4 Closet Organization Tips for Your New Home

Moving to a new home provides a perfect opportunity to maximize closet functionality.  Before you hang your first shirt or pair of pants it is critical to design the space correctly.  With these 4 simple considerations you can enjoy many years of clean, functional space.

1. Where to Start:

It all starts in the home you’re leaving.  That is where the necessary purge must happen.  Clothes which are rarely worn or items still with tags on them should go. Donate or sell them now!

Remember- it’s the “80-20 Rule”.  We wear about 20% of our clothes 80% of the time and everything else just sits.  This is a great time to separate the stuff you’re not wearing and donate it to your favorite charity.  In general, if you haven’t worn it in over a year, you never will.

Once you have de-cluttered take an inventory of your items.  How many hanging clothes do you hang vs. how many are folded?  How many shoes do you keep in your closet?  Do you tend to hang most garments or fold?  Do you like drawers in your closet or do you utilize a chest of drawers in your bedroom?

2. Products:

If you are a DIY person and/or on a tight budget you can find shelf inexpensive hanging rod systems at your local home improvement store for $200 to $500. Another option is to hire a reputable closet company to build a custom design for your space. Doing this will not only be giving you a far superior product, but will also ensure it is designed by a professional so your new space functions as it should.

3. Design Basics:

Hanging :  For your new closet implementing  double hanging  is imperative. This allows you to immediately maximize the amount of hanging space. Keeping a section of longer hang in the space is also valuable for your longer hanging garments. This section will almost always be designed into an awkward corner since it will usually be what you wear the least often. In general you do NOT want hanging items over shelving.

Shelving:    Drawers can be placed close to the floor and should be used for folded items, under garments and jewelry trays.  You can fit more shoes on each shelf if you alternate the direction each shoe faces (i.e., heel to toe).  Be sure to measure how many shoes can fit on one shelf before committing to a standard shelf width.  Note that more women’s shoes can fit on the same shelf space compared to men's shoes.

- Drawers/Baskets :  Drawers should be used for easy to find garments, underwear and socks.  If you can’t see it you don’t wear it- so keep sweaters and shirts on shelves rather than in a drawer.

4. Utilizing Space:

For deeper step in closets consider placing a hanging system on one of the side walls rather than just using the rear wall of the closet.  Typically to use adjacent walls and have them properly function the walls will need to be at least 54". This allows for clothes put on one wall to still be easily reached while the other clothes on adjacent wall are hanging perpendicular to them. In most cases you can gain two to four feet of hanging space using this design since the hanging poles will not be crossing each other.

When it comes to closet organization, Distinctive Closets & Garage offers many options. To see what would work best for your home, request a complimentary in-home closet design estimate.

We look forward to assisting you on your project.