4 Areas of an Organized Closet Made Simple

How well organized is your closet? Making an organized closet takes different areas all working together to allow you to access all your clothes quickly. If one of these areas is not included, you will be short of space for your items and need to find alternative storage places, like a chest of drawers outside of the closet, to hold the rest. To help you make this closet work better for you, I created four areas of organized closet guidelines below to help you figure out what areas you are missing in your closet.

Whether your closet is small or large all these areas should be included there for a more functional space.

Step by Step Tips To a Well Organized Closet

What should be stored on shelves in closets? 

You can store several items in the shelving area: Shoes, Boots, Sweaters and knit items, T-shirts, and more. Below I am discussing and sharing each closet organizer in detail. Feel free to check them out.

Ways to organize shoes in a closet

You can lay the pair of shoes with one shoe toe facing you and the other facing away from you. This nests the pair of shoes closer together, saving about 2 inches per pair of shoes per shelf.

Boot Organizers - have boots in boot boxes stacked on top of each other or use the boot holders. Purchase extra long shoe boxes to not damage the boots. Here are exciting products to hold up the boots that can fit on the shelves. (affiliate from Amazon)

How to Organize Tops in a Closet?

Sweaters and knit items - Make sure the stacked things don't get too high.  Three or four sweaters high work nicely. You find dividers for shelves to help keep these piles in order and not topple down on you when you store them.

T-shirts - Check out this video to help you fold shirts. Here's a video from eHow about How to Organize Your Clothes on Shelves: Storage & Home Organizing. Feel free to click through and check it out.

You can also use bins and fold them neatly inside of them for t-shirts. Try the Marie Kondo folding clothes method.

Other things that are organized on shelves in the closet.

Memorabilia - Use boxes to hold memorabilia, so it doesn't get too cluttered and dusty. Keeping these things in the closet is very common. Ensure that you always have these items in a dust-free closed bin to protect them.

Bags - you can add all the bags to the largest bag by nesting them from largest to smallest. Another option is using clear soft plastic bags so you can see into them easily to find the bag you want.

Hats - Every guy and lady has at least a few baseball caps or other sunhats in their closet. Having a place for these items is super helpful and protects the hats when they are unused. Stack the hats from smallest to largest in a hat box. This will protect them from getting smashed. If you have a lot of hats and want to store them on shelves, I found these on Amazon (affiliate) that may help you keep them organized.

Jewelry - A place to put your everyday jewelry or a mirror for you to put on makeup is helpful on a shelf. Feel free to click through and buy through Amazon. (affiliate)

Visit our 6 AMAZING WAYS TO ORGANIZE YOUR JEWELRY for more tips on organizing jewelry in a closet.

Workout gear - Use a basket with a low front that will hold summer workout clothes and place them on the shelf. They don't need to be perfectly pressed so placing them on a shelf in a basket works fine. I like standing them upright on their side so I can easily access the stuff inside. If you wish to purchase this, you can do so by clicking below and buying from Amazon.  (affiliate)

Or you can try this method I used for my own workout sportswear clothing; HOW TO ORGANIZE SPORTSWEAR ON A SHELF!

If there are other items you want to store on the shelves, it's helpful to store them in containers with lids so you can stack them up. It also reduces dust in the closet and removes things off the floor when you go vertical with bins.

What to hang on hangers in closets?

People ask me this all the time.  There are lots of things you can hang in a closet.  Here are just some of them.

Dress pants - you can store them over the pants hanger or store them upside down on a pants hanger.  If you wear them often or don't have a lot of tall space to hang them, you can hang them on the bottom part of a regular sturdy hanger.  If you do not wear them often, you can use a pants hanger like these below. This will reduce the fold lines on the pants.  To do this, clip the pants from the bottom and let them hang down.

If you are short on hanging space, be sure to buy hangers that are space-saving options or ones that are thin to maximize the things you can hang.

Blouses/Dresses/Jackets/Blazers - I like puffy hangers (padded hangers) that look like these. They keep the item on the hanger. Below are some hangers that work well for these items.

Suits - I like these suit hangers.  It keeps the jacket and pants together. Suit hangers have wider ends to keep jackets in place. If you do not wear suits often, consider buying some plastic shoulder covers.  They will protect the shoulder of the jackets from getting dusty.

Outer jackets and trench coats - I like to keep these items near the door if possible. But, if I need to keep them in the closet, I like to use hangers. They are more sturdy than plastic or thinner hangers. Usually, they are wood and may have thicker parts for the shoulders of the jacket. Below are images from Amazon (affiliate), if you click through and buy something, I will receive a referral commission. Thank you.

Here's one more tip for the hanging area. When setting up your hanging area, measure your longest item and move the rod up so that the item doesn't drag on the floor or over another hanging rod.

What to place in drawers in a closet?

Not everyone has drawers in their closet but this needs to be said.  If you do not have built-ins in your closet, you may want to add a chest of drawers to help organize undergarments and other smaller items. Here are some types of items that can be stored in the drawers.

Socks - you can either fold socks or wrap socks. Either way, having a space in the drawer designated for socks is helpful when you need to grab a matching pair in the morning. These images are from Amazon (affiliate).

Visit our HOW TO ORGANIZE SOCKS ONCE AND FOR ALL {SOCK ORGANIZATION OPTIONS} post with lots of information and tips on organizing socks.

Undergarments - This would include bras, underwear, and other items for under your clothes.  If you have a lot of a particular item, try to weed it down. Only keep what actually fits you well. The image below is an affiliate link from Amazon.com.

Jewelry - In drawers, you can also place jewelry to hide them from other people who may be in your closet. Drawer organizers for jewelry are great if you have extra drawer space. To protect your fine jewelry, you can install a locked drawer. These images are from Amazon (affiliate).

Other small items like sunglasses and perfume - You can use a bin to store small items. Shallow bins work better because you can see everything.

The last place in the closet is your hooks section. This area is usually a catch-all area and helps you keep those small items organized.

Should I have a hook in my closet?

Use a hook for your daily outfit prep area - this can be a sturdy hook mounted to the wall that can hold some weight. Place the pieces you plan on wearing tomorrow on the hook. I like to use a hanger and place the necklace or scarf around the hanger. Then, I have it all together and no thinking is necessary for the morning.

WHAT TO PLACE ON HOOKS?

Hooks can be used throughout the closet for smaller items that need a home. Here are a few I like to hang on hooks.

Belts - you can find many decorative hooks that you can attach to the door or on walls to store belts.

Necklaces/Scarves - I like to use a jewelry organizer and hang it on an unused wall. Here are some I found on Amazon. (affiliate) 

After you have organized each area, labeling is key for keeping it organized.  I know you are all brilliant and can remember everything but this is one area you really don't need to remember.  Labeling will get rid of any doubt about where things go.  It will also help other people who may use the closet to know where the items go.

If you are organizing the closet for someone else, be sure to run through where everything is stored with that person.  And, mention to them that the labels are there if they forget where something goes.

I hope this gives you many tips and inspiration to organize your closet. Now, it's your turn.  Did I miss anything that you may have in your closet? Do you have any tips you want to share? Please leave a comment.

Please note these are affiliate links through Amazon, and at no additional cost to you, I will earn affiliate fees if you decide to make a purchase.

Read more about organizing closets from our collection of posts.

Visit our clothing organization posts below.