How to painlessly organize a closet. I have two simple tricks that will totally transform your closet, from dumping ground to thing of beauty.
This weekend we did a simple update to my husband’s closet that made a huge impact. Without any purging, sorting, or even much cleaning, we changed his closet from mess to organized in two easy steps.

Before
Clear the Floor
I’ve written about this before in my post on our entry closet storage ideas, but if you want your closet to look neat and organized, have an empty floor. I know it’s so easy and convenient to store stuff and put stuff on the floor of the closet, but don’t. Whatever the rest of the closet looks like, a clean floor will make the whole closet look neat and spacious.

Before
Shoes were the main thing on the floor in this closet, so we bought a simple shoe rack to hold them. I really like this Seville shoe rack because it can hold 9 pairs of men’s’ shoes. Most shoe racks seem to be designed for women’s shoes, but this one is big enough to fit any pair of shoes, even boots.

After
Use Wooden Hangers
Years ago I read an article by a closet organizer suggesting wood hangers as a way to keep your clothes and your closet looking nicer, so I bought a pack of 8 of them to try it out. It totally worked, and I ended up buying enough wooden hangers for all of my hanging clothes. I would never go back to wire and plastic hangers.
I know that skinny, velvet-coated hangers are very trendy right now because you can cram a lot of clothes together with them, but then you end up with a closet that is, well, crammed. A crammed closet makes it hard to see your clothes, and you won’t wear clothes you can’t see. It’s much better to have fewer, better clothes that you will wear more often. Plus, crammed clothes get wrinkled and need to be ironed.

before
We bought a pack of 24 wood hangers from Amazon.com for less than a dollar a piece. I’ve noticed that wood hangers usually cost around $1 each, so anything less is a good deal. Wood hangers do cost more than plastic hangers, but since they keep your clothes nicer and noticeable, they end up saving you money on clothing.
This closet has the same number of shirts as before, but with wooden hangers, they are evenly spaced out and neater. Each shirt visually gets the same amount of room. It looks nicer and it’s easier to see all of the clothes in the closet.

After
That’s my 2 simple tricks to make your closet look cleaner and more organized. If you have any other suggestions for keeping a closet neat, please let us know in the comments below!
This post was shared at a few of my favorite link parties, and it was featured at Pin Worthy Wednesday and Oh My Heartsie Girl!