Closet Organization 101

It’s Christmas in July for me! Why? Because I finally found the time to completely rip everything out of my closet and organize it from scratch! I AM SO HAPPY. I don’t know about you, but organization allows me to think clearly. Anyone else think the same? If everything is organized in my physical life, everything will be organized in my mental life. I’m an organization FREAK!

Now let me start off by saying, this was not a quick task for my apartment especially. I have 4 different closets, and all of them were unorganized. I had been so busy from the months of January – July that I would throw my clean laundry inside out on the hanger into my closet with no color coding or weather coding. So after 6 months of this, you can only imagine how hard it was to find certain items. In fact, I had lost one of my favorite fringe suede jackets because I was unorganized…. THIS IS A CATASTROPHE. I had it with not being able to quickly find what I needed to run out the door. Hence my Christmas present to myself of organizing. Give yourself some quality time. 

So here’s a breakdown of how I organized my closets, and how you can do the same quickly in your own closets (or just one closet, like most sane and normal people have.) 

Closet #1: Special Occasion – in my hallway
a. Winter Coats
b. Formal Dresses
c. Skirts
d. Dresses
e. Formal Jumpsuits

In Closet #1 are all of my special occasion attire. I never wear dresses or skirts, so I threw those into the special occasion mix. I organized this closet by weather/how often I wear these clothes.
First (a.), I have some winter coats that I wear in LA maybe 2 weeks out of the year. So I stuffed those in the back since I won’t need to reach them more than once a year.
Second (b.), I threw in my formal dresses. These are my floor length FAB dresses that I just don’t get to wear more than 5 or 6 times a year.
Third (c.), skirts. I never wear skirts. And if I do, the ones I wear are in my room.
Fourth (d.), since I don’t wear my regular dresses much, I threw those in after the formal dresses.
Fifth (e.), I put in my formal jumpsuits. I have a lot of causal ones, but I wanted to have easier access to those. I will get to the casual ones in my Main Closet section #3. 

Closet #2: Rare Wear – in my room
a. Winter Vests
b. Ponchos/Work Out Wear
c. Blazers

In Closet #2 are the next most worn items of everything I own. These ones are worthy enough to be in my room.
First (a.), my winter vests are higher on my list than my winter coats because they have no sleeves! They aren’t as warm and I can accessorize with them.  
Second (b.), I think I’ve worn my poncho once and my work out wear like 10 times a year. That’s less than once a month! I gotta get on the workout game again. Yikes!
Third (c.), blazers are such a great item to have in your closet. I don’t work at a job that required me to be business casual, so whenever I have an event that calls for it, man am I glad that I don’t have to go drop $50 on a blazer right then and there!

Closet #3: Main Closet – in my room
a. Long Sleeve Shirts/Flannels
b. Jackets/Sweaters
c. In Season Clothing
d. Random (tube tops, layering pieces, etc.)

In Closet #3 (I’m starting to feel like a game show host… “Now in Cllllllooooset Number THREE!”) are the items I wear year round. I organize them by season and color.
First (a.), in the farthest corner I have my long sleeve shirts and flannels. Since it’s summer, I’m not going to be throwing either of these items on. I will rotate these out once fall comes around.
Second (b.), next in line are my jackets and sweaters. Although it’s summer, California gets cold at night, and I always get cold, therefore, I keep my jackets and a few sweaters at the ready when I’m running out the door at night and forgot to grab a jacket. To keep my organized brain sane, I also sort these items by color… I mainly do this just because I like to see the ombre effect in my closet, but I also like to see every single black jacket I have so I can make the best decision based off of what I have on that night. I always end up having a jacket or another item wedged between two bulkier pieces and I don’t see it for weeks.
Third (c.), Since it’s summer and it’s FREAKING HOT, I have all my short sleeve tops and tanks as easily accessible as possible. Once the seasons change, i’ll be switching my long sleeves in for my short sleeves in my closet.
Fourth (d.), I have some items that are a little random that don’t fit into a main category, so what I do is create a category for them! The Randos! I keep them in the other corner of my closet.

Closet #4: Essentials/Everyday Quick Wear – hanging in my room
a. Shirts
b. Shirts
c. Shirts
d. Skirts

Alright, so my Closet #4 isn’t really a closet. It’s a hanging rod at the foot of my bed. I cooouuulllldd stuff them in my Main Closet, but then it’s really hard for me to slide through the hangers, and it ended up aggravating me. SO… I created my own fourth closet. 
First, Second, and Third (a. b. c.), I have a lot of white, grey, dark grey, and black items that are simple yet powerful. Like a fierce shirt. These are my favorite pieces of clothing and I wear them ALL. THE. TIME. So I figured since they are out in the open, lets make them match the colors of my room (white, grey, and black), and sort them from shortest sleeve to longest sleeve per color. I love this hanging closet so much. I love looking at the items that get me through my day to day activities and stay the same. As weird as that may sound, I love doing my laundry and then hanging them back up on that rod. It’s just a reminder what fashion can do for someone’s life. 
Fourth (d.), I have a couple of beautiful skirts that I really love looking at. If you remember, I don’t really wear skirts much, so for these that I’m in love with, I keep them in my eye sight so I don’t forget to wear them every now and then and get me out of my comfort zone a little. (yes, even a stylist needs to get out of her comfort zone every now and then).

I hope you enjoyed my long winded explanation of closet organization! Obviously if you only have one closet, you won’t have to go through as much as I did to get yourself organized. But take the time do organize your closet! Pick if you want to organize it by season/weather, color, style, or all of the above! I would love to hear how you guys organize your closets. Cheers!

Breed style, Breedlove.


Closet #1 - Special Occasion - in my hallwayCloset #1 – Special Occasion – in my hallway

Closet #2 - Rare Wear - in my roomCloset #2 – Rare Wear – in my room

Closet #3 (first half) - Main ClosetCloset #3 (first half) – Main Closet

Closet #3 (second half) - Main ClosetCloset #3 (second half) – Main Closet

Closet #4 - Essentials - hanging in my roomCloset #4 – Essentials – hanging in my room

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