How to Organize Your Clothes Closet on a Budget

Do you have so many clothes in your closet they are starting to take over? Have you been looking for the same sweater for two weeks, but you still can't find it? Are you starting to just fling stuff in your closet and hope for the best? Well, sounds like it is time to organize your closet now.

It can be a tough task organizing all your clothes. This is especially the case if you don't have a lot of money for shelves, organizers, or dressers. After all, you just spend your money on clothes; you don't have the extra funds for boring stuff to keep it organized. If you are lucky, you can at least buy one dresser and a cheap closet organizer or two. If not, you are still up for the challenge. You can make it happen!

The first task to get you started is to go through all your clothes and determine what you are not wearing. If you have clothes you have not worn at least once in the last 2 years, you obviously do not need them. You have the option of either throwing them out if they have holes or stains, or adding them to a donation pile. You may also want to take your clothes to a consignment shop to make some extra cash. Then you can buy some organizers for your closet if you'd like.

The only exceptions I make during this task are simple: A) If you have not worn something in 2 years because you haven't seen it in about a year since your closet is such a mess, then yes, you can perhaps keep it. If you are excited and it is like having a whole new item, by all means, wear it as if it is new outfit. B) You probably have some clothes you save only for particular occasions like weddings, funerals, job interviews, court appearances, etc. Yes, you can always keep those clothing items in your closet. You may just want to move them to a location you don't use a lot.

Once you've gotten rid of clothes you no longer want, you can start sorting out what clothes you wear regularly and what clothes can be stored because it is out of season. The clothes you are going to put away should be items you are certain you won't need for about 6 months. If it is warm weather, you can probably put away most sweaters and sweat shirts, but you may want to keep a couple available in case it gets chilly.

An easy way to store your out of season clothing is packing them away in plastic bags. If you have bought a new comforter or blanket recently, they usually come with thick plastic bags with zippers. I highly recommend always saving those bags because they are perfect for clothing storage. You might want to consider using a suitcase for this purpose, too, unless you constantly use it for traveling. Also, if you work at an office that stocks up on printing paper in bulk, those printing paper boxes make perfect storage boxes for clothing. They are also great if you are moving, too. Most even have built in handles!

If you are lucky, you have a huge dresser for all your clothing or you can buy small dressers to hold your clothing. If you are not so lucky, I recommend getting economical small organizers you can use in your closet. Many of the small wire kind are only about $10 to $20, and some even have wheels. They are perfect for storage items like t-shirts and you can roll them around in your closet to find what you need.

A surprising amount of t-shirts fit on the small cart pictured to the right. You just need to make sure you fold them in a way that will help all of them fit on the mini-cart and not get wrinkled. It is also fairly easy to find items on it. You can also use something like this even for socks or underwear storage if you do not have a dresser.

You can also consider buying fabric organizers that are intended to hold shoes. They can hang from the pole in the closet and hold items such as socks, underwear, t-shirts, gloves, hats, etc. Plastic crates that are often sold at stores for just a few dollars a crate are also good alternatives to dressers. You can either put the clothing inside the crate like a box, or you can prop the crate on its side and stack clothing in it. You can then stack the crates inside your closet.

Once you've determined what you are keeping out for this season and how you'd like to organize everything, it is important to put your clothes in an orderly fashion back in the closet. After all, it is necessary to be able to find everything. You can't possibly make use of all your clothing options if you have a hard time finding items.

I suggest buying extra hangers from the store to encourage hanging everything up in the closet that you can. Walmart and Target often sells plastic hangers in bulk for a few bucks. I recommend getting a couple of extra sets to make organizing your closet even easier.

When you go to look for your clothes, it is a good item to set up everything in a way that makes sense to you. Perhaps you can put all your short sleeved shirts in one section and long sleeved shirts in another. Maybe you would rather organize everything by occasion: work in one area of the closet, casual wear in a different spot, and so on. Do whatever makes the most sense for you so you can quickly put together an outfit when getting dressed.

During any major task such as organizing a clothing closet, there comes a point when you might want to give up. You may just feel like screaming, possibly crying, or just walking away. Don't do it. If you need to take a rest, do it for a bit, but come back to it. When you are surrounded by piles of clothes, it can be overwhelming. Don't let it get to you! In no time, you will have a nice, tidy closet with clothes that are easy to find. Good luck to you!

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