Confessions of a Closet Organizer

These confessions are by a professional organizer. Do not attempt these stunts at home alone. Wait until I come to visit and I will "help" you:)

1. All hangers must match. No wire hangers.
2. Sort clothes by type and purpose (pants together, jeans together within pants section, etc.)
3. Organize by color within each group, going light to dark
4. Organize shoes in similar fashion with shelves labeled for optimal neatness
5. Use and label bins to hold items on shelves
6. Utilize small clothes hampers for sorting laundry to be cleaned
7. Review each item (I do it spring and fall when I switch seasons) at least once a year to remove items your children would laugh at. If your children are too young to laugh at your clothes a sister is a better judge than a husband who says "it is fine".

#3 is really the key. I learned this system working at Nordstrom. I go from light to dark within colors and color groups. White, beige, yellow, orange, red, purple, green, blue, brown, black. Sometimes I mix it up with the purple, green and blue. It doesn't matter the order as much as order matters. I like to take it to the next level by, for example, going light to dark on dress pants, then dark to light on casual, then light to dark on the jeans so the color intensities kind of flow.

I love it! But, it doesn't keep me up at night so it's not technically obsessive.