a suitcase, a place for a vacuum cleaner and any seasonal items.
HANGERS
Now let’s take hold of the hangers and throw out all the wire misunderstandings, slanted planks and plastic monsters 3 sizes too large that have crept into your closet. This trinity can cause irreparable damage to delicate and thin tissues or skin. Wire hangers are needed to bring clothes from the dry cleaner or workshop. All. You cannot store clothes on them! Under its own weight, the fabric stretches, and the thin frame of the hanger is very easily deformed. And, once again taking out your favorite jacket, you may find “ears” on the shoulders or sleeves (if the hanger is the wrong size), similar in shape to the ugly bubbles of sweatpants, only small. I'm not even talking about the exquisitely colored rust stains on a light jacket, for example.
Option two - wooden hangers. Just please, not the creepy two-plank designs that remember your mother’s prom dress. But wide ones with rounded ends are what you need. The only thing is that things can easily slip off from patent-leather hangers, so fasten the buttons. The advantages of such hangers are at the same time their disadvantage: they are solid, beautiful, take up a lot of space in the closet and are expensive. Such a Bentley among hangers. This category, very beautiful and very expensive, includes hangers covered with leather.
If functionality is most important to you, then welcome to the world of plastic hangers. But not powerful cast monsters on which you can hang knight's armor, and nothing will survive. The crossbar next to the closet will probably break. Plastic hangers are very convenient for putting things in order. Lightweight, functional, for delicate thin fabrics there are silicone pads so that silk or cambric does not slip off.
The most ideal, in my experience, are vinyl coated hangers. If anyone is sad about the thinness of wire, this is the place for you. They are almost as thin, but they no longer pull clothes because of their size, a lot of them can fit in a closet, and the special coating, that same vinyl (yes, it turns out that not only records are made from it), does not allow them to slip and become deformed even the thinnest and most delicate fabrics.
A general rule for all hangers: they should be the right size for you! It is necessary. Too large will cause bubbles on the sleeves, and too small will cause bubbles on the shoulders.
It is also recommended that all hangers be the same, so that when you open the closet, you see an orderly row of hanging clothes, and not sleeves and shoulders sticking out at random.
A few words about fabric hangers: they look very cute, ideal for thin blouses, but take up a lot of space. One way out: take out one or two shelves in a closet with shelves, nail a crossbar in the resulting space and hang soft hangers with blouses on it.
A general rule for everyone: hangers should be smooth, with recesses for straps or special loops for skirts or dresses. Some models have a crossbar or tucks for trousers. Whether you use them or not is up to you. Just keep in mind that in this position the trousers may wrinkle.
If ironing is not so scary for you, then you can save space by purchasing these hangers for your trousers.
What is not recommended to be stored on hangers is knitwear, especially thin ones, woolen sweaters, cardigans and other fabrics that can deform under their own weight. It is best to fold them in neat piles, sorted by density.
A little trick: alternate in one pile, say, sweaters or tops, bright and dark. This way they will be more noticeable and will not merge with each other. The same stacks are convenient for storing jeans.
Some people prefer to store knitted items vertically in a chest of drawers or drawers, as the Japanese do. To learn more about this method, read Marie Kondo's book The Magic of Tidying Up. But let me note right away that this method is not suitable for everyone. Didn't suit me. Things get very wrinkled 
And this is a life hack for girls who especially like to plan everything. I learned about it from my basic course student, who approached all tasks very responsibly.
After a total revision of her wardrobe, she photographed ALL her looks, sent them to me, we adjusted them a little, and then she just took and hung her photos on the inside of the closet doors. She no longer faced the question of “what to wear.”
I think it's brilliant!
BAGS: HOW TO STORE IN THE CLOSET?
In the lower (or upper) part of the cabinet, in special cases, stuffed with paper inside. This way, creases do not form on them, and the surface does not get dirty.
Of course, there is not always enough space in the closet for bags. There will be much more space for them in a full-fledged dressing room.
Small bags and crossbody can be conveniently hung on hooks. You can use a regular scarf hanger or special hangers, like in the picture on the right.
Or order such hanging organizers on AliExpress
Belts, scarves, shawls. Welcome to IKEA! This is truly a paradise for lovers of order. Hangers, rails, boxes for accessories, storage modules, drawers with dividers - a paradise for those who like to organize everything.
Using organizers
Now it has become fashionable to store things in special organizers. In addition to the fact that they save space, sets of underwear, socks, and shoes placed in them look aesthetically pleasing.
There are different types of organizers:
- For storing bras, the best option is a container with a special liner.
- Organizers with divided small cells are suitable for storing hosiery.
- Before putting towels and bed linen in a rectangular fabric or cardboard organizer, it is recommended to sort them by size.
- It is optimal to store shoes in hanging organizers with individual pockets for each pair of shoes.
If the house has one closet or a modular system, it is advisable to store seasonal items in distant compartments. This is the only way to maximize the interior space in the closet.
HOW TO HANG SCARFS?
The main task is still the same: they must be visible, so boxes and crates are not suitable for this purpose; a moth will get to the scarf lying at the bottom of the box much faster than you. So, either in a stack on a shelf, or, if there are not many of them, hang them on special structures, of which there are many on sale.
BELTS AND TIES
This is where the delimiter module comes in handy. Their cells can accommodate the entire collection. Roll into a ring, not too tightly, with the buckle facing outward to avoid creases. And each one in a separate cell. Wide ones, if space allows, can be laid out flat, and corset ones can be placed vertically.
Another option is to hang them on special hangers. A belt hanger can be attached to a closet door, provided that the belts do not touch clothing (otherwise, hello, puffs!)
UNDERWEAR AND STOCKINGS
For stockings and socks, dividers will again come in handy. Place one of these in a drawer of the chest of drawers and the socks living there will no longer resemble a multi-colored lump of who knows what it’s made of. It is very advisable to arrange stockings and socks according to “sameness”, so that in search of the twin brother of one stocking you do not empty out the entire drawer.
With linen everything is simple. Fold the bras one cup into the other, you can put panties in the top of the set folded in this way, put the next set in the resulting structure, and so on until you run out. It is convenient to store individual items in boxes without a top, so they do not spread throughout the closet or chest of drawers.
Lifehack #6: Use the free space under the bed to store large sports equipment
Skis, snowboards and folding scooters do not have to be crammed into a long-suffering closet where clothes and much more are stored.
Store long sports equipment in a large drawer or stationary drawer under the bed that usually holds blankets and pillows. Bedding can be reduced using vacuum bags and neatly folded on some deep shelf.
SHOES
There are two options: either in original boxes, with photographs pasted on them (what a pity that Polaroids are out of circulation).
Or buy boxes with transparent windows from IKEA.
Because the principle works with shoes like nothing else: if it is not visible, then it is not there.
And rummaging through all the boxes in search of the right pair is not a pleasant task. For a long life of your favorite shoes, learn the rule: if you decide to put them in a box, clean them first. And stuff it with paper to avoid deformation.
Lifehack #8. We place everyday clothes on a floor hanger
Searching for clothes in a crowded closet is still a pleasure. If you don't want to feel stressed every morning, store your everyday clothes separately.
The lack of an additional wardrobe is compensated by a floor hanger: it will not spoil the bedroom interior if you hang your clothes harmoniously (for example, by length and colors). The mobile design not only provides convenience, but also prevents the appearance of spontaneous debris from things on chairs and armchairs.
DECORATIONS
For jewelry and jewelry, it is most convenient to splurge on a special chest of drawers or dividers with a larger number of sections. The more sections, the better!
Necklaces and chains can be hung on hooks; when lying down, they happily and quickly get mixed up with each other.
And glasses can also be hung on a hanger!
OUTERWEAR
The problem with it is that half the time it is worn very actively, and the other half it is not taken out of the closet at all. Therefore, before putting it in the closet (fur - only in a closet or in a fabric case, it will “suffocate” in a plastic bag) - be sure to clean it and put in an anti-moth agent. Don't be afraid, they no longer smell like old mothballs. In general, in order to avoid a colony of these winged friends of humans, often go through clothes that have not been worn for a long time and do not forget to periodically change the tablets.
To be honest, organizing your wardrobe takes a lot of time and effort. But the result is visible immediately, you can use it for a long time, and for the titanic work done, you can treat yourself to, say, a new blouse. After all, you now know for sure that you don’t have exactly this one yet!
T-shirts
Sleeveless T-shirts are folded vertically in half, then folded two or three times and sent to the closet. Can be rolled into rolls. T-shirts with sleeves are not stored using this method to avoid creases. Let's consider an industrial way of folding things. Manufacturers use it.
Instructions for folding T-shirts:
- Lay out the T-shirt on a flat surface.
- Visually identify two points - in the center of the right shoulder and perpendicularly lower in the middle of the body.
- Take the T-shirt by the points with both hands at the same time, lift it, tuck the left side under the item.
- Tuck the bottom, smooth it out, fold the T-shirt in half into a compact rectangle with the neckline in the center.
There are some creases in things with this method. But they are in places that are easy to iron. If you do not make tall and bulky piles, the folds in the knitwear can be easily straightened out by hand.
