CL’s 3 Cardinal C’s of an Organized Closet

Limited closet space, ladies?  No matter what your closet size, finding enough space seems to be a common issue for the majority of us, especially during our college years.  Conquer your closet by applying CL’s 3 Cardinal C’s to create an organized space you’ll love.

The First “C”: CONSOLIDATE.  Cleaning out your closet should be a constant activity.  Take the “1 year rule” to heart — if you haven’t worn an article of clothing within the last year it’s time to say goodbye to it.  As I mentioned in my article “sNOw Worries,” I got rid of 118 items in 2010.  Sure it sounds crazy, but having more than one grand clean-out per year really helped.  Stop using the excuse “I might wear this one day;” if you haven’t worn it in the last 365 days, chances are you won’t wear it again.  Plenty of opportunities await you with what to do with your unwanted items.  Try donating these items towards a good cause (for example, I donated my unwanted items towards my friend Amanda’s yard sale to help her raise funds for her upcoming mission trip to Uganda).  Want something to compensate for your items?  Try selling your items to a local consignment or used clothes store, or take part in the newest fad, a “closet swap” (Invite all of your girlfriends over and trade unwanted items with one another.).

The Second “C”: CATEGORIZE.  Section off your closet, and make the most use out of all of your space.  Shoe hangers, racks for belts/hats/shoes, and additional hanging racks will all create additional space in your closet.  To keep clothing organized, group your articles into different sections (My closet has sections for: dresses, tops, bottoms, cardigans, and jackets).  Sections make outfit selection a much easier process, and allow you to see all of the wonderful clothing that you have.  Make sections for items such as purses/clutches, scarves, belts, hats, shoes, etc., as well.

The Third “C”: COLOR CODE.  Some call it a slight case of “OCD” — and so do I, only in this case standing for “organized closet desired.”  Don’t limit your color coding to clothing.  Apply this technique to all of your articles of clothing.  I have found color coding shoes especially helpful.  Color coding makes for more efficient piecing together of outfits, as well as providing more opportunity for creating new outfits from having all articles neatly displayed before you.

A happy closet makes a happy co-ed.  Happy organizing!

Abby Bryant is an intern with College Lifestyles™.  She is a senior marketing major at Georgia College & State University® and is the president of her sorority, Sigma Alpha Omega®.  Maintaining an organized closet is both enjoyable for her, as well as beneficial when selecting outfits to wear each day.