Article Written by Apartment Therapy
Every January, after all of the gifts have been opened and I'm busy taking down the holiday decorations, cleaning up the house and finding space for all my brand new goodies, the compulsive organizer in me starts to panic. Where am I going to put all of these new things? Why is my closet so tiny? Why do I still own this dress from 1998? We've got a few tips to calm your own compulsive organizer and streamline your closet for the new year.
1. Choose your time wisely. I tend to come alive around 8pm and want to do all of my home projects right at that moment. That's a bad idea — especially if you live in an apartment building with a 9pm noise curfew. I tend to start a project and then have to stop, leaving an even messier issue to deal with the next day. Start at a reasonable time to complete the project on a day where you have lots of time to work.
2. Use a hanger system to identify which clothes you wear the most. After sorting KEEP, DONATE and THROW AWAY piles, hang all of your "keep" clothing on the hanger rod with the hanger hooks pointing toward you. As you wear the clothes, hang them the regular way: pointing towards the back of the closet. In three months, donate or sell any clothing that is still pointing towards you. Do this for each season of clothing.
3. On that note, store different seasons of clothing. Divide your "keep" clothing into two sections: warm weather and cold weather. Whichever season you're not wearing at the moment, store in airtight bins or garment bags to free up more room for the clothes you're wearing right now.
4. If there are things that you love that have holes or tears, fix them. Make it a priority to either take clothing in to a tailor for repair, or sit down with your own needle and thread and do it yourself. You'll be relieved after you do, and you'll have more clothing to wear! That goes for that pile of dry cleaning you have waiting too!
5. Don't be a shoe collector unless it's your passion. If you're anything like me, you like to buy cheap shoes, wear them for a bit and then hide them in the back of your closet to be forgotten. Have you ever had this moment when rummaging through your shoes: "what the...oh YEAHHHH!" If you're forgetting about certain pairs of shoes because you never wear them, it's time to donate.
Got any tips to share? Let us know your secrets!
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