We have a variety of closets in our home, from bedroom clothing closets to pantry (affiliate) and office closets. Every one of these closets needs a facelift and a clear-out every so often. Today, we share all our posts that give you tips for each of these closets.
Organizing closets is popular this month during spring cleaning tasks. Going through closets periodically helps keep our space manageable and functional. Lucky for you, we have many posts about closets with tips and checklists (affiliate). Each section shows the different types of closets you may have in your home and the posts that will give you tips to make these closets less messy.
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Tips when Organizing a Closet:
Keep these tips in mind before jumping in and purging items in a closet.
First, take out everything from the closet, clean the shelves (affiliate)/walls/rods of dust, and vacuum (affiliate) the floor. If you have time, you can also paint the walls. You may not do this again for a while, so making the closet look new is important.
Have a plan. Before starting a closet, have an idea and goal on how much you want to get rid of and the purpose of the closet.
Have supplies ready. Before you start, gather plastic bags, boxes (affiliate), garbage bags, labels (affiliate), and label (affiliate) makers to bring to this closet area. Visit our tool bag supplies for a complete list of things you may need.
Gather supplies needed for organizing, like bins and other small storage items for these closets.
Group the items by like categories outside of the closet before placing them in the closet. By doing this, you will have a better idea of how much room you need for the closet.
Make signs for the bags of items you don't want. One bag for each of your favorite Charitable Donation Locations and one or two for giving away stuff to family and friends.
And remember, if you don't know if you should keep it, do not add it to the closet. Place it in another room to make a decision later.
Now, it's time to begin. Let's clear those closets! The closet sections are divided into seven categories: adult bedroom closet, kids' closet, office closet, pantry (affiliate) closet, hall closet, linen closet, laundry closet, and tool closet.
Bedroom Closets:
We all have at least one clothing closet in our home. We have written much about bedroom closet organization in the last ten years.
4 Areas of an Organized Closet—This post discusses the four areas to organize in a closet. It also includes an infographic that is pretty popular.
What to keep in an Organized Closet - This post shares all the items you need to keep your clothing closet organized.
Small Closet Organization Tips using Lifewit - Recently, I had the opportunity to review a few products and transform my daughter's small closet.
How to Organize Sportswear on a Shelf - Sportswear can get messy on shelves (affiliate). This post shows a way to organize these items easily.
Questions to Ask Yourself While Purging Your Clothes - If you need help deciding what to purge in the closet, you can check out this list of questions.
5 Super Important Mens Closet Organization Tips - Men's closets can be pretty straightforward, but if you are doing this for your loved one, this will help.
The Ultimate Closet Organization Tips for Senior Citizens - Seniors' closets need to be well-organized for ease and safety. This post helps with that.
Kid's Closet Organization:
Now, on to the Kids' rooms.
How I Organized My Kids' Closets - This post shows my kids' closets when we got them professionally organized.
Six Steps to Organize Kids' Closets - In this post, we discuss how to get your kids involved to help them take ownership of their space.
7 Creative Ways of Organizing Your Kid's Closet - Now that the closet has been purged of unwanted stuff, you can use this post to determine systems that may work for your kids.
Office Closet:
The home office is very common these days. we have a few tips about this space.
Organized Office Closet Before and After Photo - This post shows an example of what my client and I did with her home office.
From our sister site, Sabrina's Admin Services blog for small business owners, we share How to Organize Office Supplies with Minimum Expense.
Pantry Closet Organization:
Pantries can be in a closet or in a cabinet.
7 Ways to Transform a Hall Closet into a Pantry - Some people have a closet pantry (affiliate). This post shows how we transformed our closet into a pantry (affiliate).
Hall Closets:
10 Hall Closet Organizing Tips—This post shares tips for organizing hall closets, also known as coat closets.
How to Easily Organize Family Coats in a Coat Closet - This post is a DIY project that uses washi tape (affiliate) color-coded for each person so we all know whose coat belongs to without dividing the items in the closet.
Linen Closets:
Now, let's revisit the linen closet.
The Most Important Things to Keep in Your Linen Closet—This post discusses what you can store in a linen closet.
The Ideal Narrow Linen Closet Laundry Basket Option - These posts are very rare because not many people have narrow closets. We have had to think creatively when organizing these closets, so we shared two posts on the topic: Narrow Linen Closet Storage Options Made Easy
Laundry Room Closet:
Laundry Room Closet Organization—Some homeowners, like us, use their closets as laundry rooms. This post helps organize the stuff that can be collected in this area.
Tool Closet:
Lastly, there is the tool closet. Not everyone has one of these, but we prefer not to store tools (affiliate) in the garage (affiliate) for fear of rusting these important investments.
Creative Ways to Organize Tools in a Closet - This one shows how we organized the space and how it evolved over time.
Easy Tool Closet Organization to Create More Storage Space - In this post, we shared several tips and ideas on organizing the ever-evolving tool closet.
By clearing the storage closets in our homes, we will not only have more space but also know what is in them. We have busy lives, and sometimes, we forget what we own and store in our closets. So, periodically clearing them out helps us keep the content streamlined and the items in our closets at the forefront of our minds. Good luck. Let me know how it goes. Feel free to leave tips about any of the closets below.
Please note these are affiliate links through Amazon (affiliate), and at no additional cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through and decide to make a purchase.
Please note these are affiliate links through Amazon (affiliate) and at no additional cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through and decide to make a purchase.
Janet Schiesl says
Great closet tips. I love the graphic. People should print it out and hang it up when they are decluttering their clothes closet. Spring has prompted me to get into some of my closets and declutter. Thanks for the tips.
Sabrina Quairoli says
Great idea! Thanks for commenting.
Julie Bestry says
What a great way to round-robin all your closet-related advice and sync it all together. I can't say I've ever painted a closet, and I usually advise only taking small sections of the closet contents out at a time (because most people lack the time to do the whole project in one sitting, and because it reduces overwhelm), but different closets (and people) require different techniques. I love that you've used this space to cover so many different types of closets and their needs.
Janet Barclay says
Smart advice to clean and even paint while the closet is empty. I never think to take advantage of that!
Linda Samuels says
So much great information, Sabrina! This is a great time of year for the closet edit. We often shove things in behind a closed door without putting them away properly or asking the question of whether we want or need them? As a result, our closets become chaotic and not organized. It makes it more frustrating to find what we need or know what we have.
I went on an editing/organizing spree last fall and let go of a lot. But the reality is that editing is a continual process. It's always a good idea to review every once in a while and reevaluate the stuff we're keeping and what we're ready to let go of.
Sabrina Quairoli says
I totally agree, for me, each major season change is the perfect time to clear out the clothing and other closets in my house. Winter into spring and Fall into Summer are my favorite times to do this edit.
Seana Turner says
Wow, you do have tips for every type of closet here! That's terrific.
I have noticed that some people get tripped up when they want to add in a closet system but aren't sure what to use: ELFA, a closet company, Rubbermaid, free-standing inserts, etc. I always say go ahead and organize what you have with whatever you have on hand first. This helps you know if investing in a new solution is worthwhile. Decluttering first always helps us make better decisions.
Love that series of questions about your clothes!
Sabrina Quairoli says
Thank you! I'm a fan of these questions too.