The best way to easily organize your closet:

I’ve tried a few different ways of organizing my hanging clothes. The most user-friendly way has definitely been by clothing type. This is especially true when you use the outfit guide because you’ll be able to locate the different pieces in the outfit formulas much faster. I usually line my clothes up in this order from left to right:

1. Solid neutral casual tops
2. Solid color casual tops
3. Print/pattern casual tops
4. Dressy Tops
5. Cardigans
6. Other completer pieces like vests and kimono
7. Jackets
8. Dresses
9. Skirts
10. Scarves on hanging organizer

Arrange the categories in a way that makes sense to you so that it’s easy to put items back in their correct places without much brain power.

This organizing system is effective but also easy to maintain.

What’s Inside My Closet

I keep all the pieces that I’d use in outfits in my closet so that they’re all close together. 

1. Any clothes that wrinkle are on hangers (most tops, completer pieces, skirts and all dresses)
2. Any clothes that don’t wrinkle easily go in wire pull-out drawers under our hanging section (stretchy tees, pants/shorts, and sweaters)
3. Shoes sit on wire shelves
4. Less commonly used shoes and belts are in a hanging pocket organizer on the back of the closet door
5. Hats and bags sit on the top shelf

What’s Inside My Dresser Drawers

I put other items in my dresser drawers:

1. Underwear
2. Camis & Leggings
3. Workout clothes
4. Project/cleaning/painting clothes
5. Pajamas

What to hang up and what to fold and place in drawers:

• Hang items that wrinkle easily: Most of your tops, some cardigans, your dresses, and your skirts.
• Fold items that don’t wrinkle easily: Pants, shorts, some shirts.
• Fold items that would get stretched at the shoulders by a hanger: Heavy knit sweaters and stretchy dresses.

When I fold my clothes the normal way and place them one on top of another, they always end up like a disheveled mess within a couple of weeks.

Your organization efforts are more long lasting AND user-friendly if you fold them using the KonMari method. That way ALL your shirts and pants are visible when you open the drawer and no digging is required.

How to organize shoes:

Keep a pair or two of your go-to shoes by your door. I have shelves in our garage by the door where I keep my family’s go-to shoes.

For the rest of the shoes, you can use an over-the-door organizer like the one here or add shelving to the bottom of your closet (we got our closet hardware at Home Depot). I actually have both, shelves and an over-the-door hanger. But the hanger just holds rarely-used shoes, slippers, and flip-flops.

How I Store My Jewelry & Keep it Organized

My jewelry always used to be a mess until my husband built me this hanging jewelry organizer.

The key is having a structure that accommodates the following:

• Hooks for hanging necklaces
• Wire mesh or hooks for hanging dangle earrings
• Shelf area for bracelets
• Cork-board area (or shelf area) for stud earrings.

If you like DIY, you’ll find it easy to put these things together into something that works for you. If you’d rather just buy something, here are similar ones on Amazon.