STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

mine is all by item.  across the length of my closet it goes:

dresses

pants

gauchos

jeans

skirts

sleeveless shirts

button downs

long sleeved shirts

cardigans

camis

going out shirts

bulky sweaters

blazers

hoodies

i try to keep in mind the lengths of items b/c my shoes have to fit underneath and about 1/2 of my shoe collection i have the boxes too and the other 1/2 i do not. 

hth!

-- Edited by bex at 14:38, 2006-01-13

I arrange my tops by sleeve length (sleeveless, short, 3/4, long) and then by color.  My jackets get a separate section and again by color.  My sweaters get folded and stacked.  And all my bottoms are hung in groups (denim, slacks, skirts, etc.) and then by color.

Oh..and when I say by color...I mean ROY G. BIV (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet) then brown, white, gray, black.  Wow.  I'm anal.

-- Edited by TexasGal at 14:51, 2006-01-13

i am the same way with my closets.  i have two closets and i actually do mine by color and item. one closet for my everyday clothes and shoes, and one closet for my dressy clothes and shoes.  i go from left to right starting with tanks, then tees, then long sleeves, then skirts, then dresses, then jeans, then pants.  i like the items that will hang the longest to be farthest right and the items that will hang the shortes to farthest left.  after i have sorted them into those categories, then i do color.  starting with the lightest shades to the darkest in each section keeping like colors together.  so it would go light blue, medium blue, dark blue, light green, med green, dark green, etc.

~~~ in unison~~~

Hi, Luv2Shop *waves* .

I, too, and an organize-aholic.  When I was working, I used both of the above methods.  Now that things are a little more casual I do it a little differently.  FWIW, our closet is small walk-in.  My 'side' of the closet has 4, 4-ft long hanging rods, with a bottom level and a top level.  They're those rubber-coated metal shelving things, so the top surface of each rod is what I use as shelves.  I also have a hanging fabric shelf unit that hangs on FH's (single 8 ft rod, suitable for full-length hanging) side of the closet.  I also have a belt hanger (technically a tie hanger I think) to keep all my belts organized.

Firstly, all items are organized by category and subcategory, separated on different racks and/or shelves.  Most things I then organize by use/dressiness.

Rack 1:  Sleeveless and Shortsleeve tops

Sleeveless tops on the left moving toward shortsleeve on the right, then within those categories I sort most casual on the left toward most dressy on the right.

Rack 2:  Longsleeve, non-sweater tops and Blazers

Mine go (left to right of course) casual l/s tops, dressier l/s tops and blouses, cardigans, button downs, blazers.

Rack 3:  Skirts and Dressy pants

Skirts in order of seasonal relevance with the opposite season on the left moving to current season on the right.  Then dressy pants, but I only have a couple pair so they follow on the right of the skirts.  Skirts and pants are actually separated by my shoe shelving that sits on the floor and comes up to the level of the hanging rod.

Shelf 1:  Casual pants

Jeans and cords, stacked in separate piles of 3 or 4.

Shelf 2:  Tank tops and Sweaters

Tank tops in three piles according to color (one pile of black/brown/gray, one pile of solid colors, one pile of fancier/embellished/patterned).  Sweaters in piles of 3/4/5 by size with the bulkiest on the bottom, thinest on the top.  I actually categorized cardigan sweaters with the hanging cardigans so I don't have to completely rebutton them and fold them all the time.

Shelf 3:  Out of season bottoms

Very top shelf (which I cannot reach without assistance).  Includes three piles:  One pile of jeans not it current rotation, one pile of capris, and one pile of shorts.

Shelf 4:  Bags

Very top shelf of other hanging rack - bags are lined up neatly across, in no particular order.

Hanging shelf unit:

I use 3 of the 6 cubbies in this unit.  Bottom one is rarely used pajamas and sweat pants, second up is regularly used long workout/sleep/sweat pants, third up is regularly used workout/sleep/sweat shorts.

Full length Hanging:

I use maybe 12 inches or so of FH's full-height hanging space (which is separated from his clothes by the hanging shelf unit).  Here I hang my dresses, shortest to longest from left to right.

Shoe storage:

As I mentioned before, I have 3 stacking shelf units under one of my lower hanging rods.  Highest heels go on the top (and therefore not height-restricted) shelf, followed on the next shelf down by lower heels, followed by more casual shoe/loafer types, followed on the floor by athletic shoes.  Boots stand next to the shelving on the floor, under the skirts.

How's that ?

For me it's easier to keep things separated by color, then subdivided into type. That way, if I want a cream cami, I know right where to go. And, um, my closet looks nicer with big blocks of color. It makes me happy... And ooh Elle, I love your dressiness factor! That is brilliant! I'm reorganizing this weekend...

-- Edited by Dizzy at 15:16, 2006-01-13

TexasGal wrote:

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I arrange my tops by sleeve length (sleeveless, short, 3/4, long) and then by color.  My jackets get a separate section and again by color.  My sweaters get folded and stacked.  And all my bottoms are hung in groups (denim, slacks, skirts, etc.) and then by color. Oh..and when I say by color...I mean ROY G. BIV (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet) then brown, white, gray, black.  Wow.  I'm anal.-- Edited by TexasGal at 14:51, 2006-01-13

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This is me minus the ROY G BIV...I really hated that part of elementry science

I separate my clothes by category and then by color.  I have 7 seperate sections of clothes in my closet.  Here's the breakdown:

Section 1:  belts (because that's where the rack is attached), long dresses, dressy skirts, dressy s/s tops, dressy s'less tops, dressy l/s tops

Section 2:  casual skirts by color, black slacks, khaki slacks, summer slacks

Section 3:  all short sleeved shirts starting at white and then graduating until they get to brown

Section 4:  casual pants (all shades of browns), gauchos, denim crops/gauchos, cords

Section 5:  Sweaters, then sweater vests, then puffer vests, then ponchos, then jackets

Section 6:  Long sleeved shirts, each separated into color and also by style (example:  the white section moves from l/s tees to l/s knits to l/s button-ups)

Section 7:  Jeans and sleeveless shirts and camis

I also have 2 sections of drawers (4 drawers in each section) and one half of the island (the open shelving side).  The island houses all my purses, sorted by size.  The drawers just hold the undies, socks, pjs, ratty tanks, ratty tees, shorts, and sweats.

Oh, and I have a seperate closet just for shoes and jewelry.

I have two closets that are teeny-tiny and don't even add up to one normal sized closet (so don't be jealous).

One I use for work clothes mainly. I have it grouped by (from left to right):
cardigans
button-downs
SS work tops
sleeveless work tops
SS sweaters
sleeveless sweaters
my two suits
silk/chiffon skirts
work pants
Then the bottom has two shelves, on which I stack my handbags and main shoes for that season.

The other closet has (also L~R):
casual LS tees
LS or 3/4 sleeve sweaters/tops for work
my skirts made of sturdier materials
jeans
hip length jackets/blazers arranged my color (black, brown, tan/neutral)
knee- or 3/4-length coats
dresses
All the off-season shoes are in there, along with other random seasonal stuff (scarves, gloves, etc)

I also have a drawer where I fold tees/tanks/casual sleeveless stuff.



Okay here is the anal part: within each section, I put the stuff I just wore recently on the left side. That way when I think "hmm, how about a SS sweater today?" I know if I pull from the right side of that SS sweater category it will be one i haven't worn the last few weeks.